NC organizations teach awareness and prevention on National Human Trafficking Awareness Day

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — It's National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, and North Carolina ranks within the top 10 states in the U.S. for human trafficking

According to the North Carolina Human Trafficking Commission, 43 of 100 NC counties had at least one human trafficking, sexual servitude, or involuntary servitude charge from 2017 to 2021.

Commissioner Angelica Wind, with the North Carolina Human Trafficking Commission, said human trafficking is one of the least reported crimes and she said that's mainly due to people being scared to report it, or not knowing they're being trafficked.

According to the NC Human Trafficking Commission, human trafficking victims are:

• Minors involved in any commercial sexual activity
• Adults induced into commercial sexual activity through force, fraud or coercion
• Children and adults induced to perform labor or service through force fraud or coercion

“When we talk about human trafficking, it isn't just sexual trafficking is its labor as well,” Wind said.

Wind said a big misconception is that a stranger is doing the trafficking but more often it's by a friend, family member, employer, or partner.

Wind also said many think it only involves kidnapping but in reality, human trafficking can be someone who asks for nude photos and uses them against someone.

“The young girl thinks that she is consenting to this because she loves this person. When in reality, what is happening is this young person is being exploited for gain by someone. That's why being in the schools is so important and creating that community awareness is vital,” Wind said.

Abolition NC is a nonprofit organization out of Greensboro that uses video-based curriculum to teach human trafficking awareness and prevention.

Cindy King, the executive director for Abolition NC said when they go into North Carolina schools to teach this, many students think human trafficking is someone in a van grabbing a person off the street.

“We talk about in our curriculum, you know, what a safe person will do and that they need to be around people that are safe. So you know, a safe person is not going to ask you to do something that doesn't feel right or that just doesn't sit right in your gut and they're certainly not going to ask you to do compromising things,” King said.

She said after the program, 95 percent of students said they feel better prepared to identify trafficking. In the Piedmont Triad, Guilford County Schools and Rockingham County Schools uses Abolition NC's curriculum.

Both Wind and King stressed the importance of making sure people are educated about human trafficking. They say it can happen to anyone, anywhere.

“It does happen here, it happens in North Carolina, it happens in our community and that folks that are being trafficked, are not necessarily folks that are being brought in from another country. There are folks that are in your communities, people that you may know,” Wind said.

Wind said another misconception is that it only happens in big cities or to people who are low-income. Wind said, “Every community member is vulnerable.”

Wind said, “Don't hesitate to call the trafficking hotline, should you suspect that human trafficking is occurring.”

The National Human Trafficking Hotline is 1-888-373-7888.