NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Wednesday marks National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, and some Tennessee departments and agencies said they were taking steps to prevent human trafficking through different kinds of programs.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said they were focusing on educating people about how to protect others who could be vulnerable to human trafficking through its "It Has To Stop" campaign. The campaign says human trafficking has three parts.
It involves people being sold either for sex or labor as well as an exchange of either money, goods or services for it. They also said in cases of adults, there is also an element of force or coercion.
"We can only have so many law enforcement agencies and advocates out there. We need everyone to be eyes and ears and advocates for those that need it, that might be in a trafficking situation," TBI said in a video about the campaign.
TBI said there does not need to be an element of force or coercion in cases involving children.
"By being a child, that force, fraud or coercion is already implied," TBI said in a video defining human trafficking.
The campaign also gives people a quick way to report cases of human trafficking online.
Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett also launched a program in 2019 called the "Safe at Home" program. Participants of the program will be given a substitute address to use, and all first-class and certified mail is forwarded from that address to their confidential address. This way, they can ensure nobody finds them by looking through public records or intercepting mail.
"If we have a victim that we've enrolled in a Safe at Home program that has minor children, or a new spouse living with them, or an adult parent living with them, or adult children — we're protecting everyone that lives in that household," said Stacy Scruggs, a coordinator of the program.