The Human Trafficking Task Force of Yellowstone County took to gas stations to raise awareness in Billings this week.
At Holiday gas stations around town, anti-human trafficking organizers manned tables filled with informational handouts, upcoming event pamphlets, and packets of red sand.
"The Red Sand Project is a project that is meant to visually bring attention to the epidemic of human trafficking," says Joyce Bonvillain, a member of the Zonta Club, a women’s advocacy and empowerment group.
"And what is done is folks take red sand and spread them in the cracks in front of their home or businesses. And then it represents the folks that have fallen through the cracks," Bonvillain says.
Last year eleven thousand U.S. trafficking cases were reported. Montana reported 38 known cases.
The Polaris Project, the group responsible for the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline, is reporting that human trafficking crisis situations have increased by forty percent during the coronavirus pandemic. They say housing insecurity is putting people at high risk.
Brandi Demars, a longtime task force member, says trafficking is not always obvious.
"So much of this is under the radar," Demars says.
According to the Polaris Project, runaway children between 12 and 14 year old are most at risk. But they say anyone can be trafficked and often the trafficker isn’t a stranger, but a family member or friend.
Demars says this is the third year the Red Sand Project has been hosted in Billings. To raise community awareness, the Yellowstone County task force partnered with local groups, including the Zonta Club and Tumbleweed, an at-risk youth program.
"Normally we would have an event at MSUB [Montana State University Billings] where 80 different organizations will come and set up tables to bring awareness to the community. This year due to Covid, we're unable to do that," Demars says.
Instead, the task force set up where most people still need to go: the gas station. Val Jeffries, the regional manager of Holiday Station stores, agreed to host the events at four stations across Billings during the mornings and evenings.
The task force’s next event will be a REDress project in downtown Billings on October 11 to raise awareness of missing and murdered Indigenous women.
The National Human Trafficking Hotline accepts tips of suspicious activity at 1-888-373-7888.
To learn more about the Yellowstone County Area Human Trafficking Task Force you can email them at stoptraffickingmontana@gmail.com or find their page on Facebook.
