Peach Tree Times

Georgia's first lady, Marty Kemp, is working to fight human trafficking across the Peach State.

Kemp recently met with the Newnan Rotary Club to discuss the threat of trafficking and the importance of community education about the subject, the Newnan Times-Herald reported. Following a press conference about the prevalence of human trafficking in Georgia, Kemp made the decision to use her position as the state's first lady to educate community members about trafficking prevention.

"I decided then and there I would use my voice as first lady to raise awareness to fight human trafficking in Georgia and to put every ounce of effort that I have into making Georgia a haven for survivors of this terrible crime and also make it clear to traffickers that they are not welcome in the Peach State," Kemp told the Newnan Times-Herald.

Following Kemp's work raising awareness about human trafficking across Georgia, the state legislature unanimously passed six laws to combat human trafficking, the Newnan Times-Herald reported.

"Last session, we passed two bills empowering Human Trafficking survivors with resources to embark on a path towards healing and recovery," Kemp told Peach Tree Times. "SB 34 amended Georgia's name change statute to protect the privacy and safety of survivors who wish to change their names, and SB 33 created a civil cause of action for survivors to sue any person who knowingly benefitted from any venture or scheme that the person knew or should have known involved trafficking."

Kemp is also supporting a bill this session that would necessitate a superior court judge to grant bail to those accused of trafficking, making Georgia a less attractive prospect to human traffickers.

A second recovery program will soon be open for human trafficking survivors in Georgia, with a new receiving facility opening in Gwinnett County, Kemp told Peach Tree Times.

"At these safe, secure locations, survivors can receive wraparound services—services to aid in their mental and physical wellbeing," Kemp told Peach Tree Times. "We now have over 100 beds at these facilities throughout the state offering survivors a safe haven where they can begin to move forward with their lives. With the continued support of our partners in the state legislature, law enforcement, state agencies, and the private sector, we are taking major steps towards ridding our state of this evil industry."

The Center for Public Policy Studies released a fact sheet that outlines the impact of sex trafficking in Georgia. Five-thousand girls are currently at risk of being sex-trafficked, and approximately 374 girls are trafficked every month. The average age of girls who enter the Georgia commercial sex market is 12-14 years old. Approximately 12,400 Georgia men pay for sex with an adolescent woman every month, and 100 adolescent girls on average are sexually exploited every night. Atlanta has the highest rate of Hispanic females that are trafficked out of any location in the U.S.

"Human Trafficking is a crime that hides in plain sight, even operating in crowded public centers like our airport," Kemp told Peach Tree Times. "To assist in raising awareness, the GRACE Commission created free human trafficking awareness training available online through the Department of Administrative Services, which you can find here. I encourage all Georgians to do their part to help bring an end to human trafficking in our state."