While you’re getting around ArtPrize the next few weeks, you might see posters highlighting resources around human trafficking. These signs are organized by Wedgwood Christian Services, who tell us ArtPrize posed an opportunity to help educate the community about the signs of potential human trafficking.
Andrea Keller is the anti-human trafficking coordinator with Wedgwood Christian Services. She tells us there are no indicators that say that Artprize is increasing trafficking.
Instead, she says that ArtPrize felt like a good opportunity to post the flyers to help make staff aware, and so that people who may feel like they’re in an unsafe environment can see the resources listed and reach out on their own terms in a safe and confidential way.
“I think it’s important for people to know how real this is and to know that this isn’t just people getting snatched off the street. It’s very relational and it’s very complex, and so again, that’s why educating yourself on what those vulnerabilities are, the force, fraud, and coercion that goes on with a crime like this, it can be hidden in plain sight. And so that’s why it’s really important for people to make themselves aware,” says Keller.
In a tip sheet shared with FOX 17, Keller explains that “human trafficking can be hidden in plain sight due to the amount of grooming, manipulation, force, fraud, and coercion involved.”…