Why Should I Care?

Maybe you’re a single mom, overstretched and busy. Or a college student, broke and sleep-deprived.
Or maybe you’re a small business owner trying to single-handedly get your business off the ground.
It’s not that you don’t care about human trafficking, and it isn’t as though you don’t know about it.
It certainly doesn’t mean that you don’t care. You don’t need to be guilted or spoken down to.
You aren’t a belligerent child who didn’t take the garbage out.

I’m not going to sit here and try to scare you (or myself) into dedicating your whole life into the fight
against human trafficking. It’s unrealistic. But, as it turns out, it’s possible to do little things in your busy,
active life that can help the victims and join in the fight.

Amanda Finger, co-founder of The Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking, explains why Colorado is
so instrumental in the trafficking trade of the U.S. “We’re in the middle of the country, and that makes us
a destination state but also a transit state,” says Finger. “With I-25 and I-70 connecting us to the coast
or to the borders, we sit right in the middle of a lot of action. … We are the largest city in a 600-mile
radius.” I look at this and I see it as an opportunity. Colorado’s greatest asset to trafficking rings could
easily become the greatest asset for those who are fighting against them. If every citizen of the state of
Colorado was to take small steps to fight the spread, imagine the difference that could make country-wide.

So, I’m a college student in colorado with limited time and resources… what can I do to contribute?

Seriously.

First step everyone takes: google it. Turns out, a lot of the things that come up in a google search are
pretty intuitive. First of all, figure out what it actually looks like to see human trafficking up close. I
found a really great report about this by Natalie Jesionka:
https://www.themuse.com/advice/human-trafficking-the-myths-and-the-realities.

Along with this: save the National Human Trafficking Hotline phone number to your phone,
so if you see something, you can easily make someone aware of it.
(1-888-373-7888, or text 233733.)

You can also host a little awareness event in your home! There are lots of videos and stories online
that talk about human trafficking, all you have to do is invite some people you know over and open lines
of communication about it. Maybe show some of these videos (that are actually really interesting).

Use the power of social media! If you see an article or something that looks like a great resource,
share! Re-post. Spread the knowledge around, who knows what kind of impact it could have.

Donate time or money to a local organization. Look, I’m as busy as the next person, but every once in a
while I find myself with a little extra money or a random few hours on a Saturday. Maybe I can donate that
$20 instead of buying a new shirt or lunches out next week. Maybe I can sign up for a little volunteer event.

I’m not here to guilt you, I’m in the same boat. But some of these steps actually seem like things that I can
do. And maybe you can too!