The Willow Domestic Violence Center and other community organizations are hosting two community panels in the coming weeks to offer Lawrence residents information on human trafficking.

In the past fiscal year the center provided its services to 42 survivors of human trafficking, five of whom were under age, said Human Trafficking Program Coordinator Elizabeth Moffitt.

The community panels aim to teach people about details of human trafficking and how it can happen in northeast Kansas, Moffitt said.

“Most people aren’t kidnapped into human trafficking,” she said. “It’s similar to domestic violence or sex violence. Vulnerabilities are often taken advantage of and the victims are sold for sexual services, into prostitution or for labor services.”

The panels will also provide information on how to prevent human trafficking and how interested community members can do their part, Moffitt said.

The first panel, which will focus on what human trafficking is, will be between 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Monday at the Lawrence Public Library.

The second panel will be between 6:30 and 8 p.m. Feb. 1 at the Lawrence Public Library and will feature representatives from the Lawrence Police Department, the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office, the Kansas Department for Children and Families, and The Shelter Inc., to name a few. These organizations will detail how the investigation process works with human trafficking and the types of community services that are available.

Both events are free and open to the public, Moffitt said.

More information is available online at willowdvcenter.org.