by Tamra Farah
Do you often feel like I do, that a wide unbridgeable gulf stands between you and the worst human suffering in the world? I have learned that there are over 20 million slaves in the world today — more than at any other time in history. But what could I possibly do to help.
Last October at the Symposium hosted by the Human Trafficking Task Force of Southern Colorado (H-TSC) I discovered modern slavery — including sex slavery and labor trafficking — isn’t just an overseas phenomenon. It is happening in our own back yard here in the state of Colorado. Last year alone the Innocence Lost Task Force of the Denver FBI rescued 47 victims of sex trafficking, 33 were children.
At the symposium they asked for a volunteer to coordinate the first-ever Human Trafficking Awareness Advocacy Day at the Colorado State Capitol. I felt a bit like a fourth-grader clamoring for the teacher’s attention, but I knew this was my chance to ‘do something.’ Armed with 30 years of experience as a community organizer and the help of many new mentors, including Betty Edwards, the H-TSC chair, I got to work.
Four months of planning culminated in the first-ever Human Trafficking Awareness Advocacy Day at the Colorado State Capitol on Feb. 21. Blizzard conditions curbed citizen participation, yet we had 25 at our legislative breakfast as A.J. Alejano-Steele of the Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking (LCHT) outlined Human Trafficking the state of Colorado.
In collaboration with our Legislative Host Committee (Sen. John Kefalas (D), Sen. Steve King (R), Rep. Beth McCann (D), and Rep. Amy Stephens (R)) we wrote the first-ever Human Trafficking Resolution presented on the State Senate and House floor followed by legislator testimony and unanimous support. Plopped into the middle of bitter partisanship surrounding the gun-control debates was the commitment to end this human rights tragedy in our state. On that day, unity engulfed the Capitol in Denver.
The legislative luncheon program, attended by 50, included a panel of experts addressing the four P’s necessary to get down the “Road to the End of Modern Slavery.” Magalie Lerman of Praxus on PREVENTION; Susan Anderson of Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains on the PROTECTION of victims; Janet Drake, Senior Assistant Attorney General, on the PROSECUTION of pimps and trafficking rings, and Jim Smithwick of (LCHT) on essential PARTNERSHIPS. A.J. Alejano-Steele (LCHT) and Raj Chohan, Esq. and former CBS affiliate reporter moderated.
The last event of the day was the West Steps Rally. The rally was electric with 75 in the crowd and a line-up of rousing two minute speeches by Attorney General John Suthers; Denver Chief of Police Robert White; Betty Edwards, Chair, H-TSC, James Yacone, Special Agent in Charge, Denver FBI; Beth Klein, Esq., Founder, Klein-Frank Foundation and Summit2EndIt; Brad Riley, Founder and Director, iEmpathize; and brought home by a powerful victim-to-survivor success story by Aubrey Terry, M.S.W. and clinical Director of Sarah’s Home, whose sister was trafficked and took her life at 16.
The rally was kicked off by a music selection from Marta Burton’s production “Unbounded: Breaking the Chains of Modern Slavery.” Riveted as we were by each speaker’s call for awareness and action, not even the Attorney General slipped out until the Rally concluded.
My husband, Barry, and I moved to Colorado Springs nearly 20 years ago to raise our children in a safe haven. Unbeknownst to us, all the while, human trafficking was happening in our own “backyard.” Pimps pose as “friends,” busting into a circle of girls at a high school football game in our neighborhoods. Phone numbers are exchanged, texting starts, and the fraudulent relationship begins. In the case of the vulnerable, it can lead to an everyday suburban girl being psychologically manipulated into being trafficked, if we don’t teach kids to be aware. Each of us can jump on the road to the end of modern slavery.
Human Trafficking Awareness Advocacy Day was hosted by Betty Edwards and the board of the Human Trafficking Task Force of Southern Colorado (H-TSC). The mission of the Task Force is to build a collaboration of organizations and individuals to reduce human suffering caused by human trafficking, through advocacy, awareness, rehabilitation, and services for survivors. Please visit www.ht-colorado.org.
Tamra Farah has more than 30 years of experience as a community organizer and women’s leader. Most recently Farah managed the campaign for a U.S. congressional candidate in Colorado’s 5th CD and was selected to participate in the Leadership Program of the Rockies class of 2013.
