DENVER—Advocates for people forced into prostitution are preparing to respond to an expected surge in human trafficking during the Democratic National Convention.
On Saturday, volunteers fanned out across Denver to put up posters at hotels and other businesses that offer help to sex workers brought here against their will. One poster tells people of their rights in English and in Russian, Spanish, Korean, Chinese and Vietnamese.
Amanda Finger, director of the Colorado branch of the Washington-based Polaris Project, said experience at large events like the Super Bowl shows there’s usually an increase in prostitution, including a spike in sex services offered online. Some of those offers involve US and foreign citizens forced or coerced to work in prostitution.
The Polaris Project posters also are meant to raise awareness among Denver residents and visitors, Finger said, acknowledging it’s an uncomfortable message for upbeat gatherings like the DNC or the Republican National Convention in St. Paul.
“Everyone should be thinking about that excitement and about what that means for our country, whichever direction we go in,” Finger said of the convention. “But I think we’re there just to catch the repercussions of the seedier sides of major events.”
FBI spokeswoman Kathy Wright said human trafficking victims are hard to find because they are controlled by their abusers who confiscate their identification documents as well as their money.
“Any public awareness is good because one of the ways we (find) out about these is through concerned citizens calling law enforcement or the FBI,” she said.
Two volunteers working downtown Saturday found raising awareness is easier said than done.
A YMCA clerk gave them permission to put up a couple of posters but said he would have to check with a manager later to see if they would stay.
A Sheraton hotel manager, who declined to give his name, initially said he couldn’t post the signs because he had gotten numerous similar requests from all kinds of political and activist groups. After talking with volunteers, he said he would see whether the posters could be displayed where hotel employees could see them.
A clerk at the Crowne Plaza, where more DNC delegates were staying, offered to take posters and check with management. But a cashier at a store selling Barack Obama travel mugs and playing cards at an outdoor mall said she didn’t think mall security guards would allow her to post the signs.
Jessica Sweeney, 32, of Denver, a recent University of Colorado graduate, wasn’t surprised by the reaction.
“It’s an uncomfortable issue. People don’t want to think about it,” she said.
Her partner, Anna Ikeda, said she hoped people would get the message someday.
“They might not pay attention right now, but maybe later when they hear it on the news, it will click,” said Ikeda.
