El Paso, Texas— On January 25, 2023 guest speaker Raquel Rodriguez, who works at the Center of Hope, came to deliver an informative presentation on human trafficking at Loretto Academy.

The Center of Hope is an emergency shelter that works with survivors of human trafficking and receives children and women of many ages.

Rodriguez took the experiences she has witnessed at her job and put them in a  presentation for all high school girls to see.

Her message addressed the gravity of human trafficking for students in El Paso high schools, who have a stereotypical view of human trafficking and don’t have enough awareness to realize it’s a situation closer to us than we think.
Her mission through her presentations is to clarify the technicalities of the crime and bring knowledge for students to make better and more informed decisions.

Scenarios involving human trafficking can unfortunately be disguisable or through social media apps.

Whatever the case may be, victims of this crime are trapped in a cycle of manipulation and threats.

She urges us to understand that third-world trafficking is present in our communities, and even though law enforcement works tirelessly to end it,  there are many disadvantages like the world wide web.

Minors who have met their traffickers have gotten in contact with them via online and social media.

They have put their lives at risk not knowing traffickers are tech-savvy and dangerous people.

She provided various stories and examples with questions more than half of the room raised their hands to answer, with this she related her audience to the crime which made clear its proximity to our youth.

Loretto junior, Lara Garcia said,“I noticed that there were many misconceptions and things I didn’t know about sex trafficking.

 After this talk, it became  important  for me to have learned it from an expert since there is misinformation out there.”

The speaker encouraged her audience to speak up against anything that they might see and never to engage but always seek an adult for help.

Rodriguez said.“ The truth is these predators control their victims with a relationship and a  connection.

Unfortunately, because our youth are looking for this  connection because maybe they are having issues at home or at school they want to find someone who can see them  and hear them and validate them.” 

Little by little, with people like Ms. Rodriguez, sex trafficking crimes can lose their stereotypes and an informed response can not only lie in law enforcement but also in our communities.