Billings, Montana – Human trafficking is one of the biggest issues in the world right now, and the closest persons to the victim are the ones mainly involved.
Rise Up For Children event was held on the Yellowstone County courthouse lawn giving information to help children and raising awareness of human trafficking. Around 50 people gathered at the event and walked around the block.
The goal of Rise Up For Children is to speak for the kids who can not speak for themselves. It is very important everyone to look out for possible abusers.
Stephanie Anderson is one of the attendants at the event who survived human trafficking.
“Looked like he worked with my dad. He took my hand and he walked me down the hall. Within two minutes, my life changed forever,” said Anderson about her experience.
“There is a demand for commercial sex here in Billings. There’s a demand in every community. And it’s so prevalent that every community needs to be aware of how to notice human trafficking, the signs of human trafficking, how to report it, how to prevent it. We need to talk to parents and children about exploitation, what is dangerous online, and how there are so many predators ready and waiting to exploit children who are online. So there’s a lot of education and prevention that we can do about it as well. But we need to care,” said Erin Walker of End Exploitation Montana and Montana Operation Underground Railroad volunteer team co-leader.
