Kristin Hirsch and Kevin O’Neill met with the Monument Hill Kiwanis Club recently to educate and fight against human trafficking. They say it is important to be READY if you suspect someone is in danger.

R – Report anything dangerous
E – End the communication
A – Ask for help
D – Don’t Engage
Y – Your safety first

The focus was on how traffickers often follow a pattern of targeting a victim: building trust, finding a need or vulnerability, isolating the person, exploiting them and then maintaining control.

The program highlighted vulnerabilities that can increase risk. This includes housing insecurity, poverty, neglect, abuse, foster care, mental health challenges and online spaces such as social media and gaming. Presenters also emphasized that supportive communities and stable housing can be important factors in recovery.

Affordable housing in the Tri-Lakes has been a problem for years now as many local families struggle to live in the area that they work.

Hirsch and O’Neill reviewed possible warning signs of sex trafficking, such as unexplained access to money, hotel keys, refillable gift cards or multiple phones. Sudden changes in clothing and evidence of a controlling relationship are also important to look out for. They also shared potential indicators of labor trafficking, including excessively long hours, false recruiting promises, isolation from support systems, unsafe working conditions or being monitored by another person.

The presenters encouraged community members to respond to potential victims with care. Believe their story, avoid asking “why” it happened and don’t make promises you can’t keep.

For more information, residents can visit the Human Trafficking Task Force of Southern Colorado at www.ht-colorado.org or email httfsoco@gmail.com. Suspected trafficking can be reported to the Colorado Human Trafficking Task Force at 866-455-5075 or by text at 720-999-9724. The National Human Trafficking Hotline is 888-373-7888.

If you think someone is being abused, call 911 immediately. You can save a life by picking up the phone.