The Junior League of Eugene hosted a speaker event on Jan. 6 at Capitello Wines to discuss anti-trafficking awareness.
The JLE is a non-profit women’s advocacy group that promotes social change in the community. It is an international group with locations primarily throughout the United States and Canada.
“This month is Human Trafficking Awareness Month, so it made sense to do a training focused on that issue,” JLE Chair of Training and Events Committee Kristin Michalowski said.
Lane Transit District’s Community Resource Liaison Sarah Koski and rural-area trafficking expert Marion Pearson gave a presentation about topics that included elements of trafficking, local efforts being made to combat the issue and recent local trafficking and sexual assault cases.
“Any time we can provide a helping hand, I am all about it. Task forces cannot do it alone. The more we spread this information, it can only benefit a community,” Pearson said.
Pearson works primarily in Douglas County and rarely educates in other areas. Koski said she saw an opportunity to bring the information to the junior league and convened Pearson with JLE which holds anti-trafficking as one of the top issues it champions.
“It is an issue that people don’t like to look at closely because it’s uncomfortable,” Michalowski said.
According to Pearson, some of the most vulnerable to trafficking or sexual assault are children, women and young people. In Eugene, this means college students are at risk for trafficking or sexual “indecencies.”
“A vast urban area with an influx of people that come in, things like sex trafficking can occur when Duck games are happening. Any sort of large community event can bring in traffickers,” Pearson said.
Pearson’s presentation examined stories of local perpetrators of sexual misconduct and trafficking that occurred within the last five years. According to Pearson, the last time she encountered a trafficking case was in November 2024.
Pearson said she encounters and addresses a trafficking case every few months, including other forms of trafficking such as labor trafficking. The partnering police task forces she works with encounter cases far more regularly.
Other communities at risk for trafficking are people experiencing homelessness.
“There is a high sexual assault possibility within the homeless situations, from people who are unsheltered and people who are not,” Pearson said. “You would never expect that someone would go to these homeless encampments just to rape or abuse other people and get away with it in our county.”
Several actions are being taken to combat trafficking in Lane County, although Pearson and Koski declined to publicly announce what those will be.
“There are so many opportunities in Eugene to make an impact,” Pearson said. “There’s not a lot of places for people to go, especially youth. I’d like to see some sort of comprehensive plan to raise awareness.”
