Two singular regional conferences planned in Central Iowa and Western Iowa in 2017

The regional conference, “Human Trafficking: Not in Our Town, ” held on November 17th, in Cedar Rapids Iowa was deemed a success. The conference was organized by Chains Interrupted and co-sponsors included the Iowa Network Against Human Trafficking and the Iowa Department of Human Service. Two hundred ten people attended, representing over 65 organizations from all over Eastern Iowa. The day was organized in an efficient way and allowed nine speakers to present ten topics to the entire audience, with a Q & A panel at the end. The conference was designed so that all participants stayed together and did not break up into separate workshops.

The keynote speaker was Stephen O’Meara, from the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office. Together with Teresa Davidson (Chains Interrupted and NAHT Board member) Mr. O’Meara presented an overview of human trafficking (HT). He also addressed the Cedar Rapids’ HT Coalition, describing a plan of action for a “Community Collaborative Caretaking Response.”

Brad Fox, a principal in small town Iowa, presented how he was instrumental in bringing down a trafficking ring and rescuing over 100 children. Other informative presentations included a survivor’s story, Teens Against Human Trafficking, Stockholm Syndrome, approaches to restoration, the anti-H.T. “Plan of Action” in the Cedar Rapids area, Cedar Valley Friends of the Family’s new HT survivor services, a review of cases in Eastern Iowa, and the debut of Chains Interrupted’s “Stop the Demand” program. This new Cedar Rapids program has the goal of reducing the demand for prostitution and sex trafficking. The Johns who pay for sex are driving the sex trade industry in the USA which is estimated to be 14.6 billion dollars. Stop the Demand is looking into forming a John School which is an educational and rehabilitation program that judges can order Johns to attend. Offenders names are published in local newspapers. Often, Johns are barred from going to strip clubs and casinos.

Stop the Demand is also educating the public on the connection between pornography and prostitution. Preoccupation with pornography frequently leads to the solicitation of paid sex. This newly formed Cedar Rapids program has taken on a huge challenge but Stop the Demand is made up of highly committed volunteers.

If you are interested in stopping the demand in your own community, the Cedar Rapids program recommends that you start a porn and sex addicts recovery group. There are two group settings the Cedar Rapids project recommended. Those who are of the Christian faith should explore the Conqueror Series, which can be found at www.conquerseries.com. If you are interested in starting a non-faith based group, they recommend the Fortify Program that can be found here www.fightthenewdrug.org/get-help/. If you have questions about the Cedar Rapids Stop the Demand project or how you can get involved, please email StopTheDemandNow@gmail.com or call 319-320-8117.

The Iowa Network Against Human Trafficking commends Teresa Davidson, President of Chains Interrupted, for her strong leadership and conference organizational skills. In turn, Chains Interrupted specifically thanks its generous Corporate Sponsors, HT Coalition members who provided gifts for the favor bags and information booths, the “Human Trafficking: Not in our Town” conference planning committee and all the attendees who cared enough to take time out of their day to learn more about Iowa’s fight against this heinous crime. If you missed this excellent one-day anti-human trafficking conference, please know that regional conferences are being planned for 2017 by regional coalitions in central Iowa and in western Iowa. Let me know if you are interested in serving on a conference planning committee and I will connect you with conference planners.