Southern Grit Advocacy works to prevent human trafficking – News Channel 6 | Wichita Falls, TX

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) – Tuesday Mar. 28, Southern Grit Advocacy's True North Anti-Trafficking Coalition held its inaugural meeting today.

They joined Tarrant county's Stone Five task force via Zoom to see what an established anti trafficking coalition is all about.

The coalition plans to meet once a month to strategize ways to prevent human trafficking in our area.

“Prevention is one of the pillars in the Texas strategic plan to try and end human trafficking, it's also one of the top pillars in the White House's plan to combat human trafficking, so prevention education for K through 12th grade is going to be so key, so we hope people will partner with that for us too,” Vicky Payne, Executive Director of Southern Grit Advocacy, said.

Payne says their main form of combating human trafficking will be education; making sure people understand signs of potential traffickers.

“They're our neighbors, they're people who make up our community,” said steering committee member, Cara Sauceda. “You might be standing next to them in the Walmart line, or you know, maybe they're someone who has given you a service and you don't realize that they're in need and in help, sometimes they don't realize they're in need and they're in help… they need our help. And so, it's just, it's an opportunity for us to bring compassion to those who need it the most.”

According to Stone Five task force, the most common trafficking takes form in labor, when people are taken form their homes and forced to work jobs.

People trafficked for labor often seem like your average neighbor, or employee, but there are always signs of trafficking to look for.

You can find out more about the initiative here.

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