As a business meeting planner, I was stunned two years ago when I first heard about sex trafficking from a client. We investigated the issue and found that children and young women were being forced into the sex trade at some of the finest hotels in the country, including some right here in St. Louis.

The statistics are shocking. Up to 300,000 children are at risk for commercial sexual exploitation in the United States each year. According to the Department of Justice, 2,200 kids are reported missing every day. Within 48 hours, one in three runaways will be approached by sex traffickers, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

But the most shocking stat of all is the number “13” — the average age that children are recruited into sex trafficking.

As a parent, once I knew about sex trafficking, I couldn’t stop thinking about those kids, targeted in their own communities and over the Internet, then lured into a nightmare of slavery.

Jane Quinn and I, co-owners of St. Louis-based Nix Conference & Meeting Management, realized we could do something about it. We began to talk about sex trafficking with every hotel where we do business. We ask hotel managers to set policies and train staff to recognize the red flags and report potential trafficking.

We also launched Exchange Initiative, a new social action organization that is presenting the national conference “IGNITE: Sparking Action Against Sex Trafficking” Sunday through Tuesday at the St. Louis Union Station DoubleTree Hotel.

We’re bringing together all of the stakeholders — criminal justice, first responders, corporate travelers, not-for-profit and faith-based organizations, and educators — to learn how to fight sex trafficking.

At the IGNITE conference, we’ll teach parents and educators exactly how to approach the issue of sex trafficking with kids. Adults really can give kids the tools they need to avoid this danger.

We can teach teens to identify dangerous situations. We can warn them about being lured into trafficking with promises of fame, fortune and a great life. We can show them the role that social media plays in sex trafficking, how to identify recruiters and what to do if a dangerous situation arises.

Sometimes teachers, administrators and school counselors are the only adults in a child’s life who really notice and listen to them. School staff can learn the progressive warning signs of a student being forced into a life of sex trafficking.

Maybe you’re not a parent or teacher, or you believe your child could never be approached. You may assume that human trafficking has nothing to do with you, or that there’s nothing you can do to stop it.

If so, you would be wrong.

Anyone can help fight sex trafficking by being aware of the signs and learning what to do. Whether you travel on business or pleasure, watch for the “red flags” of a trafficking situation. Call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline at 888-373-7888, local law enforcement, or the U.S. Department of Justice trafficking hotline at 888-428-7581 if you see someone who:

• Appears helpless, shamed, afraid, nervous or disoriented;
• Avoids eye contact;
• Is emotionally flat or confused;
• Won’t speak for himself or herself;
• Gives scripted answers or inconsistent stories, or tells blatant lies;
• Has no personal items, money or ID;
• Shows signs of abuse, such as bruising;
• Appears malnourished;
• Wears inappropriate clothing;
• Has tattoos that reflect ownership or money.

Learn more about sex trafficking, the work of our organization Exchange Initiative, and the “IGNITE” conference at www.exchangeinitiative.com/ignite.

Molly Hackett is a principal at Nix Conference & Meeting Management and Exchange Initiative. She and Nix co-owner Jane Quinn were the first to sign the ECPAT Meeting Planners Code of Conduct and are active in developing events and resources to fight sex trafficking.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch ©February 2014