Christopher’s Story
September 16, 2014
(Left to right): ACF/RHY Program Manager Christopher Holloway, ACF Regional Administrator Carlis Williams, Urban Institute Senior Researcher Meredith Dank and DOJ U.S. Attorney for Western District of Tennessee Edward Stanton III.By Koneta Perkins, Program Analyst, Office of Regional Operations - Region IV
“Empowering and educating our communities with knowledge will help identify and provide crucial services to victims of human trafficking”
- Carlis V. Williams, Regional Administrator, Region IV, Atlanta
ACF Region IV Atlanta, in partnership with Region IV Department of Justice Community Relations Service, was given a unique opportunity to hold a Human Trafficking Forum at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tenn., on Sept. 9. We were all very much aware that we were in an historical place and that our discussions around modern day slavery were deeply rooted in the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
We held an all-day forum on human trafficking, focusing on child and youth exploitation with a particular emphasis on the special challenges faced by LGBTQ youth. We also felt it was important to continue to educate our often first responders, law enforcement personnel. This was accomplished by partnering with U.S. Department of Justice District Attorney Ed Stanton, who provided training to law enforcement officers on how to recognize the signs of human trafficking. There were over 125 attendees from four states and 55 law enforcement personnel were trained. We just kept bringing in more chairs!
The comments about the forum and training were overwhelming. One police officer told me after listening to the presentations that he started looking at runaways differently. He said that he hadn’t really thought about runaways being victims of human trafficking and would now certainly be able to identify and suggest services to these runaways after all the information given at the forum.
Another officer commented he really appreciated all the handouts from various non- governmental and federal agencies.
After a presentation from Dr. Marisa Richmond, president of the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition, several audience members signed up to join the coalition. Other organizations present, like the Trans Advocacy Network, an alliance of transgender organizations that work at the state and local level, spoke of coming together to build a stronger trans movement by facilitating the sharing of resources, best practices and organizing strategies. Others spoke about the need to do more in their communities and schools to increase educational awareness for all students, teachers and parents about this issue.
We are excited about our ongoing collaboration with our anti-human trafficking service providers, advocates, local and state government agencies and law enforcement. We are seeing an increase in the public becoming more aware of human trafficking and how essential it is to become educated and responsive to victims in their communities. The work continues!
