Last week, Gov. Sam Brownback proclaimed January to be Human Trafficking Awareness Month.
Brownback was joined by Attorney General Derek Schmidt as well as representatives from the Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Environment. All of the state agencies, along with the Department for Children and Families and the Department of Corrections, are working together to educate Kansans about the presence of human trafficking. That includes what to look for and how to report suspected human trafficking.
One goal of the proclamation is to change the perception that youth and adults who are trafficked are criminals. They are not, Brownback says; instead, they are victims of a terrible crime. He says more than 500 child welfare professionals are being trained about human trafficking rings, making Kansas a national model for preventing the crime.
Human trafficking, a modern form of slavery, is one of the largest and fastest-growing criminal industries in the world. It is based on recruiting, harboring and transporting people for the purpose of exploitation.
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