RSVP Your Call MN’s Feb. 19 community discussion on the MMIW task force report
Minnesota, February 2021 — Your Call MN, the public awareness campaign bringing attention to the devastating realities of sex trafficking in Minnesota, will host a virtual community discussion featuring Minnesota Senator Mary Kunesh and Sheila Lamb, advocate with Life House, on Feb. 19 at 11 am CST. The community discussion will cover the Missing and Murdered Indiginous Women (MMIW) Task Force Report that was presented to the Minnesota Legislature in December 2020. To RSVP for the event, visit the Your Call MN Facebook event page.
Both Kunesh and Lamb are members of the MMIW Task Force that researched and compiled the report, which is the most comprehensive study of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) injustice in the history of the Minnesota Legislature.
The report, a 163-page document presented in December 2020 by the MMIW Task Force and the Department of Public Safety to the Minnesota Legislature, addresses the systemic institutions that should be involved in reducing and eliminating violence against Indigenous women and girls and helping them heal from violence.
“Our report proves that indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people are far more likely to experience violence, be murdered, or go missing compared to other groups in Minnesota,” says Kunesh. “Indigenous people make up only 1 percent of the state’s population, but 8 percent of all murdered girls and women in Minnesota from the past decade were Native American.”
The host of the discussion, Your Call MN, is a public service campaign created in collaboration with the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA)-led MN Human Trafficking Investigators Task Force (MNHITF) and the Tribes United Against Sex Trafficking (TRUST) Task Force to raise awareness about and increase reporting of suspected human/sex trafficking in the state of Minnesota.
Individuals are encouraged to follow YourCallMN on Facebook, where the organization will disseminate information about how to identify and report suspected sex trafficking through a series of community discussions and educational videos. The discussions feature a rotating panel of experts who have dedicated their lives to minimizing the impact of sex trafficking in Minnesota.
“Raising awareness of sex trafficking in Minnesota is a mission that we are proud to be a part of,” says Rob Pero, CEO and creative director of Perodigm, the indigenous-owned company tasked with developing the campaign. “Being educated about the signs of trafficking is the first step to fighting the atrocities affecting our community.”
To stay up-to-date on upcoming community discussions and to learn more about YourCallMN, visit YourCallMN.org and sign up for the monthly newsletter.
Individuals can report suspected sex trafficking by filling out an online form at YourCallMN.org, texting HELP to 22333 or calling 877-996-6222. All reports go to the Minnesota Human Trafficking Investigators Task Force.
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About Your Call MN
Your Call MN is a public service campaign created in collaboration with the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA)-led MN Human Trafficking Investigators Task Force (MNHITF) and the Tribes United Against Sex Trafficking (TRUST) Task Force to raise awareness about and increase reporting of suspected human/sex trafficking in the state of Minnesota. www.YourCallMN.org https://www.facebook.com/yourcallmn
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