UAFS hosts human trafficking symposium to help spread awareness

FORTH SMITH, Ark. (KAIT/KNWA) - The University of Arkansas-Forth Smith Criminal Justice Department spread awareness of human trafficking by hosting its symposium.

According to our content partner KNWA, Dr. Mary Wuestewald, an assistant professor who works for the criminal justice department at UAFS, worked to inform the public about important statistics by hosting a symposium Thursday in Fort Smith.

“When I was reaching out to special agents…and asking them why I couldn’t find data for this area, [they] said, ‘There’s really no good data that exists because of underreporting,’” said Wuestewald.

Wuestewald found little data on trafficking in the state, however, the National Human Trafficking Hotline identified 557 cases of human trafficking in Arkansas in the last 17 years, KNWA reported.

The event was also designed to teach people to spot signs of trafficking and who to contact if they see it.

For more information, visit KNWA’s website.

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