'It's not enough.' Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative highlights need for more support services
From 2022 to 2024, the chief state's attorney says human trafficking investigations increased by 200% in Connecticut.
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The state is enlisting the help of commercial truck drivers to help combat the growing problem of human trafficking, but one local survivor says much more needs to be done.
From 2022 to 2024, the chief states attorney says human trafficking investigations increased by 200% in Connecticut.
State and federal agencies are spreading awareness this week during the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s national five-day initiative.
The Department of Motor Vehicles, the Department of Children and Families and law enforcement agencies are passing out pamphlets to commercial truck drivers at weigh stations throughout Connecticut to teach them the signs of human trafficking and how to report suspicious activity.
"The truckers are our eyes and ears out on our roadways," DMV Commissioner Tony Geurrera says. "They're the ones that are going to see a lot of things out there that we may not see."
While it's a great way to spread awareness, human trafficking survivor Nathan Earl says it's only a small piece of a much larger puzzle.
"It's not enough," Earl says. "There are long waiting lists to access behavioral health care for victims or folks who have been trafficked for labor or sex with histories of substance misuse or who need behavioral health treatment."
Earl says Connecticut lacks the infrastructure to truly help victims of human trafficking and the state relies on data that often leaves out the exploitation of boys and men.
"Human trafficking occurs across the gender-spectrum," Earl says. "If we are to invest as taxpayers and residents of Connecticut in a firm foundation that will lay the blueprint for our response moving forward so that no one falls prey to human trafficking, we have to include everybody who is impacted in those plans."
Officials are encouraging the public to report suspicious activity to the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
