Dr. Carrie Baker (left) Michelle Sigona (right) photo courtesy "Expressions of Eden Photography," Kimberly Elliott

I had the opportunity to travel to Portland, Oregon recently to be a part of a movement that is shaking communities and changing the way the public views domestic sex trade in America.  The Soroptimist Northwest Coalition Against Human Trafficking (NWCAT) organized and held their third annual conference.  I was honored to be a part of their event as a presenter on Child/Adult/Identity Internet and Technology Safety.  Along with the workshop, I attended training on domestic human trafficking, met survivors of this underground world, learned from the experts in this industry and more importantly became energized to make a difference in my own city and state. 

The phrase “human trafficking” may be something we’ve heard and maybe it was a phrase we stored into the “that doesn’t affect me category”; the same category that we associated with, “this is something that is an international problem and isn’t happening in American communities.”  Actually, this is a problem in our own towns, one that we may not see on the surface and one that is directly affecting children and teens in America.