Nonprofit organizes ‘Rally Cry’ walk to raise awareness of human trafficking among children

The Demand Project’s Rally Cry Walk helped bring the community together in the fight against human trafficking and child exploitation.

Leaders say less than 1% of trafficking victims have been identified. The Demand Project wanted the Tulsa community to become more aware of the crime so they could help stop human trafficking.

Step by step, people walked down the Jenks Riverwalk, all used in the fight against child sexual exploitation and human trafficking.

“We needed to rally the community and put out a call for those who want to come out and actually fight this crime,” said Kristin Weis, co-founder of The Demand Project.

The Demand Project held its annual Rally Cry walk on Saturday to raise awareness of child human trafficking.

“The mission and goal is to make parents and children aware and learn how to stay safe online and in practice, and also to raise a lot of money,” said Weis.

Leaders of the organization said human traffickers often take advantage of the Internet to lure victims.

“It’s not that technology is human trafficking, but technology can lead to exploitation, and exploitation can lead to human trafficking,” said Jamie Miller, also with the nonprofit.

It’s a crime that Weis and Miller want everyone to know about, but their target audience is children.

“They are on the front lines of this war and as soldiers they will lose if they are not fully equipped,” Miller said.

As leaders and community members walked, they hoped that each step would be one step closer to bringing this crime out of the shadows.

The Demand Project has the largest safe house for trafficked children in the entire country. The nonprofit is raising money to get the home fully funded so they can use the entire campus to safely house child victims of human trafficking. For more information about The Demand Project CLICK HERE.