Anti-human trafficking summit at USM Gulf Park Campus

The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Park Campus is holding a training session to discuss anti-human trafficking.

The goal of this three-day session is to collaborate with federal, state, and local organizations against human trafficking to create a game-plan that will strengthen how they help and identify victims.

Various groups across the Coast joined, such as Jubilee Havens, Gulf Coast Center for Nonviolence, and others.

Previously, USM’s Center for Human Trafficking and the secretary of state have worked together to create massive summits, but this time they are focusing on the people at the heart of this cause. Secretary of State Michael Watson said, “You know in general one of the things I hate about government is the silos that we see, where agencies, ‘I don’t want to work with another agency, because this is my lane and I want the credit for this.’ And that’s unfortunate. One of the best things about Anti-human trafficking that we see here in Mississippi, is that the silos are falling and people are working together. And I think the important piece is when we focus on the work as opposed to who’s doing the work, that’s when good things happen and people are rescued.”

Dr. Tamara Hurst with the School of Social Work said “We’re hoping to end this coming together with an action plan with concrete steps on what to do next, and hold regular meetings. Not as large as this two and a half day meeting, but regular sessions where we can talk about what our gaps in the system are, what our challenges are, and what our strengths are.”

If you or someone you know is being trafficked, please call the hotline at 1-888-3737-888.