National Park College (NPC) and the Human Trafficking Task Force of Garland County hosted a Human Trafficking Awareness Film Festival last week to bring attention to the travesty of human trafficking.
The movie, In Plain Sight: Stories of Hope and Freedom features six modern-day abolitionists as they fight sex trafficking across America. Very Young Girls showcases the life of Rachel Lloyd, a former exploited youth and founder of Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS). The documentary film, The Abolitionist, follows Tim Ballard and his team as they liberate 57 children from slavery. The last movie shared was A Path Appears: Episode 1. This movie features Eva Langoria, Malin Akerman, Jennifer Garner, Blake Livey, Ashley Judd, and others as they travel to discover gender-based oppression and human right violations
Taskforce chair, Melisa Glen stated, “Human trafficking is modern day slavery. It occurs in almost every country and has been reported in every state in the United States, including Hot Springs, Arkansas.”
“Human trafficking is essentially the trading of a person or their service for something of value through the means of force, fraud or coercion,” she added.
The taskforce began in November 2012 as a local coalition with a goal to help shine light on the reality of human trafficking. Glen said, “The more trainings and events I attended, the more I was aware it was happening closer and closer to home.” She became concerned and worked with Garland County officials to initiate the task force.
The task force is made up of a variety of stakeholders, including a representative from the Garland County Sheriff's Department, Hot Springs Police Department, United Way, Ouachita Children's Center, Tuggle Clinic, Suicide Prevention Allies, Domestic Violence Task Force, Child Advocacy Center, churches, parents, teachers, students, as well as others from the community. Task force meetings occur the second Tuesday of the month at 1 p.m. For details, contact Glen at melrg327@gmail.com or on Facebook at facebook.com/HTTFGC.
To learn more about missing and exploited children visit www.netsmartz.org.
If you feel someone was/is a victim of Human Trafficking please call the national hotline 888-373-7888 or text (BeFree) 233733. In the case of an emergency call 911. Do not approach or attempt to interfere. To learn more visit www.state.gov/j/tip/id/.
