o Who: Parents, middle and high school students, and other community members.
o What: Presentation about human sex trafficking. Speakers include a Vancouver Police lieutenant, the founder of E.P.I.K. Project, and a young La Center woman who narrowly escaped becoming a victim of sex trafficking.
o When: 7 p.m. Jan. 6. The presentation will last 60 to 90 minutes.
o Where: Heritage High School Auditorium, 7825 N.E. 130th Ave., Vancouver.
o Cost: Free.
Hearing stories of adult men using preteen and teen girls as sex slaves served as a wake-up call to three Heritage High School seniors.
Not only did they learn sex trafficking is happening in the U.S., they discovered it’s happening in the Vancouver area and involves high school girls just like them.
“We realized it was happening to girls our age,” Rachael Alvick said.
“It brings it to reality, that it could be your sister or your friend,” Melissa Gipe added.
o Who: Parents, middle and high school students, and other community members.
o What: Presentation about human sex trafficking. Speakers include a Vancouver Police lieutenant, the founder of E.P.I.K. Project, and a young La Center woman who narrowly escaped becoming a victim of sex trafficking.
o When: 7 p.m. Jan. 6. The presentation will last 60 to 90 minutes.
o Where: Heritage High School Auditorium, 7825 N.E. 130th Ave., Vancouver.
o Cost: Free.
Those realizations prompted the teenage girls to take on the national issue occurring in their own backyard.
“It’s hard when you hear about it to not do anything,” Tashawna Gordon said.
So the girls have made it their mission to spread the word about sex trafficking and educate their peers, and the community, about warning signs.
They recently held two optional school assemblies. Vancouver Police Lt. John Chapman spoke about state laws related to sex trafficking. A young La Center woman who narrowly escaped being pushed into the industry shared her story. And a local man who started the E.P.I.K. Project (Everyman Protecting Innocent Kids) to raise money for treatment and counseling for victims spoke about the role men play and how they can become part of the solution.
The first assembly at the school was well attended. But as word spread, students packed the auditorium for the second presentation. Students and teachers sat silently and wiped tears from their eyes as they listened.
After seeing the impact on the students and teachers who attended, Alvick, Gipe and Gordon decided to hold another event open to the community. That presentation is scheduled for Jan. 6 at Heritage High School.
The three hope the assembly will give community members the same wake-up call it gave them.
“Human trafficking is starting to become a bigger issue, but people don’t want to talk about it,” Alvick said.
“I don’t think they want to believe it happens in our country,” Gordon said.
The girls also hope to dispel myths about sex trafficking. One myth of particular concern to the teens is that girls involved are choosing to be prostitutes and are not victims.
“I just want it to be a well-known thing, not a controversial thing,” Gipe said. “There’s nothing controversial about it. It’s just wrong.”
The presentations also include a heart-wrenching video about victims of sex trafficking and highlight warning signs. Those signs include older guys gaining the trust of preteen and teen girls, then manipulating them, perhaps by buying them expensive gifts, and making the girls dependent on them.
In addition to educating the community, the high school seniors have a bigger goal for their campaign. They hope to raise money to start a fund for a restoration home in the Vancouver area. Currently, victims don’t have anywhere locally they can live and receive counseling. So far, Gipe, Alvick and Gordon have raised about $400 through fundraisers at school. Their goal is to reach $3,000 before the school year ends.
While working to inform peers, parents and community members, the three have gained new perspective, as well.
“This is a huge issue. It’s not a joke,” Gordon said. “It doesn’t just happen in movies.”
In the movies, sex trafficking seems only to happen in foreign countries, she said. Girls get kidnapped, drugged and sold to men. But by the end of the movie, they’re saved. Rarely, though, does life replicate the movies.
