We invited Shelley Repp from the New Mexico Dream Center in Albuquerque  to discuss the Human Trafficking epidemic. She speaks to the services they provide to homeless youth, and how the cycle of trafficking begins. This episode also covers how to look out for the children in your life and the situational awareness you need as an adult in real life and online to keep yourself safe. 

Episode Highlights 

1:53 - How the Dream Center supports homeless youth in Albuquerque 

3:00 - Shelley Repp shares the first time she met a teen being trafficked

5:00 - Services you didn’t realize were needed for these young people

6:00 - Targeting where trafficking is happening

8:15 - Challenges for homeless youth & how the Dream Center serves them

10:00 - How people can access the center and expanding availability

12:00 - The most used personal care support services 

15:00 - Homelessness goes beyond couch surfing

17:00 - Early prevention services can help prevent trafficking of children

19:00 - An example of a teen girl to share the cycle of trafficking 

25:00 - How traffickers create dependency & commodify victims

27:30 - Forced criminality keeps victims from getting help

30:00 - What happens when a trafficking victim receives positive support

32:00 - The demand to purchase sex with young people

37:00 - Increased trafficking during the pandemic 

39:30 - Popular media normalizing incest and sex with young people

40:00 - Videogame chats & preparing your children for interacting on the internet

43:00 - Healthy family relationships & vulnerable moments

45:00 - What predators are looking for in victims 

47:30 - Shelley gives an example she observed of adults qualifying with teens

51:00 - Parenting kids through vulnerable phases 

53:00 - Detective Beto shares her experience 

56:00 - Changing the way we move through this world to be safe

58:00 - Where politeness stops and boundaries begin

1:00:00 - How can we as individuals protect ourselves

1:03:30 - Solidifying situational awareness & looking out for each other

Learn more about the work Shelley and her team are doing at the Dream Center by at their website NM Dream Center.

Links To References

New Mexico Dream Center - https://www.nmdreamcenter.org/