Chestatee High School Honors Mentorship Program students, Shea Neugent and Alexandra Nguyen attended the State of Georgia Department of Education's third part in a series called"Not in Georgia: Combatting Human Sex Trafficking."
While there are estimates that human trafficking generates over $5 billion dollars annually in the United States, Nguyen said she learned that many Americans have no clear concept of that fact.
"I learned that sex trafficking is the second most profitable business in the country, which is shocking," said Nguyen. "It's like everyone is naive to sex trafficking. They don't believe it's actually going on, especially in the United States."
And, the problem thrives in Atlanta, according to information shared at the conference. Approximately 400 girls under the age of 18 are trafficked in Atlanta each month, and that's the reason the State Department of Education has partnered with subject-matter experts to conduct the multi-part conference. The goal is to help inform school personnel of the warning signs of trafficking and help educators learn more about the resources that are available for these students.
The young women also heard from Maria Velikonja, a former prosecutor, FBI agentand a keynote speaker at the U.N. Human Trafficking Conference in 2011.
"She worked in law enforcement in Romania, Bosnia, Moldavia and she saw how it's hard for law enforcement to get money to help fight sex trafficking because they barely have money for themselves...for their jobs," said Neugent.
Neugent also said she gained a good bit of insight into the issue from Susan Coppedge, Assistant U.S. Prosecutor for the Northern District of Georgia, who also spoke at the conference.
"She gave us actual examples of criminal cases in and around Atlanta," said Neugent. "She told us about the pimps and what they did to lure the women."
Nguyen said the most important piece of information she gleaned from the conference was that sex trafficking is a crime that doesn't just target one demographic or age group.
"It's not just 14-year-olds, although it does happen to a lot of younger women," said Nguyen. "And it happens it places you wouldn't think...schools and even churches."
Hall County's Honors Mentorship Program Coordinator Kathy Mellette accompanied the students to the conference, and she said both girls spent time mentoring in related fields before attending the conference in Atlanta.
"Shea mentored in the fall in the Hall County Solicitor's office with Stephanie Woodard. She is now mentoring with the Hall County District Attorney's office. Alexandra has been meeting with various professionals such as social workers and a Hall County criminal investigator and she attended several events related to domestic abuse," wrote Mellette in an e-mail.
The Honors Mentorship Program is the most scholarly of the Hall County School System's career-oriented high school courses. HMP is an academic elective designed to remove the learning ceiling for high-ability students who are intensely interested in a particular area of study and who have demonstrated the maturity to pursue in-depth learning in a professional setting.
Students Shea Neugent and Alexandra Nguyen pose with U.S. Attorney Susan Coppedge (center)
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