The MFJS Reporter — Winter 2020 T-R

“When I think of human trafficking, I actually think of Denver first because of the rodeo and stock show here—I think Denver’s actually considered a hub for trafficking because of that event,” said Avery Becklenberg, a Sophomore student at DU.

A misconception of human trafficking is that it is most often sex trafficking, while that only makes up some of the issue. Labor trafficking is often overlooked.

According to the International Labour Organization, 20.9 million people are trafficked across the globe, and 14.2 million of those individuals are subjected to forced labor exploitation, while 2.2 million people are forced into state-imposed labor trafficking, and 4.5 million are forced into sexual exploitation internationally. 

Lilli Stone, also a Sophomore at DU, explains, “People don’t know how common it is, how much of a risk it is, it seems like it’s a distant problem like, ‘Sure that happens, but not to me, not to someone I know, but to someone else.’ The reality is that it happens everywhere, and it can happen to anyone.”

According to DU’s own Human Trafficking Research and Awareness Center, human trafficking is made up of “commercial sex acts and labor services by means of force, fraud, and/or coercion.” 

This center speaks on the fact that trafficking most often impacts vulnerable communities. Denver is considered a popular human trafficking location as it is considered home to many of these populations whether they are tourists, “displaced individuals, minorities, or marginalized individuals.”

They explain, “Since Denver is the only major urban area for many miles, it’s a hub for many industries where trafficking has been found. On the other hand, because much of the state is rural and agricultural, it’s also easy to hide victims working as farmers or sheepherders.”

Zoe Woods, a DU student who used to work at Restoration Project International, identified some vulnerable individuals as those who have a lack of education opportunities and are without family ties. 

Woods said, “We don’t recognize the signs, a human trafficking event can happen as we pass by truck stops, on highways, we just don’t see the signs, I think we’ve all encountered it at some point.”

This poses the question, what can we do to make a positive change in this realm? The Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking (LCHT), located in Denver, is working to promote awareness and ensure that available resources are known in the many vulnerable communities of the Denver Area. 

LCHT also runs Colorado’s human trafficking hotline. This hotline does not contact ICE, which is important to note as many of those who make up the population of individuals who have been trafficked, also make up much of the refugee population in Colorado. 

LCHT finds that individuals might not contact authorities when in these situations out of fear it will lead to their deportation. In order to prevent human trafficking and to ensure that survivors use LCHT’s resources, individuals must work to spread awareness in the community, and work to educate others on the prominence and signs of trafficking. 

Woods said, “[We need to] empower organizations that are already working to combat human trafficking. I learned from the internship that I did, that we really have no place telling these survivors what they need after they kind of are out of that industry, they are really best helped by other survivors and organizations who are [trained to] help those communities.”