BOISE, Idaho — January is National Human Trafficking Awareness Month. Some people might not think a place like Boise would deal with human trafficking issues, but in December, Boise PD arrested a man in ahuman trafficking investigation.
Idaho News 6 spoke to the Idaho Anti-Trafficking Coalition about the state of the Issue in Idaho.
- The coalition says Idaho is behind in its prioritization of solving the human trafficking issue. This includes centering victims in its legislation around human trafficking.
- The group will have events throughout the month, that can be seen on their website.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story.)
Just blocks north of Idaho's capitol building is the Idaho Anti-Trafficking Coalition.
The building resembles many houses in Boise… that was intentional.
"What we wanted to do was, purposefully, create an environment where individuals felt safe, where they did feel like it was more of a homey environment," Said Jennifer Zielinski.
Jennifer Zielinski is the Executive Director of the Coalition.
The group works with survivors of human trafficking, offering resources and counseling, among other things.
The crime is a form of power and control, which is why the coalition says they operate on a survivor-centered model of care, letting the victims choose what resources they need from the coalition.
"Each person has the right to choose their path because it's their life," Zielinski said. "We are a stepping stone."
According to the new Boise Crime Dashboard, in 2023 there were a combined 40 charges related to human trafficking, abduction, or prostitution.
Zielinski feels Idaho hasn't prioritized solving the issue.
"What that means is that it lacks appropriate funding for training and education within our state and local agencies," Zielinski told Idaho News 6.
Zielinski says that lack of prioritization leads to data that's not representative of the issue's true scale.
"We have little to no arrests, we have little to no convictions in Idaho and so what we can speak from is our own data," Zielinski said.
Their data is the 166 individuals the coalition has served between July 2022 to September 2023. The center has also received almost 3500 calls and texts to its 24/7 Crisis & Resource Hotline.
So what can the average Idahoan do to help?
Zielinski says it starts with education, reading about the issue online as well as working with local groups like the IATC to understand the issue better.
Zielenski tells me that with the Idaho Legislative session coming up the coalition will be advocating for survivor-centered legislation, rather than laws that punish victims for their forced crimes.
"It is a risk for victims and survivors to even come forward without a system of care because then, they typically will find themselves within a punitive process," Zielinski said.