Last month, Georgia’s First Lady, Marty Kemp and the GRACE Commission (Georgians for Refuge, Action, Compassion, and Education Commission) worked in collaboration with the Department of Administrative Services (DOAS) to develop a training program for state employees that is designed to increase awareness of human trafficking. Human Trafficking Awareness Training will help employees recognize potential behaviors of human traffickers and their victims, know how to report trafficking activity appropriately, and make a difference in the communities we live and serve.
State employees in many instances are uniquely situated to observe cases of suspected sexual exploitation. With awareness training, you can become better informed and better positioned to help protect innocent children and other potential victims from this horrific crime.
For this reason, it is the goal of Governor Brian P. Kemp and First Lady that all State employees contact their human resources department to view the training videos in their agency’s learning management system or internal train program.
Human trafficking, or modern-day slavery, represents an imminent threat throughout the world, with an estimated 1.5 million victims in the U.S. alone. Sex trafficking is one of the world’s largest criminal enterprises, involving the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. And it is everywhere – including urban, suburban and rural communities throughout Georgia.
Due to the importance of this training to the citizens of our state, employees are also encouraged to share it with friends and family. Training designed for the general public is available on the DOAS website. Human Trafficking Awareness links are found on the home page and under Human Resources Administration of the website.
