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Though it is not widespread knowledge, sex trafficking—a phenomenon which is more commonly associated in larger cities—does exist in West Michigan. Bringing awareness of the sex trafficking which occurs in our area is what a location organization called SSTREAM has sought to do.
Started in the spring of 2009, SSTREAM (Streamlining Services for Trafficked and Exploited Adults and Minors) takes a twofold approach to fighting sex trafficking in West Michigan. The first approach is to collaborate with local entities and create a sex trafficking coalition in West Michigan. “We want to model this coalition off the interdisciplinary task force which the Salvation Army has organized in Chicago,” explained Emma Rosauer, a SSTREAM member. “This task force is made up of FBI agents, police officers, and other social service agencies. Their objective is to fight trafficking in the city.”
The second approach they take is advocacy though education. The members of SSTREAM have gone through trainings in areas such as the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC), and they hope to bring the knowledge they have gained to local agencies and organizations which work with victims of sex trafficking so they can learn how to identify them and, in turn, provide needed services. Thus far, SSTREAM members have conducted awareness activities in local youth groups, colleges, and other venues. Though in what Rosauer calls a “grassroots stage” in this endeavor, they anticipate growing as an organization and spreading further awareness throughout West Michigan.
For more information about sex trafficking, SSTREAM, and how to contact them, please visit http://www.sstream.org.
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