GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - A local nonprofit says prevention efforts to curb human trafficking and sex trafficking during the NFL Draft in Green Bay was successful.
HER Alliance, formerly known as Awaken, is a resource for victims of trafficking.
They offer this every day in our community, but in the months leading up to the NFL Draft they focused on community awareness to spot the signs of exploitations.
Thanks to collaboration with several agencies, HER Alliance made contact with 10 new victims ranging from 17 to 46 years old. For context, on average HER Alliance serves about 5 women and girls a month.
According to the minutes of last month’s Brown County Public Safety Committee meeting, two suspects were arrested for prostitution.
“We did hear through the grapevine that was going around, especially with online ads, and so that kind of gave us a little bit of encouragement, that wow, all the preparation that we did and making sure they knew this was not going to happen in our community that we truly wanted this event to be something great for Green Bay and to be family-friendly, and we did just that,” Kasia Klaus said.
Klaus, the founder and executive director of HER Alliance, says they didn’t see a large uptick during the draft thanks to education prevention efforts with canvassing and educational classes to help people spot the signs of trafficking.
“We were actually very proud of our community and the efforts we did on the front end to not see a huge enhancement,” Klaus said. “We did get more calls to our warm line, so that was enhanced quite a bit. Other than that, we had a safe home that could’ve been utilized and we actually didn’t have to use it, which is a huge praise.”
The warm line, for support and resources but not for emergencies, is always available in our community by calling (920) 333-1701.
Since the nonprofit got its start, it’s worked with more than 200 women and girls.
Klaus adds that the community should remain on alert for trafficking, and even more so during the colder months. That’s when victims have a greater risk of exploitation because of the need for housing or shelter.
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