The Wyoming chapter of the International Justice Mission is working at UW to raise awareness of human trafficking.
IJM is a faith-based organization that works to raise awareness of human trafficking and bring justice to survivors of human trafficking and other human rights violations. The organization also meets with other groups to promote legislation for human trafficking in Washington, D.C.
To give Wyoming members of IJM more of an idea of what human trafficking is, they were presented with a film and with a panel of professionals — including lawyers and law enforcement officers — who have seen human trafficking firsthand.
“My colleagues and I weren’t fully educated on sex trafficking in America. Wyoming is very rural and it’s not something you think about happening here. It was really brought to my attention when we watched a film called ‘Sex and Money’ which shows how human trafficking is taking place in the United States,” IJM member Rachel Dowd said.
Human trafficking consists of various types of slavery, including forced labor of agriculture workers, sex trafficking, as well as children being forced into becoming soldiers.
Nearly two million children are exploited in the global commercial sex trade each year and 27 million men, women and children worldwide are being held as slaves, according to www.ijm.org.
While human trafficking seems like something that happens in far-off countries, it is something is happening in the United States. Wyoming is the only state that does not have any piece of sex trafficking legislation.
Representative Cathy Connolly, a Women’s Studies instructor at UW, is a sponsor for a bill that would recognize that human trafficking is a problem, even in Wyoming.
“It’s difficult to say why Wyoming doesn’t have any legislation for human trafficking,” Dowd said. “But I think it’s partially that human trafficking is very organized and very undercover and it’s just not a problem that’s necessarily flashing in everyone’s face.”
To bring human trafficking to the attention of the university and the Laramie community, the UW chapter of IJM will be hosting events beginning Sept. 20.
The events will begin with a documentary titled “Not My Life,” which showcases survivors of various types of sex trafficking.
“It’s a wonderful film that shows how human trafficking is a problem on almost every continent,” Dowd said.
Friday, Arts Aftercare founder Curtis Romjue will give a presentation. Romjue and his wife, Grace Romjue, founded the nonprofit organization that helps survivors of human trafficking through the healing process with different art forms, including visual art, dance and yoga.
Seattle-based band Jubilee also will perform a full set during the events and will talk about human trafficking and how to get involved to put an end to it.
Saturday night, IJM will also host a night of worship at Suite 107.
“One thing we want to make known is that God is present and cares about justice and that prayer is powerful in this fight,” Dowd said. “But even though IJM is faith-based, it’s not a fight about whether or not you’re a Christian. Everyone needs to be awakened to human trafficking.”
Dowd says human trafficking can be overwhelming at times and she understands why people might have hesitations about getting involved.
“I think it scares people and it might seem too oppressive and like too much to take. Even I’ve felt hopeless and like I was unable to make a difference, but there are ways to fight this,” Dowd said.
IJM also will host an advocacy training Sept. 29 to help equip activists with information and preparation to fight human trafficking as well as to help them reach out to local governments to create laws to put an end to human trafficking.
