LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Teenage girls and LGBTQ youth are some of the groups most affected by human trafficking in Louisville.
"A trafficker does not have a specific identity," Tamar Israel, Prevention Education Coordinator at Bakhita Empowerment Initiative said. "They don't dress a specific way. A trafficker could look like someone they trust."
In 2023, the Bakhita Empowerment Initiative, through Catholic Charities of Louisville, helped dozens of survivors get out of human trafficking.
"Between 38 to 43 people that we helped were for a long-term case-loads," Amy Nace-DeGonda director of Bakhita Empowerment Initiative said.
Nace-DeGonda said it's the only anti-trafficking program in the state that provides direct services to both labor and sex trafficking victims. Resources range from food to financial assistance.
"We connect them to therapy and longer term housing solutions," Nace-DeGonda said. "A large majority of program may need some immigration legal assistance."
Kentucky's most vulnerable targets are children. The state has seen more than 800 reports of youth being trafficked since 2007. 188 of those cases came from Jefferson County between 2013-2019.
"Traffickers are gonna target those that are vulnerable," Nace-DeGonda said. "Those that are homeless. Those that have substance misuse issues. Those that are runaways."
Both Nace-DeGonda and Gretchen Hunt, Director of the Louisville Metro Office of Women, said unhoused children, those in the foster care system, runaways, and LGBTQ youth face the highest rates of trafficking.
The greatest thing we can do right now is collectively focus on affordable housing," Hunt said.
The city is working to combat this through the "My Louisville Home" plan. It's a housing strategy to create and preserve 15 thousand units of affordable housing by 2027. However, the work doesn't stop there.
"Really look at any steps you can take to support affordable housing in our community," Hunt said. "That could be legislative changes or policy changes. it could be as little as not opposing a development coming down in your neighborhood because more housing increases more safety for our entire community."
She said people can also get educated on the issue and support the nonprofits already helping survivors.
"Volunteer, donate things, or whatever it may be to lend their talents," Nace-DeGonda said.
If you or a loved one are in need of assistance, the National Human Trafficking Hotline is 1-888-3737-888. For a full list of human trafficking resources in Louisville, click here.
Related stories:
- Louisville nonprofit giving domestic violence survivors a safe place to start anew
- Bullitt County high school students building tiny house for victims of human trafficking
- Kentucky's only 24/7 emergency shelter serving human trafficking victims opens in Louisville
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