COLORADO SPRINGS — Human trafficking can often be confused with child abduction, and while both are tragic, human trafficking can impact people of all ages and backgrounds.
That is whyCalvary Family Martial Arts and Fitness, Colorado Springs Policeand the Human Trafficking Task Force of Southern Coloradohave teamed up to offer a free human trafficking awareness workshop this weekend.
I spoke with Isaac Costley, the owner of Calvary Family Martial Arts and Fitness about what inspired them to co-host this class this weekend. He said it’s because human trafficking impacts more people than you may realize, and it’s important that we inform our community members and give them the tools to stay safe.
According to the U.S. Department of State, “With an estimated 24.9 million victims worldwide at any given time, human traffickers prey on adults and children of all ages, backgrounds, and nationalities, exploiting them for their own profit.”
“We want to go ahead and take the time to let people know, that not only is it your daughter, but it can be your son, and we don’t seem to understand that. In our state, in our city, in our community, human trafficking, which is today’s form of slavery goes on, and we are going to go ahead and inform people of that,” said Costley.
“It’s important for us to be more proactive than reactive, we are going to go over the common signs to let you as a parent know, and even you as a teenager, young adult know, who’s trying to lure you, what are they doing, and how social media also plays its part in this terrible thing called human trafficking.”
The class will be held at CFMAF Martial Arts this Saturday, May 21, from 10 am to noon.
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