A task force in the Black Hills is pushing a new awareness campaign to help stop human sex trafficking at the Sturgis Rally. Some officials say raising awareness is important, but the victims of sex trafficking also need support as they recover.
The West River Human Trafficking Task Force is distributing materials to area businesses to raise awareness about the sex trafficking that happens at the Sturgis Rally. Tess Franzen is with the task force. She hopes the information will help all who are affected by human trafficking.
“If people in the community are aware of the signs and red flags of what human trafficking looks like then it’s harder for traffickers to conduct and it’s harder for them to operate and I can also tell you that if we can get out information that victims can see that can help them find an avenue to freedom, that we’re much more likely to be in a position to help them,” says Franzen.
She says officials are also handing out lip balms with National Human Trafficking Hotline number written on the side at the rally.
“…into the pockets, or backpacks or hands of people that are being victimized or people that are aware of victims that they can call that hotline number anywhere in the country,” says Franzen.
But experts say that raising awareness isn’t enough to end sex trafficking in the Dakotas. Windie Lazenko is a former trafficking victim and founder of 4Her, a human trafficking advocacy group. Lazenko says providing assistance to victims after they escape sex trafficking is crucial.
“So I think raising awareness is great but it also needs to be coupled with providing victim services. If we’re teaching people how to recognize victims and then there’s nowhere for these victims to go it’s kind of putting the cart before the horse,” says Lazenko.
Lazenko adds that victim assistance requires specialized care, and that gaining funding is especially difficult.
During the rally, trafficking victims can receive direct support through the Sturgis Crisis Intervention Shelter Service and 4Her.
