A conference against human trafficking wrapped up in Billings Wednesday.
For the final day, participants at the Greater Rockies Immersive Training Conference, or GRIT, applied what they’ve learned to a mock case of child trafficking.
Terri Markham with co-organizer Uprising Wyoming said around 200 advocates, court workers and other participants from Rocky Mountain states attended.
“In rural communities, you might not see trafficking cases every day or every week or every month or even every year for really rural towns, so this is a way for us to let them experience it and build up their confidence now, so hopefully if it comes to a real life scenario, they have that to draw on,” said Markham.
The theme this year is advancing victim engagement and trauma response.
After listening to a staged 911 call, participants watched a police officer recreate a victim interview then then went downstairs to examine a couple of trucks parked outside the DoubleTree.
Beyond this simulation, Markham says human trafficking is often homegrown. It can look like labor exploitation or someone forcing their child to exchange sex for rent.
“And so it’s not always these obvious or large scenarios that we think of, especially in the age of Jeffrey Epstein level of stuff that we’re seeing and getting bombarded with,” she said. “Yeah, that stuff happens, but on a day to day basis, what we see is so simple and so broad.”
According to the state of Montana, last year the Department of Justice opened just over 20 human trafficking investigations statewide. Of those, 11 were sex trafficking, six were labor trafficking, two were human smuggling and two were illicit massage businesses.
To learn more about human trafficking and available resources, check out the Montana Department of Justice website.
