Tim Baldi
Senior Reporter
On Oct. 31-Nov. 1, SSTOP and the Bryan College Center for International Development travelled to Atlanta, GA to participate in the first of four human trafficking seminars.
The Georgia Department of Education invited Dennis Miller, executive director of external communications, to coordinate the event according to junior Jonathan Warner, one of the students representing SSTOP at the seminar.
It’s “a recognition of Bryan’s leadership” on the issue of human trafficking, said Warner. It is an honor that Bryan was asked to be involved in the seminars, he added.
The GDE invited Warner and freshmen Lydia Smith and Tanner Franklin to be vendors on behalf of SSTOP during the conference.
The seminars targeted teachers and school administrators in Georgia, said Warner. It was a major opportunity to connect with people in Atlanta and across Georgia.
By creating greater awareness in Georgia social services, education and law enforcement, the GDE hopes to reduce the number of people trafficked, said Miller. Low estimates say 200 girls are trafficked every year while high estimates say up to 500 girls, he said.
“Trafficking is becoming an increasing problem,” Warner said. The conference offered an opportunity to teach what to look for and spread the word about human trafficking.
“The feedback was overwhelmingly positive,” said Miller.
Many child victims of human trafficking still attend school, so teachers have the opportunity to save them if they know what to look for or if the child confides in them.
Because not all human trafficking victims can be found, Miller primarily hopes to prevent victims from being trafficked in the first place.
The speakers at this seminar included former head of the Metropolitan Police Service Human Trafficking Team Steve Wilkinson and Roddy Llewellyn, who established the Metropolitan Police Human Trafficking Team.
The next seminar will be Nov. 30-Dec. 31. Speakers will include James Dold, policy counsel for the Polaris Project, and Anna Paden, a human trafficking activist and researcher.