Chains Interrupted to host human trafficking awareness event Saturday

CEDAR RAPIDS — Chains Interrupted, a Cedar Rapids-based nonprofit dedicated to fighting human trafficking, will host an awareness event Saturday at NewBo City Market.

Participants will be invited to pour red sand into the cracks in the sidewalk, symbolizing the people who fall through the cracks of human trafficking each year.

Between 14,500 and 17,500 people are trafficked each year in the United States, according to Chains Interrupted’s website. In Iowa, half the human trafficking cases involve minors.

When people think of human trafficking, they often think of children being kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery. While cases like that do exist, Chains Interrupted Chief Operating Officer Tish Young said, it’s not the most common way kids are trafficked.

“The majority of people who are trafficked, you wouldn’t even know it. It’s these people who fall through the cracks. We find kiddos that are still living at home that are being trafficked, not necessarily by their parents, although that’s the case, too. But, being groomed online through social media apps and then sneaking out at night,” Young said.

The red sand for the event is supplied by the Red Sand Project, a national initiative launched in 2014 that provides red sand and information about trafficking for events like the one hosted by Chains Interrupted. According to the project’s website, the sand represents “those individuals who fall through the cracks — whether the cracks of our social, economic, and political systems or those of our personal consciousness.”

The sand is eco-friendly, Young said, and its bright color makes it easy to notice.

“You’re pouring that red sand in the cracks of the sidewalks, of the street, of the parking lot. It’s really meant to draw your attention to things we don’t pay attention to,” Young said.

Along with the sand, participants at the annual event will be given chalk to write messages on the sidewalks, and will be encouraged to post to social media about the event with #ChainsInterrupted and #RedSandProject.

The sand pouring starts at 10 a.m. Saturday. At 11:30 a.m. there will be a rally with several speakers, including a young woman who is a survivor of trafficking.

Other speakers will be Lenchen Raeside, co-founder of Chains Interrupted, Cedar Rapids City Council member Ashley Vanorny and Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate.

“If we can all do our part, we can at least make it difficult for traffickers to operate in Cedar Rapids and the surrounding area,” Young said.

Young said community members can help prevent trafficking by paying attention to small changes among youths. Parents can protect their kids by talking with them about internet safety and how to recognize grooming. And community members who see a child acting differently than they normally do should reach out and make sure that child is safe.

“We need to lead with love. We need to be a safe place to land, a place where our kids and our families know that any conversation is welcome,” Young said.

Comments: (319) 398-8328; emily.andersen@thegazette.com