Task force, students assemble 'dignity bags' for those at risk
Sophia Nadasi, left, and Anastazia Loveless, both eighth-graders at West Valley School help with the assembly of “dignity bags” on Friday, Dec. 20. The bags are filled with information, personal care items, snacks and other useful things and will be given to members of the law enforcement community to give to anyone they believe could benefit from them. (Brenda Ahearn photos/Daily Inter Lake)
Sean Sullivan, right, the victim advocate for the Children’s Advocacy Center and member of the Flathead County Human Trafficking Task Force, along with seventh- and eighth-graders at West Valley School, assemble of dignity bags on Friday for people in need or at risk of exploitation.
The Flathead County Human Trafficking Task Force, along with sixth-graders at West Valley School, spent time together on Friday assembling “dignity bags” for people in need or at risk of exploitation.
The students recently learned about human trafficking in a presentation by Sean Sullivan, victim advocate for the Children’s Advocacy Center and member of the task force. Every year millions of men, women and children are trafficked in countries and communities around the world, according to a press release from the local task force.
Human trafficking is a global multibillion dollar crime defined as sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age; or the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage or slavery.
Human Trafficking is often hidden and victims rarely seek assistance or come forward asking for help from fear of law enforcement and/or retaliation from traffickers, the press release stated. The task force said it is looking for ways to change that and encourages reporting and communications within the local community.
The dignity bag project will equip all law enforcement patrol cars throughout the county with a backpack filled with personal care items, reusable water bottle and non-perishable snack items and information on human trafficking indicators and numbers to call for support. These bags will be offered to anyone who officers feel could benefit from one.
“It is our hope to reach a hidden population and close a communication gap between law enforcement and at-risk members of our community,” the press release stated. “However, we also recognize in Flathead County we have a large transient population in need of a hand up in identifying resources we have available to them.
Diane Yarus, coordinator for the task force, said the group is “thrilled to be working with the students to get these bags ready by Christmas and in recognition of Human Trafficking Awareness Month coming up in January.
Yarus thanked following organizations for their donations: J2 Office Supply, the Wave Fitness Center, Hammer Nutrition, Third Street Market, Dollar Tree, Cheryl’s Sewing Services, the Salvation Army and Soroptimist International of Whitefish.
Any individual or organization that would like to donate to this project may contact Yarus at 406-751-2175.
Flathead County Human Trafficking Task Force is a multi-disciplinary task force that brings law enforcement, social and legal service providers, non-government organizations and other nonprofit partners together to work on human trafficking cases and prevention in the local community.