GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – Sex trafficking is likely to be on the rise during the NFL Draft, according to experts. Just how much is unknown, largely because there is a lack of recent data on the matter.
“We know crime will increase across the board,” Kasia Klaus, executive director of Awaken Wisconsin, a nonprofit fighting sex trafficking, said. “So how can we be better prepared? How can we be proactive to approach this?”
In order to help the organization fulfill its mission during the draft, the Brown County Board recently approved $20,000 to be spent on Awaken Wisconsin’s efforts.
“I think it spoke volumes that our community sees the population that we work with and wants to support and walk alongside,” Klaus said. “We truly want to see Brown County, our state, and our nation really be focused on combating this issue. And so you do that by bringing awareness to it.”
There is also a community training event on April 9 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Neville Museum in partnership with the Altrusa Club.
“Rather than being on the restorative part of that coin, we want to be on that preparation, on that proactiveness,” Klaus said. “And so what can we do to prevent?”
Volunteers will also be distributing flyers before the draft arrives to Titletown in an effort to educate the public about the signs and dangers of sex trafficking.
“These will show what are the most common signs or indicators of human trafficking that we see,” Klaus said. “And more importantly, when you see these indicators, who do you contact, what should you do?”
There are a number of indicators, Klaus says, depending on the severity of the case. Being distant, elusive, having injuries and unexplained bruises are all signs, she says.
“Not able to speak candidly to an individual without being able to speak candidly to that individual,” Klaus said. “If they’re carrying loads of cash on them, gift cards, hotel keys.”
Green Bay Austin Straubel International Airport seeking volunteers for the 2025 NFL Draft
A victim may also hold their hand up and cover their thumb in the palm of their hand with their four other fingers.
While half of the funding will go towards those preventative efforts, the other $10,000 will be spent on helping victims get the resources they need.
“If they’re not from this area, we partner with an organization that can help fly individuals out of state to programming,” Klaus said. “So we’ve really focused on a collaborative unit in addressing this because we aren’t sure what the needs will be.”
Since its inception in June 2022, Awaken Wisconsin has helped 166 victims. Now, it hopes to help victims across the country in the future at other large, national events so future host cities know what to expect through a database.
“With the draft coming, we are making sure we are using our VOCA-approved database to collect the information so we can help the next city that hosts the draft know what to do, know what to look for and see what was most prevalent in our community,” Klaus said.
Klaus believes that with enough exposure, the effects of her organization’s efforts will allow for sex trafficking to be fought at a higher level across the state.
“Even though the focus now is having the limelight on us, I believe it’s momentum to just seeing this catapult to something so much deeper and more systemic in our state,” she said.
