Lexington non-profit raising awareness for “World Day Against Trafficking In Persons”

LEXINGTON, Ky (WTVQ)- Sunday marks World Day Against Trafficking In Persons: a day that raises awareness against human trafficking and aims to combat the crisis.

One Lexington non-profit is spreading a message of support for the victims of human trafficking and to encourage the community to step up their efforts.

Liz Hodge is on the board of directors at The Well of Lexington, Incorporated. She says she was surprised to learn human trafficking happens right here in Kentucky.

“I was just very unaware. I thought this happens other places, it doesn’t happen here, but it really does happen here,” says Hodge.

For nearly a decade, The Well has provided a place of  healing to human trafficking victims, offering programs and other resources.

“We have all kinds of ways of doing that. We have a safe house located in Lexington that houses our residents while they’re healing. We provide counseling, of course education, job placement. Anything to help them kind of find their feet again to get back a live healthy lives,” says Hodge.

Hodge says one in three women in Kentucky will experience violence in her lifetime, with some becoming victims of human trafficking. It’s not just women, however.

“This is not something that just happens only with females, but males too. With our transgender community, with our LGBTQ community, we see it across the board. And it has nothing to do with education or socioeconomic status. This is something that is a problem across Kentucky and we really wanna address it,” says Hodge.

There are contributing factors that lead to human trafficking, including high poverty rates, lack of human rights, and economic opportunity.

With Sunday marking the world day, it’s a day The Well and its’ staff want to help spread awareness. The small non-profit encouraging the community to take a stand against the crisis.

“It’s a great way for us to gain support from the community and actually have those conversations that might be a little bit difficult. It’s not sometimes easy to talk about, things like human trafficking. But its just as important as talking about addiction recovery and domestic violence. And a lot of times, they go hand-in-hand, so this is just a great day to have those conversations and gain support,” says Hodge.

The Well is always in need of donations to help further their mission. You can find ways to learn more here.  The Well is planning a 5K at Coldstream Park on September 8th to help raise funding.

If you notice possible human trafficking situations and need to make a report, you can do so by calling the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.

To reach the Homeland Security Investigations Tip Line, call 1-866-347-2423.