Today’s forum at Miami Central Senior High School, 1781 NW 95th Street, Miami, FL 33147 from 9:00-10:35 a.m. has been cancelled. Apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
Second Human Trafficking Awareness Event at Miami Central Senior High School
MIAMI – Major sporting events are hotbeds for human trafficking and other predatory crimes. According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, 767 human trafficking cases were reported in Florida in 2019 and nearly 2,000 contacts were made.
Next month, Miami will host Super Bowl 54 and while the event will be a boost to our state’s tourism and entertainment industries, it also can present a great risk to vulnerable girls and women.
On Monday, January 13, 2020, Congresswoman Wilson will host a human trafficking awareness forum at Miami Central Senior High School to educate girls about how to identify predators, how they recruit victims, and strategies to protect themselves from exploitation.
Wilson will be joined by Miami-Dade School Board member Dr. Bendross-Mindingall; human trafficking survivor Shanika Ampah; and Homeland Security Investigations special agent Katina Hernandez, who also participated in a human trafficking tour that the congresswoman hosted at three high schools last November.
Ampah, who was trafficked from age 11 to 18, warned the girls to not assume that they are invulnerable to predators. They feed off of girls’ and young women’s vulnerabilities, she counseled, but also their dreams.
She also urged them to look out for each other and to not be afraid to speak up if they suspect there’s a problem.
“That means that you are responsible for the girl that’s sitting in this room with you, because she represents you and you represent her,” Ampah said. “We have to be accountable for each other.”
“Sex trafficking is a multi-billion-dollar business and people are often surprised to learn that this horrific crime is taking place in their own backyards,” said Congresswoman Wilson. “Because girls and young women in inner cities are particularly vulnerable, it is imperative that leaders ensure that they are fully informed to help prevent them from falling victim to sexual predators and that’s exactly what this tour aims to do.”
The forum will be held at Miami Central Senior High School, 1781 NW 95th Street, Miami from 9:00-10:35 a.m.
