FRANKFORT, Ky. — Secretary of State Michael Adams, R-Ky., announced the creation of Kentucky Businesses Against Trafficking.
“To be a survivor of domestic abuse, you have to escape it," Adams said. "That begs the question; what can we do to help people escape?"
The program will offer resources to places like hotels, liquor stores and restaurants to recognize and report human trafficking.
Businesses will also have access to free training sessions for employees through organizations like the Refuge for Women, a center for human trafficking and sexual exploitation survivors.
“This is happening right in front of our face, and we're completely missing it," said Deanna Lynn, Refuge for Women Kentucky executive director. "So I think just starting the conversation and getting all of us talking together is going to be a huge help."
Lynn is also a human trafficking survivor and said she's glad Adams started this initiative.
“I was an 18-year-old girl; I graduated high school early," she recounted. "I had a trafficker who stood outside, with his gun, and I just remember hiding in the hotel and locking my door and him getting so mad because I just couldn't take it anymore."
“Every half an hour, people would knock on that door, and not one person at those hotels or motels ever called my room and said, 'Hey, are you OK in there?'" “Every half an hour, people would knock on that door, and not one person at those hotels or motels ever called my room and said, 'Hey, are you OK in there?'"
Around 2,500 Kentuckians have been identified as human trafficking victims since 2007, according to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.
Lynn said she wants people to know most trafficking happens through people they know and most people who are trafficked don’t recognize themselves as a victim of it.
“Your No. 1 is your partner; your No. 2 is your parent,” Lynn said.
Businesses interested in applying to participate are asked to sign up on the secretary of state's website.
Around the globe, the U.S. State Department estimates around 27 million people are exploited for labor service or sex. That is more than six times the number of people who live in Kentucky.
The human trafficking hotline can be reached 24/7 at 1-888-373-7888.