Since 2010, the United States has recognized January as National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, a designated observance designed to bring awareness to human trafficking and the victims impacted by it.
Human trafficking is a very real and present problem in Arkansas and across the country. It can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time. Fortunately, Arkansas has an anti-trafficking law, a bill that I worked to pass when I was in the state legislature in 2013, which addresses and combats trafficking across the Natural State.
A few years ago, I had the solemn opportunity to meet a young lady named Sara Kruzan, who shared her story as a child victim of sex trafficking. At only 11 years old, Sara was groomed by a man she trusted and forced into sex slavery. After years of abuse at the hands of her trafficker, she escaped and later returned to retaliate against her abuser – killing him in the process. Because of a flawed system, after what I can only imagine felt like a lifetime of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, Sara was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole at only 17 years old. Sara was pardoned, but many are not as fortunate.
