CONTINUING EDUCATION
Did you know that on any given day in 2021, 50 million people were victims of modern slavery across the world, with the largest group being children? Did you know that human trafficking is the second fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world, second only to drugs? “Human trafficking” is a misunderstood concept that conjures images of brothels in foreign lands or the rancor of the immigration debate. Lifelong Learning SMTX will host a workshop held from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 28 at the San Marcos Public Library featuring Kirsta Leeburg Melton, the Institute to Combat Trafficking founder and CEO. This workshop will end the confusion by explaining what human trafficking is and is not and by compelling participants to face the uncomfortable truth: human trafficking is a Texas problem with buyers, sellers and victims in addition to millions of dollars changing hands.
The presentation will focus on vulnerable populations unlikely to self-identify as victims or seek help. Participants will engage with actual cases prosecuted in the state of Texas, learn tools traffickers use to entice and coerce victims and gain practical tools for identifying victims in our own community, especially within corrections, probation and other criminal justice contexts.
Participants will be equipped to accept the challenge of changing the culture in which we live from one that turns a blind eye to perpetrators to one that provides safety, security and genuine reintegration for the survivors of trafficking.
If unable to attend, click on Human Interest at lllsanmarcos. org to hear an hour-long discussion with Melton.
Melton is the Founder and CEO of the Institute to Combat Trafficking, an organization dedicated to seeking justice for victims of trafficking and holding traffickers accountable. From 2015 to 2019, Melton was Deputy Criminal Chief of the Human Trafficking and Transnational/Organized Crime Section in the Texas Attorney General’s Office. She served as the lead prosecutor for the State of Texas in the takedown of Backpage.com in April 2018.
For the prior 15 years, Melton was a Bexar County assistant district attorney focused on human trafficking as well as family violence and sexual abuse of children and adults. While in San Antonio, she established and led the Bexar County DA’s Human Trafficking Unit and chaired the Alamo Area Coalition against Trafficking.
Kirsta has trained more than 25,000 people on human trafficking and has been featured in multiple national training films. Kirsta played a critical role in restructuring Texas trafficking laws and is regularly called to consult with and testify before the Texas legislature on trafficking issues. Her book, Human Trafficking Investigation: A Practitioner’s Guide to Making the Case, is available from Routledge.com.
