Education and prevention is key
Katie Boller Gosewisch B’01 calls herself the queen of “if you see something, say something.”
“I probably win the award for making the most 911 calls,” she said with a laugh.
But in all seriousness, she adds, “Human beings were gifted with intuition. If it feels wrong, it probably is wrong, and what’s the worst that could happen? Someone could be made to feel uncomfortable. But on the flip side, you could have saved someone’s life.”
Boller Gosewisch speaks from experience. As a child, she was sexually abused. During a doctor’s visit, a nurse noted in her chart that the young girl was scared, but the investigation stopped there. Had the investigation continued, her ordeal could have ended sooner.
Now, in her current position as executive director of the Alliance to End Human Trafficking (AEHT), Boller Gosewisch is in a position to help others in abusive situations. And one way is by encouraging all of us to keep our eyes and ears open.
Every day, from her office in Michigan, she works on training and educating people about human trafficking.
The Alliance to End Human Trafficking, started in 2013, is a collaborative, faith-based national network that offers education, supports access to survivor services, and engages in advocacy. AEHT members include over 200 congregations of Catholic sisters, coalitions working against human trafficking, and individuals.
It began as 15 religious Sisters from 15 different congregations came together at the White House and decided that although many congregations of women religious are dedicated to anti trafficking, a national organization was needed.
“We’re focused on education and prevention and we support organizations that provide survivor services,” she said. “The need is really there. We believe we are stronger together.”
Boller Gosewisch received a call earlier in the week about needing a place for a survivor of human trafficking and said that, through networking, they are often able to find a safe place as they have access to so many people and services.
“I’m very big into education and prevention, which is where I spend a lot of time thinking and doing,” she said.
Between webinars and the website, to a United Nations-related speaking engagement, she works on providing resources, training, and prevention efforts.
Those can revolve around teaching children about personal boundaries to educating parents and teachers about the dangers of online child exploitation or missing and runaway children situations, which can very often lead to trafficking.
“A child on the street will likely be approached by a trafficker within a short time frame,” she said.
One of the organization’s biggest projects involves the intersection between human trafficking and forced migration.
“The U.S. Dept. of State found that more than 70% of those trafficked in this country are immigrants,” she said. “If we can do something to mitigate the risk for immigrants once they come into this country, we can help stop this. Traffickers exploit vulnerable people. Immigrants are in a country where they might not know anyone, speak the language, or have legal status to be able to work.
“We’re working on three pieces of legislation that have some chance of making improvements in our immigration system. They have a good chance of making an impact,” she said.
Other ways AEHT combats trafficking include talking with survivors, providing scholarships to survivors, and providing grants to organizations that provide direct services.
Boller Gosewisch reminds us that it’s boys and men being trafficked as well, not just girls and women, and that her organization is also focused on labor trafficking, in addition to sex trafficking.
“There’s more labor trafficking in the world than sex trafficking,” she said. “We are saying, ‘Your life is not as important as my comfort.’ Too often it’s about the right clothing or brand. Are we putting profits above people?”
She explains that the amount of money that traffickers make is increasing and is quickly on course to outpace the illegal drug trade. It has already surpassed the illegal weapons trade.
“The tough thing about statistics is it’s a very underreported crime,” she said. “You have anywhere from the international slavery index which reports 50 million people every day are involved in some sort of human trafficking. Many organizations only look at confirmed cases, those reported to law enforcement, so their numbers will be lower.
“With the pandemic, it went even further underground and a lot more online,” she said, explaining that you can find trafficking on Craigslist and all the social media platforms. “Anyone who wants to find it, can find it,” she said.
Despite the staggering statistics, Boller Gosewisch maintains hope. “The fact we are becoming more aware might seem like it’s getting worse, but that same education is the key to its demise. It is about awareness to the point where people can’t just stick their heads in the sand,” she said. “We need to start using the tools we have to work to end human trafficking. We all need to know the indicators (available on the website) and what we can do, maybe it’s calling a hotline or calling 911 or both.”
The fact that there’s mandatory training for healthcare providers, daycare workers, and others is a start.
“I rejoice over (every survivor story) but I definitely rejoice for every kid who learns about boundaries and how to protect themselves,” she said. “We want to prevent people from being trafficked, so it’s a big victory when we can put in the work to do the prevention.”
Boller Gosewisch said her job combines many of her passions. After earning bachelor’s degrees in history and theology at Saint Mary’s, she went on to get a master’s degree in theology.
She then spent the next 20 years of her career working in ministry and then as an executive director for two Minnesota-based nonprofits: Living at Home Network and WeCab, both of which focused on serving vulnerable populations with important access to resources like transportation, safe and affordable housing, and medical care.
She accepted her current position two years ago because it combined a social services and theological component and because of her long-standing personal desire to protect children.
“I don’t know that I could ever do anything differently,” she said. “I do think the idea of servant leadership was something I really attached to Saint Mary’s. The idea of faith, service, leadership, and community have been very integral to my life. It provides a sense of accomplishment, a sense of great meaning. I don’t think I could be in a non-helping profession. It’s the way I’m built.”
