BOISE, Idaho — This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press.
When it comes to human trafficking, education and awareness on the topic is of critical importance.
The Nampa Family Justice Center is fully aware of this fact. On Thursday, the center hosted an “Understanding Human Trafficking” training session at the Nampa Police Department to help broaden community perspective on the crime both from local and national standpoints.
The seminar, which was attended by about 50 to 75 people, came in conjunction with January being National Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month.
“It’s really important to us to make sure that people are informed,” said Jeannie Strohmeyer, executive director at the justice center. “That’s kind of half the battle.”
Strohmeyer said more information means individuals can then understand what to look for when identifying human trafficking and also know what steps must be taken to make a difference.
Thursday’s training focused on the dynamics of human trafficking. Those intricacies included what makes individuals vulnerable and how traffickers solicit their victims; what the red flags and warning signs are to help better identify the crime; victim tendencies and trends; and the types of trauma victims’ experience.
While statistics revolved around a 2020 federal report, Idaho is still gathering and compiling human trafficking data.
And while the website polarisproject.org keeps state-by-state data on the issue, those numbers appear to be a slight undercount, according to Taylor Cook, human trafficking project coordinator at the Nampa Family Justice Center.
Cook described the issue locally as “prominent.”
“I am in constant communication with individuals working with victims, whether it’s myself or other service providers on a daily or weekly basis,” Cook said. “I am telling you I am getting phone calls — a couple weeks ago I had four to five new victims. Some weeks it’s one or two. Some weeks it’s zero. Some weeks it’s six.”
Cook added that local law enforcement agencies don’t necessarily have systems in place at the moment to track human trafficking.
“So things are being labeled,” Cook said. “Nampa Police Department has a whole bunch of cases that have a trafficking component, but they’re being labeled as a fraud case, or a drug case, or a weapons charge. Other things.”
During Thursday’s presentation, Cook said that while states like California, Texas and Florida have been studying human trafficking for over a decade, Idaho has increased its awareness and education on the topic over the past three to four years.
“Even for us as a community — law enforcement and prosecutors and advocates — we’re all being trained because we didn’t know what it all was until a few years ago,” Strohmeyer said.
Additionally, Strohmeyer stressed that as Idaho continues building awareness and data on the crime, it is essential that victims come to the justice center to share their experiences.
“We don’t have to call the police if they choose not to. A lot of times they’re not ready and for good reasons. We can still support them and we still help them in all kinds of ways,” she said.
“People look at the outside and say ‘Oh my gosh, it’s horrible that your body has been sold. That’s horrible.’ But the emotional, psychological abuse, people underestimate the power of that and the traumatization of that. And that is why people are going to typically be using drugs and alcohol and abusing substances, because they need to cope with what they feel — the shame and the pain of that.”
Thursday’s training was interactive, and those in attendance asked Cook questions throughout.
Christen Wilmer said she attended the event to gain an understanding on the topic because of her 12-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son.
“I want to know what to look for, where the dangers are,” she said. “I want to protect my kids.”
Tammy Perez said she was interested in attending in part because of her job at the Boise Airport.
“I meet so many people daily and weekly and I see so many people coming and going at the airport, I thought it would be good to get an education as part of the community, so that I am aware of my surroundings,” Perez said.
This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press, read more on IdahoPress.com.
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