Help End Human Trafficking in 2024 - Network Against Human Trafficking and Slavery

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It’s my privilege to write to you at the start of 2024 and to announce major events to launch Iowa’s 2024 observance of “Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.” We invite you to join the Network Against Human Trafficking and Slavery (NAHT) for these events and thereby join the movement to end human trafficking in Iowa. Nonetheless, we thank you for all of your efforts to utilize this annual observance as a springboard for community awareness and education. If you know of other statewide training or events, please let me know.

How Can You Help to End Modern Slavery/Human Trafficking in 2024

New Year 2024 greetings to our Iowa NAHT blog subscribers. Worldwide there are 50 million people trafficked and enslaved. That is a 10 million increase from the pre-pandemic year of 2019. Globally, one in four of these exploited and abused souls is under the age of 18.
So how can you as an individual help in 2024 to fight against human trafficking and slavery? As a first step, you can educate yourself about modern slavery and help others to become aware of this growing crime. You can insist that businesses check their supply chains for slavery-produced goods.

You can also ask local businesses to become an Iowa Business Against Trafficking (IBAT) member by going to https://ibat.iowa.gov. Since our Iowa Secretary of State launched this unique anti-trafficking program in January 2022, 711 businesses have already joined IBAT. The Secretary of State and the NAHT hope to reach 1000 IBAT members but need your help.

You can also donate funds in 2024 to anti-trafficking organizations such as the Iowa NAHT. If you go to https://iowanaht.org/donate-now / your gift to the Network can be completed quickly using your credit card or PayPal.

You can urge your state representatives to propose and/or strengthen anti-trafficking laws. Tap here for the NAHT anti-trafficking legislative priorities for 2024 (PDF). Speaking to your local legislators allows you to join forces with the NAHT board and other allies from across Iowa to improve public policy. A good day to visit with your Iowa Representative and Senator would be Thursday, January 11th, NAHT Day at the Legislature.

January 2024 is an especially good time to learn the facts about trafficking. In recognition of Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, there are numerous Iowa events and training opportunities. These statewide events are free and can be found in this NAHT blog post/newsletter.

Tap here for 11 more ideas on how you can volunteer in 2024 to fight human trafficking.

Thursday January 11th Governor’s Proclamation Signing and 5 Outstanding Anti-Trafficking Service Awards

On January 11th, the NAHT will host the public signing of a proclamation by Governor Kim Reynolds designating January 2024 as Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. The proclamation signing will take place on Thursday, January 11th at 11:30 a.m. in the Rotunda of the State Capitol Building in Des Moines. All anti-trafficking advocates are invited to attend and wear the color blue. January 11th is also National Wear Blue Day to show your support for human trafficking awareness. Blue is the international color of human trafficking awareness. Tap here for the Save the Date flyer (PDF) for more details.

Five Outstanding Anti-Trafficking Service Awards will also be presented on January 11th immediately following the proclamation signing. The five exceptional Iowa anti-trafficking unsung heroes and organizations are:

Wings of Refuge: Iowa’s First Survivor Restoration Residential Service Facility.
Sparker Solutions: Extraordinary support of trafficking survivor provider services as an Iowa Business Against Trafficking (IBAT).
Kim Smith: Shared Hope Ambassador, full-time volunteer trainer, “Online safety” for children & youth.
Bernadette Rixner: Volunteer extraordinaire for the NAHT and Siouxland Coalition Against Human Trafficking, founder of SCAHT.
Pieper Lewis’s Legal Defense Team: Above and beyond advocacy and legal defense for human trafficking survivor resulting in a safe place of restoration/healing versus 20 years in prison.

National Human Trafficking Prevention Month Toolkit

January is Human Trafficking Prevention Month, a presidentially designated observance aimed at educating the public about human trafficking and the role they can play in prevention and response.

The Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP) toolkit for National Human Trafficking Prevention Month 2024 focuses on activating partnerships to prevent and respond to human trafficking. The toolkit includes sample social media posts, graphics, newsletter and website copy, and resources. Tap here to view this toolkit.

Siouxland Coalition Sponsors “Light Up in Blue”

In observance of January as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, the Siouxland Coalition Against Human Trafficking (SCAHT) has encouraged businesses, agencies, families, and individuals to “light up in blue”. Many blue-light storefront displays were competing for the best display, and shown here is a photo of just one window display that will stay lit up in blue through January.

The blue LED lights that cross 4th street in Sioux City will stay blue for January thanks to Downtown Partners. A small sign has been placed in windows that explains why businesses are lighting up in blue to show their involvement in the fight against human trafficking.

January 11 is Human Trafficking Awareness Day as well as Wear Blue Day. Siouxland also encourages all to wear blue (the color for human trafficking awareness) on the 11th to show their support and to post something about why participants are concerned about human trafficking on their social media that day.

Here is a photo of the Slavery and Siouxland Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting. To kick off its “Light Up in Blue” project here in recognition of January, National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, the Chamber, Downtown Partners, and other businesses have all agreed to keep their blue lights up in January.

The Siouxland Coalition will also have some billboards up in Sioux City in January. One is located at the intersection of Floyd Blvd and Outer Belt Dr. going north. The second one is located at 14th and Hamilton going east.

As always, SCAHT will be asking local governments to sign a proclamation of January as Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

Pieper Lewis Finally Placed in a Trauma Informed Care Restoration Program

As an alternative to 20 years in prison, Pieper Lewis has finally been placed in an out-of-state non-profit restoration facility. After two years in detention (which began at the age of 15), Pieper is finally receiving trauma-informed care in an unlocked residential facility that serves only survivors of sex trafficking. The location and facility name are completely confidential. Teresa Davison, CEO of Chains Interrupted in Cedar Rapids, facilitated the placement and with her permission, here is her first-hand account:

“As I looked up. I saw the sparkle of a combination of excitement, fear, hope, and expectation in the eyes of Pieper Lewis, as she got her first glimpse of her outside world of freedom. I got the honor of accompanying her on her journey to restoration, and she has been leading the way carrying the luggage. As we were going down the escalator, I had a moment where I looked back to see her above me…and she appeared larger than life.

We had been talking about all the things she could accomplish and how she should use this incredible opportunity to change the world. And at that moment, all the countless hours, frustrations, barriers to overcome, the sacrifice of time, court hearings, video calls, late-night phone calls, road trips, jail visits, emails, and frantic texts blowing up my phone, all came together in my very soul, knowing it was worth it.

Pieper has been given an opportunity for restoration because her attorneys remarkably identified her as being a victim of human trafficking and assembled a team of leaders with the criminal justice system and anti-human trafficking movement to fight for her. “Team Pieper” went above and beyond, working to overcome the barriers in a system that is not equipped to deal with the specific victimization of human trafficking. Sadly, the system is far more accustomed to criminalizing those who are victimized. Pieper’s case is remarkable as it paves the way for future cases. The criminal justice system in Iowa is now open to the possibility that many more people have been victimized by this crime within their facilities and programs.

Pieper’s team is now looking to form a task force to identify and assist even more survivors. Evil flourishes, when good people do nothing, and these good people refuse to do nothing. Some days it is apparent that Satan is the prince of this world. Other days God shows us glimpses that His Hand is still in it… there is still hope.“

Alleged Human Trafficking Victims from South America Must be Deposed in Iowa

The following article was written by Clark Kauffman (Iowa Capital Dispatch and Published Dec. 13 2023 in the Des Moines Register.

“A community college that’s facing two multimillion-dollar lawsuits alleging it engaged in human trafficking is arguing the alleged victims must return to Iowa from Chile to sit for depositions in the case.

The former students say they can’t afford the expense of returning to Iowa and have sought the court’s permission to provide deposition testimony remotely through Zoom-type videoconferencing.

The two lawsuits against Western Iowa Tech Community College were filed in federal court more than three years ago and are scheduled for trial next spring. One lawsuit was filed on behalf of 14 students from Chile, and the other was filed on behalf of 11 other students who mostly originate in Brazil.

The lawsuits allege the school enticed impoverished students to come to Iowa where they were placed in “debt bondage” working at a food-processing plant and dog food factory.” Continue reading the article here.

Human Trafficking Legislative Interim Study Committee

This report is submitted by Chelsea Hoye of Advocacy Strategies

The Human Trafficking Interim Study Committee met on Tuesday, November 28, 2023, at the Iowa State Capitol from 10 am to 1 pm. As required in SF 562, members of the Committee were charged with reviewing initiatives, laws, policies, and other matters relating to human trafficking, exploring appropriate human trafficking-related training for law enforcement officers, county attorneys, and juvenile service officers, and identifying relevant funding needs.

Legislative members of the Committee included Senators Dan Dawson (Council Bluffs), Brad Zaun (Urbandale), and Janet Petersen (Des Moines), and Representatives Brian Lohse (Bondurant), Mark Thompson (Clarion), and Ross Wilburn (Ames).

Other members of the Committee included Pat Waymire representing the Dept. of Public Safety, John Gish representing the Iowa Attorney General’s Office, Ray Fiedler representing the Office to Combat Human Trafficking, Ashley Artzer representing Juvenile Court Services, Dallas County Attorney Meggan Guns, Iowa State Public Defender Matt Scheeley, Altoona Chief of Police Greg Stallman, Lt. Tony Ballantini of Des Moines, Gretchen Brown-Waech representing victims, Co-Founder & CEO of Chains Interrupted Teresa Davison representing NAHT, and Polk County Sheriff Kevin Schneider.

Following member introductions and opening remarks from lawmakers, Ray Fiedler gave an overview of current human trafficking laws, initiatives, and services in Iowa. General discussion of human trafficking prevalent and court procedure followed. Highlighted points of conversation included current funding allocation and sources, available services and housing for Iowa victims, merits and challenges to the adoption of a Safe Harbor law, current statute of limitations laws for trafficking victims, and the use of criminal depositions (specific legislation referenced: SF 525).

The Committee is required to submit a report outlining their findings and recommendations to the Office of the Governor and the General Assembly prior to the commencement of the 2024 Legislative Session. Any proposed legislation or budget recommendations for the 2024 Legislative Session will be identified in this report. We will provide the report once it is filed.

Child Trafficking Prevention Conference – 15 Free Virtual Workshops January 11th-31st

The NAHT wants to share training information about the NYC Administration for Children’s Services’ Office of Child Trafficking Prevention and Policy’s 2024 NYC Child Trafficking Prevention Conference (virtual) which will occur between January 11^th and January 31^st, 2024 in recognition of January as Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. The conference will provide fifteen (15) professional-level workshops on a variety of trafficking-related topics presented by regional and national experts. They have several completely new workshops and several of their traditional workshops enhanced with new material, all of which directly supports their 2024 theme: Evolving Safety Through Prevention, Intervention, and Mitigation.

All workshops are FREE and will be provided virtually through Microsoft Teams. All workshops are scheduled for Eastern Standard Time (EST). Iowa advocates will need to adjust the training times one hour back for Central Standard Time (CST).

Please note that there are no CEUs or CLEs available for any of the workshops. Registration instructions are located on page 1 of the program and the registration links for the workshops are on pages 3 to 5. The program is accessible by tapping here.

Registration is ongoing and can occur right up to the start time of a workshop. After you register, you will receive an email with the workshop entry link. Save the email with the workshop entry link to enter the workshop on its scheduled day. Each Team room holds up to 1,000 attendees, so there is space for all. Unfortunately, there are no CEUs or CLEs available.

Everyone is welcome to attend! Professionals of all genres, community members, survivors, stakeholders, parents, foster parents, and young adults ages 18+.

Please send any event-related questions to Traffickingtraining@acs.nyc.go

TV News Clips & Articles

By Dr. George Belitsos on January 1, 2024 / News