Austin Councilwoman Mackenzie Kelly is sponsoring a resolution to ensure that city employees and staffers have the training and skills to identify victims of human trafficking when providing services.
The resolution will be introduced at the Sept. 15 council meeting. Council members Ann Kitchen (District 5), Leslie Pool (District 7), and Vanessa Fuentes (District 2) are co-sponsoring the resolution.
The Austin City Council previously passed a resolution in 2015 recognizing human trafficking as a human rights concern impacting the Austin community.
“I hope this resolution brings awareness to the issue of human trafficking,” Kelly told Austin Journal. “My intention is to also ensure that social service providers within the city have the skills needed to recognize signs of human trafficking and enable the victims of human trafficking to get the support they need to recover.”
According to the most recent Federal Human Trafficking Report from the Human Trafficking Institute, Texas ranks second only to California in the number of federal forced labor cases and third (behind California and Florida) in the number of sex trafficking cases.
Kelly said she was moved to sponsor the resolution after meeting human trafficking victims. They need assistance, and the city must be aware of this issue, she said.
“After riding with Sgt. Drew McAngus from Travis County Constable Sheriff’s Office, I was inspired to bring this resolution forward,” Kelly said. “Sgt. McAngus took me into homeless encampments where I met people dealing with the aftermath of losing their homes and support systems.
"In one encampment we visited, there were over 100 people living there," she added. "One of the people I met was a woman who was a victim of human trafficking. I was told that she was forced into that in order to survive in the encampment. After meeting her and hearing her story, I wanted to help her and others get resources to get out of that situation.”
Human trafficking is often a problem not often talked about, she said.
“Still, according to the University of Texas School of Social Work, researchers found that there are an estimated 313,000 victims of human trafficking in Texas, approximately 79,000 minors and youths are victims of sex trafficking, and approximately 234,000 workers in Texas who are victims of labor trafficking,” Kelly said. “Texas ranks second only to California in the number of human trafficking arrests in the United States.”
Kelly said there are many causes of human trafficking.
“Some of the major factors that contribute to people becoming trafficking victims are poverty, racism, gender inequality, addictions, mental illness, parental incarcerations, childhood trauma, foster care, co-dependency and a history of abuse,” she said.
Many people in Austin are vulnerable to being victims of human traffickers, Kelly said.
Devoting her time and energies to assist others comes naturally to Kelly, who was elected in a Dec. 15, 2020, runoff election and took office on Jan. 6, 2021.
She previously served at the Round Rock Fire Department training division, Williamson County Emergency Management and with the Austin Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), according to a biography on the city website.
Kelly was elected president of the 100th class of Austin Police Department's Citizen Police Academy in 2019, helping her form a strong working relationship with the department. From 2005-13, Kelly volunteered with the Jollyville Fire Department, where she completed a year-long fellowship through the Disaster Science Academy.