Human trafficking is modern-day slavery, and what many citizens of Iowa do not realize is the issue of human trafficking is a present-day criminal activity that subjects Iowa women, children and men to extreme victimization.

The first Iowa Conference on Human Trafficking presented by the Network Against Human Trafficking took place Wednesday in the Memorial Union, and it presented human trafficking as a major concern facing not only the world, but specifically Iowa as well.

Representatives of anti-trafficking efforts from across the country and state traveled to share their knowledge with individuals from organizations, businesses and universities attending the conference.

“We probably had around 150 people, which is great,” said Alejandro Orozco, founder and board member of NAHT and a key player in the planning of Wednesday’s conference. “We started the planning very late, so we were nervous, and everything came out very well.”

Orozco believes if nothing is done about the issue, human trafficking will soon surpass drugs as the leading source of profit for organized crime in the world. Bonnie Campbell, a keynote speaker at the conference and former Iowa Attorney General, said human trafficking is a $32 billion industry and is the second-largest criminal activity in the world following drug trafficking.

The day began with a welcoming from Dawn Bratsch-Prince, ISU associate provost, Teresa Downing, executive director of NAHT, and Orozco and a short message from Francis Bok, founder of the Francis Bok Foundation and keynote speaker, who was enslaved for 10 years in Sudan as a child laborer.

For the remainder of the day, the conference included sessions entitled: Identifications of Trafficking Victims, Journey to Restoration and Recovery, Sex Trafficking, and Forced Labor. All sessions included examples of real-life cases in Iowa. The day ended with a presentation by a panel of law enforcement officials discussing specific cases in Iowa and how the victims and offenders were handled.

“I got more of an understanding of what human trafficking looks like in Iowa in terms of the crime and legislation, what to do when you identify a victim and the resources available,” said Chelsie Town, ambassador head for Malia Designs and an attendee of the conference.

Another speaker at the conference, Kaffie McCullough, who oversees a campaign to stop the prostitution of children in Georgia, made the statement that some people have the misconception that human trafficking is an international issue, but there are more domestically trafficked individuals than internationally trafficked ones.

She also added that Iowa has a better human trafficking law than Georgia, but communities can still get involved with anti-trafficking efforts by promoting law enforcement training, legislation, services for victims, involving churches and encouraging “child safe zone” hotels.

“A lot of things need to be done. It is definitely a collaborative effort, there is definitely a united front when it comes to people who are doing these crimes, but there is little united front in fighting it,” Town said. “People need to stand up and work together and do something.”

Campbell ended her portion of the conference by informing her audience, “People you will never see, who will never know your name, will be saved or helped by the very fact you are here today.”

Right now the NAHT has not yet entered into the planning stages for next year’s conference, but the event will hopefully be at the University of Iowa.