Human Trafficking Prevention month comes after busy year for advocates

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – Just days after local advocates wrapped up a busy 2023 year, Human Trafficking Prevention Month is in full swing.

Enforcement officers and advocates from across the Brazos Valley say this work couldn’t be done without an informed community.

The Brazos Valley Human Trafficking Task Force is made up of law enforcement officers and advocates, just like Naomi Rijpstra, the Unbound Now BCS Director of Programs.

“Last year we served 130 new clients. And so I think what has upped our numbers so much is because there’s such a need. We have the task force and so it’s the collaboration to really help identify those victims that are already there,” she said.

Human trafficking can look different depending on the situation. Here in the Brazos Valley, Rijpstra says it has a few different forms.

“It’s someone who is forced to work and is not getting paid properly. It’s someone building a relationship online with someone and it’s falling in love and at some point this relationship kind of turns and they’re being prostituted. It could look like a youth that is on the streets and is selling themselves or exchanging sex so that they have a place to stay that they have food to eat,” she said.

The task force works hard to identify those victims and make contact with them. But, educating others on how to identify something is wrong has been key, according to Gabriel Sifuentez, an investigator with the Brazos Valley Human Trafficking Task Force.

“The biggest thing that we’ve found as far as people being able to recognize that their situation is a human trafficking type situation is because somebody has taken the time to talk to them. Somebody has taken the moment to really sit down with them and say hey what’s going on in your life and they can understand this change in behavior or they recognize that something is a little bit of a miss,” he said.

If you believe you are a victim of human trafficking or someone you know is in danger contact 9-1-1. Unbound Now BCS has a 24/7 hotline that can be contacted at (979) 710-7758.

Unbound Now BCS is hosting an awareness event on Jan. 27. The group will be stopping by local businesses to educate people on how to identify victims of trafficking. This year will be targeting salons and the group is looking for volunteers. You can register here.