A new awareness campaign in Kansas is aimed at cutting the demand for prostitution as a way to fight human trafficking. The campaign involves state agencies and local advocacy groups teaming up to push the Demand an End initiative. It involves education and announcements warning people that buyers of sex face charges.
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said Tuesday that the campaign wants to create a culture where buying sex is not acceptable. Childs said people might not understand that buyers of sex encompass a wide variety of people, including people from higher-income communities.
An example in the Kansas City area, she said, is that many buyers come from Johnson County, people she hopes the campaign can reach. Karen Countryman-Roswurm, executive director of the Center for Combating Human Trafficking at Wichita State University, said educational campaigns like this are needed to help shift perceptions.
She said it could start with simple changes in how people act. By a large margin, she said, people selling sex face more penalties than do buyers of sex. Kansas has made changes to state law in recent years to help victims of human trafficking fend off criminal charges.
Follow him on Twitter kprkoranda. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to the original post. Search Query Show Search.
