“This is not going to go away” My House commemorates Human Trafficking Prevention Month

On any given day, My House in Wasilla works with at-risk and homeless youth; kids who are vulnerable and need food, clothing, education, job training, or any of the other services My House provides.

According to data from the Governor’s Council on Human and Sex Trafficking, from January through December 2022, My House served over 900 clients, and of those 456 were listed as current clients. Within that staggering number, 37 clients reported being the victim of sex trafficking. 82% of those trafficked reported mental health conditions, 77% of those trafficked said that they traded sex for needs, and that over half of those trafficked had no vital records to speak of--meaning no social security card or other documents required to get a job or other benefits.

It’s not unfathomable to believe that victims of human trafficking suffered abuse during their childhood, many have criminal records, and have either engaged in self harm or attempted suicide.

To bring attention to the dire need of human trafficking, Governor Mike Dunleavy issued a proclamation declaring January as Alaska Human Trafficking Prevention Month, and last Thursday, Staci Yates, Director of Human Trafficking Recovery Services, at My House, and the staff at My House took time to honor the proclamation.

“I want to thank all of you for the work that you do. This is clearly a really important topic, a really important problem that we have in the state of Alaska to deal with,” said Todd Smolden, Director of the Mat-Su Valley office of Governor Mike Dunleavy before reading the proclamation.

“Human trafficking is a public health issue and crime that exploits the most vulnerable among us and weakens the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities across generations, and occurs in both rural and urban Alaska,” reads part of the proclamation.

Smolden also told the staff that the Governor will be working on HB 68, a bill that is expected to be before the House this upcoming session, and is targeted to provide legal protection for trafficking victims.

“I am so excited for this,” says Yates. “This is for all the vulnerable, not just at My House, but all across the state. If we could get the victims of trafficking their low-level criminal records expunged, they could get good jobs, approval for housing, things like that. It’s not fair that they’re held back from going on with their lives when they were the victims in all of this, often times underage.”

Another facet of the bill includes the establishment of a new crime, “Patron of Sex Trafficking,” which states that if a person solicits sexual acts with a reckless disregard to the possibility that the person they are soliciting is a victim of sex trafficking, they can be convicted of a Class B felony if the victim is under the age of 18; otherwise it would result in a Class C felony.

“This would increase the penalties for the buyers of sex, so we can deal with the demand-side of human trafficking, which would go so far in helping stem the tide.”

HB 68 would increase the penalties for traffickers, placing the most serious classification on those crimes that use force to traffic an underage person into sex work. It would also increase the penalties for someone who patronize those engaging in sex work-if that person is convicted three times within five years, the offense becomes a felony.

Yates says that there is an additional piece to the bill that was added by Representative Sarah Vance, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, including Human Trafficking Preventative Education.

“That is where I am so excited, because I know if we can teach our kids how to recognize when they are being groomed, then they can save themselves and save others.” Yates is adamant in educating the youth on the signs of grooming

“If we can teach them signs of recognizing when they’re talking to a predator or being groomed, in person or online, that’s how we’re going to win this war.”

Yates is also working to promote curriculum to provide more education and information, called ‘Speak Up’ for homeschoolers across the state.

“It is a K-12 appropriate curriculum that will teach them about abuse prevention methods, curated for each age group. It’s helped keep my family safe from predators. I’m a big proponent for this.”

She says one of the benefits of this program is that it educates not only students, but the entire school staff from teachers to counselors to custodians what to look for and what to do when they come across a victim of trafficking.

Yates says that she is hopeful that school districts will begin utilizing the curriculum as well, and has worked to add ‘Speak Up’ to the list of potential curriculums that school districts can use.

For now, Yates is headed off to Juneau at the end of the month to honor Human Trafficking Week, and is also scheduled to speak with legislators about the importance of passing the bill for the state.

“This is not going to go away.”

For more information about ‘Speak Up,’ visit www.thefoundationunited.com/speakuphomeschool

Those in need of assistance can contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or text “help” to BeFree (233733).