Washburn Student Government Association hosted a presentation Tuesday, Jan. 28, about human trafficking to spread awareness.
The event began with the introduction of Sharon Sullivan, retired tenured professor of Washburn University. Sullivan is a current advocate against human trafficking and discussed the prevalence and demographics of it in Topeka and the U.S.
“Human trafficking disproportionately targets minorities as they are more vulnerable than all the majority, which is white,” said DeMarques Hinds, sophomore business major and WSGA director of diversity, equity and inclusion. “That’s not to say that white is not heavily targeted. White is the second biggest victim in sex trafficking, but minorities are more often trafficked, especially African Americans.”
Sullivan emphasized the importance of education and she also advocates for strong laws and funding services. She suggests people go online to find resources starting with Polaris.org.
“Education is the first thing, and then raising awareness, meaning tell your friends and family about it. And then the third thing that individuals can do is support community services for vulnerable people,” Sullivan said.
Human trafficking is considered the second most lucrative crime in the world after drugs. 40% of people are trafficked by someone they know. The patterns of trafficking continue because people are often ignored. There is correlation between the ethnic groups and their socio-economic status.
Hinds discussed human trafficking and its disproportionate impact on minorities and emphasized the vulnerability highlighting the need for individuals to report signs of trafficking.
“If you see signs, people are acting suspicious. People that look like they’re under control of another person and affect them like they can’t move without that person that was acting a certain way for as long as you know, all of a sudden something just switched about them. You can report that. They’re going through something, or they could be trafficked,” Hinds said.
Belle Hammes, freshman WSGA senator, attended the program and gave a positive response to the event.
“The presentation was great and our guest speaker here did a fantastic job,” Hammes said. “If you feel like something is wrong, take action.”
Hammes encourages everyone to keep spreading awareness.
If you are victim and need help, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline: 1-888-373-7888
Edited by Jayme Thompson and Stuti Khadka