Nonprofits host events for National Human Trafficking Awareness Day

Patrick Varine | Wednesday, January 11, 2023 5:00 a.m.

Patrick Varine | Tribune-Review

Bequie Soike of Greensburg fills cracks outside Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital’s emergency department as part of the Red Sand Project on Sept. 2, 2021.

Awareness of human trafficking and its impact on communities can start with something as simple as red sand in the crack of a sidewalk.

Staff and volunteers from Blackburn Center in Greensburg have been part of the Red Sand Project since 2017, bringing focus to the presence of human trafficking.

For Debbie Wright, it began with an envelope in her mailbox, which contained a news article about a man in Bucks County, where she lived at the time, who had been arrested and charged with possession and distribution of child pornography.

“I wasn’t aware at all about human trafficking the way that it occurs outside of large cities,” said Wright, who would quit her job in the pharmaceutical industry to raise awareness about human trafficking. It was a career switch that also led to the creation of a documentary, “From Liberty to Captivity,” that will be screened this month as part of Blackburn Center’s Human Trafficking Awareness Month events.

“From Liberty to Captivity” focuses on human trafficking in Pennsylvania. Wright said her research revealed the links between modern-day human trafficking and pre-Civil War slavery as well as the role that Pennsylvania residents played in supporting abolition.

“There were a lot of warriors for freedom in Pennsylvania, and the documentary ended up becoming a real clarion call for revisiting the state’s roots in abolitionism,” Wright said.

Work on the documentary started in 2013. The film was released in 2018, touring the film-festival circuit and racking up awards before Wright entered into a 2020 distribution deal with Gravitas Ventures.

Elsewhere in Western Pennsylvania, attorneys at Pittsburgh firm K&L Gates marked the two-year anniversary of their Human Trafficking Help initiative, which helps connect victims of human trafficking with not just legal advice but law enforcement.

“We receive intakes and our team reviews them,” K&L attorney Michael Komo said. “Then we touch base with the FBI for each of those intakes, regardless of whether it fits with the initiative’s goals. We’ve also consulted with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”

Komo also serves as vice president of the FBI Pittsburgh Citizens Academy Alumni Association and chairs its anti-human-trafficking team, which hosts quarterly events and partners with a variety of local organizations to raise awareness about human trafficking.

Tim Wolford, who oversee the Crimes Against Children & Human Trafficking Task Force for the FBI’s Pittsburgh branch, said his office receives regular tips about potential trafficking cases. Over the past year, the branch has brought two trafficking-related indictments.

“Sometimes it can be difficult to see, which is why these are hard cases to work,” Wolford said.

Wolford said one of the “red flag” signs of human trafficking is a victim largely withdrawing from social life.

“A lot of times people close to a victim notice that they are becoming more remote — they’re not responding to text messages or they’re not on social media nearly as often,” he said. “Traffickers usually try to control who they are in contact with.”

Blackburn Center staff has several awareness events planned, including:

• Today, Jan. 11: Staff will wear blue in recognition of National Human Trafficking Awareness Day on Jan. 11. and host tables at Westmoreland Mall in Hempfield, where they will provide information and raise awareness.

• Thursday, Jan. 12: Westmoreland County officials will read a proclamation at the county courthouse public meeting room in Greensburg.

• Friday, Jan. 13: Westmoreland County Courthouse and Westmoreland Manor employees can make a donation and dress casual to support the Westmoreland Human Trafficking Task Force and Blackburn Center.

• Jan. 25: There will be 5 p.m. screening of “From Liberty to Captivity” at the WCSI Conference Center, 770 East Pittsburgh Street in Greensburg. To register, see SurveyMonkey.com/r/NDT55SJ.

Blackburn Center officials also are hoping to host a Jan. 18 panel discussion, as well as host a screening of “From Liberty to Captivity.” That date and location has yet to be determined.

In addition, the Salvation Army will host a screening of a documentary, “Hope: Stories of Survival,” at 6 p.m. Jan. 19 at Row House Cinema in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood. For more information, see give.salvationarmy.org/HopeScreening.