Broward College Working to
Address Issue of Human Trafficking

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month. Many people don’t really know what that means – but it’s a very big problem here in Florida, where we rank third in the national for reported human trafficking cases.

And Broward College is taking a stand against this global scourge.

The College has planned multiple events, including the 3^rd Annual 5K Walk for Human Trafficking Awareness. The 5K will take place at 8 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 25, at the A. Hugh Adams Central Campus, Bldg. 19, 3501 Davie Rd., Davie.

According to Lulrick Balzora, Dean of the College’s Social Sciences, Behavioral Sciences & Human Services Pathway, the 5K walk and other human trafficking initiatives at the College grew out of projects that students worked on in their classes. Raising awareness about the problem is just the first step.

“The challenge is that once you tell people about this horrific problem, it seems so large that people don’t know what to do,” Balzora said.

Other events include a human trafficking awareness information session with several panelists at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 23 at Broward College’s Central Campus (Bldg. 3, room 117). A Zoom webinar on human trafficking awareness is also planned for 10 a.m. Friday, Jan. 31.

Students transformed their passion for the topic into a formal club called PSG: End the Demand (Promoting Global Safety). That’s what drives Kevin Romero, a student who serves as vice president of PSG. Romero was inspired to act after learning from a psychology professor how serious the problem is in Florida.

“I have been influenced to become a creator of change,” Romero said. “Our ethos is to educate and take students through the discussion of what human trafficking is and the various forms of it.”

Balzora said students and faculty members participate in outreach efforts in the community to educate teenagers about risk factors and the tricks that predators employ.

“Our faculty members very much active – this is an important issue for them,” Balzora said.

– BC –