With more human trafficking crimes striking Texas within the past few years, two sisters have rallied the Killeen community together in a push for more advocacy against trafficking in the state.
As initially reported by KWTX 10, Alicia and Alissa Clemons organized a public meeting at Killeen’s Open Fire International Fellowship on Jan. 25 that gave local residents the opportunity to learn more about sex trafficking activity that occurs throughout Central Texas.
“This is an epidemic against the human race as a whole,” Alicia Clemons said to KWTX 10.
Attendees were taught the basic signs of a person being trafficked, how to defend themselves from traffickers and what weapons they can use for defense.
A rise in human trafficking cases and victims has affected Texas for several years. The governor’s office reported an estimated 79,000 minors became trafficking victims as of 2016.
Additionally, the National Human Trafficking Hotline determined there were 561 trafficking cases reported in Texas in 2019.
One attendee was Apryl Coffie, a pastor and former victim of sexual abuse from a young age. She spoke on how parents should be more educated on how their children could be easily lured into any trafficking operation nearby.
“I have a daughter now and I do have a son, so now, you take these things a little bit more personal,” Coffie said to KWTX 10. “When I learn, I have the opportunity to cause them to be aware at their level.”
Both the Clemons sisters believe educating just one resident creates a communication chain with all other members, and the messages are shared within the entire community.
“If it were just one person here, I would have been totally satisfied,” Alicia Clemons said. “That one can go and tell the masses and then tell the next one and the next one and before you know it, it will [like] be a forest fire. That was really our goal.”
Alerts Sign-up