Human Trafficking Hotline, operated by Polaris, has received reports of 221,919 sex trafficking cases in the U.S.

Human trafficking is a universal problem which Kansas is not immune to. According to the Human Trafficking Hotline, there were 33 cases reported in Kansas in 2017. 

Globally, the International Labor Organization estimates that there are 4.5 million people trapped in forced sexual exploitation. The overreaching epidemic of sex trafficking is highlighted through stories in the media, college classes and social media. In 2011, President Obama issued a Presidential Proclamation, designating each January to be National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

President Trump echoed this proclamation in a statement, “human trafficking is a modern form of the oldest and most barbaric type of exploitation. It has no place in our world.”

The Trump administration has also created an interagency task force aimed at developing new anti-slavery policies and the signing of an executive order that targets criminal organizations that have trafficked humans.

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“This month, we do not simply reflect on this appalling reality,” the White House said in December. “We also pledge to do all in our power to end the horrific practices of human trafficking that plagues innocent victims around the world.”

Human trafficking is a universal problem and, according to the Human Trafficking Hotline, there were 33 cases reported in Kansas in 2017. In November 2017, a Topeka man was sentenced for running a human trafficking ring out of a Lawrence Club, according to KCUR news.

One of the programs that works to combat Human Trafficking in Topeka is STARS (Stop Trafficking and Reject Slavery) and the Topeka Center for Peace and Justice. Sharon Sullivan, the chair of the theatre department, and a professor at Washburn, is co-founder and director of STARS and works with multiple programs, such as Topeka’s YWCA Center for Safety and Empowerment and is a member of various advisory boards to combat human trafficking.

Sullivan has also presented several times about human trafficking at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women and most recently had another panel accepted for March 2018, which “focuses on challenges facing rural and indigenous women when accessing services for DV, SV and HT.”

Sullivan said that she was motivated to help start STARS group, because “[She] understood the problem of human trafficking, wanted to do something to help.” She has been working on human trafficking for about 12 years and her research and activism has been around violence against women and children her entire adult life.

STARS works to help survivors of human trafficking in a couple of ways. First, they provide free education to the community.

“Education is the beginning to understanding and solving a problem, so the first goal of STARS was to provide free education to our community about HT [human trafficking],” Sullivan said.

Second, they provide a victims assistance fund to cover things victim/survivors need that are not covered by grants. They also facilitate collections of various things, such as hygiene items, and clothing. Sullivan said “often they [victims/survivors] come in with nothing but the clothes on their backs.”

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STARS works on prevention and various teaching programs about prevention throughout the community.

“As members of the Topeka Shawnee County Human Trafficking Coalition, we are creating a trauma informed response/protocol for big busts like you may have been reading about in the paper or on FB,” Sullivan said. “When these victims are brought in, we want to be able to make them feel welcome and loved.”

Throughout Topeka and the surrounding areas, STARS, as well as other centers and programs, have created a community dedicated to stopping human trafficking and helping the many people trapped in unsafe situations.

“I say, if you want to create big change, you have to believe it’s possible,” Sullivan said.

As January ends, it is important to be aware of the modern day slavery that still happens. The National Human Trafficking hotline is available 24/7, at 1 (888) 373-7888.