Keeping current on human trafficking prevention is a real challenge, and because of this NEST believes it is imperative for educators across America to understand the social climate that their students are confronted with. On Tuesday, November 11th the first of many month Educators Meet Ups was held. With this being a new platform for NEST we really weren’t sure how it would turn out and if the call would accomplish anything of value. My expectations were more than met and I’m looking forward to the next call.

Priya Dhanani from Fair Girls shared the successes that the organizations “Tell Your Friends” curriculum has been having and how the 4 module curriculum is being used in the schools (each module is 1 hour in length). As a result there have been 120 disclosures have been made. The question was asked if the disclosures were sex abuse in general or indeed human trafficking. She said that about 20% were human trafficking and the rest were abuse and sex abuse. Priya stated that even though they expected some disclosures, the large number of students willing to come forward has been a great and welcomed surprise to Fair Girls.

One of the highlights for the callers is that during the presentation of Tell Your Friends students are asked to write down a question on paper. They are never identified. The presenter asks the questions as if they are from the entire group and not a single person. This puts the students all at ease and gives a good platform for open and honest communication. Priya also said that they discovered that 95% of the disclosures do not want to report to LE or other authorities and that mandated reporting is a problem for them. The challenge is creating a safe disclosure protocol that will give the students confidence that they can get help without going to authorities. There was some very positive and insightful interaction from the callers with Priya.

Next Kelley Alsobrook, founder of Ashes2Beauty and a survivor shared her story. Her opening comment was, “The entire time I was listening to Priya I was thinking, ‘I wish I would have had this when I was in school. It would have really helped me’.” After sharing her story, the callers asked many questions of Kelley from an educator’s standpoint in effort to know if curriculum in the schools might have actually prevented her from becoming a victim of human trafficking. Kelley was very courageous and forthcoming. She expanded her comment by stating, “Yes, and at least I would have understood that what was happening to me was not my fault. When children are sexually abused by their parents they feel that it is their fault.”

The next Educators Meet up will be Tuesday, December 9th at 4:00 PM CST. To participate in the call simply send an email to [email protected] and you will receive the call number and access code. And please share this with educators everywhere and invite them to this valuable forum.