about

Prax(us) is the only organization in Colorado dedicated to serving individuals, particularly homeless youth, in domestic human trafficking situations. People exploited for sex and/or labor are often targeted for violence, and typically experience trauma and systematic disempowerment.  However, regarding people as victims is not empowering, and often reinforces systems of oppression (such as the targeting of communities of color, targeting queer and transgender communities, policies that are anti-immigrant and support racial profiling, and the use of strategies that can overlook the causes of human trafficking).  One of our core values is to recognize the strengths and autonomy of people who have been in exploitative situations, and support them in making changes in their lives and communities.  Therefore, Prax(us) uses a community engagement model intended to empower participants, advocate for equal rights, and address the root causes of human trafficking. Our goals are to:

  • Conduct ongoing street outreach to connect with individuals who are vulnerable to/currently in exploitive trafficking situations. Prax(us) supports people in harm-reduction practice, and provides access to resources and case management.
  • Help people exit exploitation through leadership development and community organizing.
  • Educate community members, service providers, and law enforcement about human trafficking from the lens of liberation work and consciousness raising
  • Critically engage in cross-issue coalition work with partner organizations
  • Support policies that end human trafficking and exploitation

As long as the most vulnerable are oppressed and exploited, we are all engaged in a cycle of oppression.  Prax(us) believes in a liberation model of community work. This means:
…hope must exist in our work
…the communities most affected by an issue should lead efforts to address it
…moving towards freedom requires both action and broad reflection
…personal experience must be woven into the political movement
…we must fight oppression at every level (personal, community, political, and institutional)
…successful movement building requires us to own our stories and histories

Coalitions Prax(us) participates in:

  • Advisory Committee on Homeless Youth to the Mayor
  • Colorado Collaborative
  • Coloradans for Immigrant Rights (CFIR)
  • Colorado Network to End Human Trafficking (CoNEHT)
  • Denver Street Outreach Collaboration
  • Youth HIV Advocacy Coalition (YHAC)

Key collaborative partners:

  • Urban Peak
  • Polaris Project
  • Colorado Legal Services (CLS)
  • Children’s Hospital Immunodeficiency Program (CHIP)
  • American Friends Service Committee, Colorado office (AFSC)
  • Rainbow Alley
  • Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC)
  • Coalition of Immokalee Workers
  • Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR)
  • Colorado Anti-Violence Program (CAVP)
  • Chinook Fund
  • Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network
  • Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado
  • Timberline Church
  • Denver Foundation

Domestic Human Trafficking in the Denver Metro Area

Human trafficking was only defined as a crime in Colorado in May of 2006. This means that very little information has been formally documented, and that law enforcement is just now being trained on the issue. However, there are many characteristics that make this area prone to incidences of trafficking. From the perspective of labor trafficking, Colorado has a large agriculture industry, and farm workers are often victims of human trafficking. The booming tourism industry and ski resorts also tend to be a destination point for labor trafficking.

Regarding sex trafficking, Denver is a key point for interstate travel where I-70 and I-25 intersect. Both highways are also drug trafficking routes, and drug trafficking is often closely linked to sexual exploitation.

Additionally, anyone who is subject to a scarcity of survival resources becomes vulnerable to trafficking situations. This means that when people do not have legitimate means of acquiring survival resources, such as food, shelter, money, housing, or drugs, they are more likely to end up in human trafficking situations to get these needs met. While many people do not typically regard drugs as a survival resource, once a person is addicted, drugs become more critical than most other basic needs. This is why one of the most effective means that pimps and other traffickers use to control people is to get them addicted to drugs. Once a person is addicted, the pimp or trafficker providing the drugs has an immense amount of power over the person.

It is precisely due to a lack of access to survival resources that homeless youth are so vulnerable to exploitation. A Point in Time study conducted by the Metro Denver Homeless initiative in 2009 shows that there are 1,135 homeless youth in the Denver area on any given night. According to National data, 10-30% of homeless youth are exploited in the sex industry, and that 1 in 3 teens will be recruited by a pimp within 48 hours of leaving home.

This is a snapshot of what human trafficking looks like in the Denver Metro Area.