LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — As the Las Vegas Grand Prix welcomes millions of visitors, SafeNest is partnering with the Southern Nevada Human Trafficking Task Force to ramp up efforts to combat abuse.
“Anybody who has an intersectionality with police inside the Formula 1 bubble related to trafficking, the survivor of that has the opportunity to come to SafeNest and be in our triage program,” said Liz Ortenburger, CEO of SafeNest. “ That allows us to some time to put some services around that survivor and figure out, in partnership with them, what they need next. Do they need to fly home? Do we need to get them somewhere safe? Or do they need to join our longer-term domestic violence program.”
While Formula 1 brings a lot of excitement to the cities they race in, nonprofits that work with domestic violence and sexual abuse survivors in those cities have reported receiving an uptick in calls. Ortenburger said that with more people in Las Vegas, that is when they generally see more calls; however there is no solid data on the number of people experiencing abuse.
"It is not Formula 1 or the Super Bowl or any of these events that bring an element of trafficking different than what we experience any other Monday through Friday," Ortenburger said. "Trafficking is more a per capita issue: the more people, the more trafficking. The more people, the more domestic violence.
Formula 1 has its Modern Slavery Act Transparency Statement posted on its website. It affirms that officials take steps to identify and combat the risk of modern slavery and human trafficking occuring. The statement said that F1 trains all relevant staff to identify these issues.
SafeNest offers a variety of resources including a 24/7 hotline, an emergency shelter, court support and other services. To contact them, go to SafeNest.org or call 702-646-4981.
