I was humbled to be asked to give an introduction for the COMMUNITIES UNITED: ANTI-TRAFFICKING WORKSHOP FOR SOUTH DAKOTA.
In rural South Dakota, we have hunting, the Sturgis Bike Rally, and year-round tourists. The reservations where native women and children are at high risk. Interstate 90 and 29, and other highways that run through South Dakota are part of the ‘Midwest Pipeline’, the superhighways used to deliver trafficking victims to cities across the country.
In July of 2020 the South Dakota State Legislature passed and Governor Noem signed HB 1047 to better protect and help victims of human trafficking in South Dakota declaring, ‘People are not for sale in South Dakota’.
Today, the Phoenix Rising Education Program is here to educate and empower our community regarding internet safety and child exploitation. We will hear from trafficking survivors, learn how to identify the signs, and how to report.
We must always remember that our freedom is bound to the freedom of others and that together, we can create a safer South Dakota.
![Photos from SD State Senator Randy Deibert-District 31's post]()
