Local Awareness & Education Event Aims to Prevent Human Trafficking

Douglas County now has a chance to help prevent one of the fastest growing crimes in the US, where the average age of recruitment is 13, and half of the victims are 12 to 17 years old. Thanks to a Zonta International Centennial Grant, the Douglas County Human Trafficking Task Force (DCHTTF) recently sent a Trafficking Prevention Curriculum to every Middle and High School in Douglas County. The curriculum features a teacher-led Teens Against Trafficking PowerPoint presentation developed by Bend’s In Our Backyard (IOB) prevention organization. Douglas County will be the first county in the state to offer prevention training to our 6th to 12th grade students. The curriculum meets the Oregon Health Standards for the Promotion of Sexual Health and the Promotion of Mental, Social and Emotional Health for grades 6 to 12. It also meets Erin’s Law, to adopt child sexual abuse prevention programs. To help parents learn more about trafficking and the curriculum, the DCHTTF and Roseburg Zonta are hosting a Stand Up Awareness Education event November 11th from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Roseburg Public Library. The program will also feature Myrtle Creek Detective, Kevin Taggart, who has successfully led multiple trafficking sting operations in the county. Matt Barrett, Sutherlin Police Department, will also be attending. Said Marion Pearson, head of the task force and Mercy Foundation’s Violence Prevention Specialist, “with this curriculum we help our kids recognize trafficking and stop it before becoming a victim.” Data collected from Sutherlin and Oakland schools who piloted the program in May, showed that 100 percent of the students felt the program taught them how to recognize signs of trafficking, triggers that make people vulnerable, and that anyone can be trafficked regardless of gender, race or social status. When: Friday November 11, 2022 6-8 PM Where: Roseburg Public Library