Agenda

Kendra Underwood

Human Trafficking Youth Outreach Coordinator

North Carolina Council for Women and Youth Involvement

NCDOA

Know the Hooks and What to Do

Melinda Sampson

Community Outreach Coordinator

NC Stop Human Trafficking

Break Out Sessions: Let’s Talk About the Real Risks

1) Parents and

2) Youth < 24 years of age

Community Action Team Opportunity: To Be Determined by Participants

Please join New Hope Baptist Church and the Community Partner Network for a virtual series on Human Trafficking and Youth Vulnerability.

The National Human Trafficking Hotline is the premier resource for human trafficking statistics in the United States and it consistently ranks North Carolina among the top states in the country for number of reported Human Trafficking cases. We were #11 in 2019. The most unsettling statistic highlights the vulnerability of our youth. The age group at the highest risk for human trafficking is between 15 and 18 years of age. That seems so distant from our Wake County communities and, as parents, it is hard to believe that our own children are anywhere near this threat.

Today, predators look and hunt for victims very differently. Most of the time, the trafficker is someone the victim knows and can even be a family member. They look for vulnerabilities and isolated kids that have some degree of disconnection as the hook. It can start off innocently with a need fulfilled and quickly become a situation of coercion and forced exploitation that our teens are not equipped to handle.

Wake County has all the characteristics of a Hot Spot. Traffickers are already here and come equipped to lure our children and youth into commercial sex acts and/or compelled labor. It is important that families, and especially our youth know the deceptive tactics traffickers use to exploit, coerce, and recruit. It is even more important that as a community, we make sure everyone commits to vigilance and resiliency against this heinous blight.

• What can we do as Parents? And, as a community?
• We can have the tough conversation with our kids;
• We can empower youth by arming them with knowledge and resources;
• We can be informed and proactive as a community to raise awareness;
• We can stop victimization by bringing light into the darkness!