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SALT LAKE CITY -- Utahns hit the streets to bring awareness to human trafficking this weekend. The nonprofit group Operation 61 sponsored a first annual 5K/10K as part of the "Stop Traffic" event.
Activists say human trafficking is a crime that happens abroad and here in Utah. Operations 61 Director Brad Manuel says Utah is a major player in human trafficking.
"Large groups of individuals are being trafficked through domestic servitude, working on barns, ranches," he says.
He says ignorance contributes to the problem and many Utahns don't know that trafficking could be happening in their neighborhood.
"Trafficking is a very large issue in our refugee community in Salt Lake City," says Manuel. Refugees are susceptible to modern-day slavery because of language and cultural barriers.
"Utah has about 35,000 refugees in the state, with 1,000 more entering every year," says Manuel. Many come from war-torn countries.
Some refugees are war torture victims and can't return to their countries for political reasons. Others are promised a better life in America, but once they get here, they basically become slaves.
"Unfortunately, in our American system, people and business owners take advantage of their situation," explains Manuel. These victims remain in their situation mainly because they don't speak much English, don't know their legal rights, and can't return to their countries.
Utah refugees aren't the only ones susceptible to modern-day slavery. Manuel says at times young girls in Salt Lake County have been forced into illegal activities.
For example, he says, "Through working with the Utah Health & Human Rights Project, we know of a 12-year-old girl in Sandy forced into prostitution by a group of older boys."
"Teenagers into their twenties are taking advantage of these younger girls, treating them nice, kind of like their sly way of getting these girls to ultimately work for them," he says.
Manuel says some people arrested for prostitution last year were victims of trafficking. He says they become criminals, which adds to the stigma and the cycle of modern-day slavery. Manuel says victims feel ashamed and trapped, so they don't report their abusers.
Operation 61 hopes more Utahns will get involved in organizations that help rescue and rehabilitate victims.
"We all need to collaborate and mobilize people who can recognize the signs of modern-day slavery and then rescue these victims, and help them with long-term rehabilitation," says Manuel.
For more information on anti-trafficking organizations such as Operation 61 and the Utah Health and Human Rights Project, visit www.operation61.org and www.uhhr.org.
E-mail: [niyamba@ksl.com ](<mailto: niyamba@ksl.com>)
