PORT ANGELES — Clallam County will be installing human trafficking prevention signs in an effort to make an impact on the issue.
The poster-sized signs will include nine different languages and be placed inside the county’s 79 bathroom stalls, according to a county commissioners’ agenda item. The signs also address forced labor.
The languages were chosen because there is reason to believe they align with individuals who are most at risk of being trafficked, county Prosecuting Attorney Mark Nichols told the commissioners during the Jan. 13 work session.
The signs were co-developed by three anti-trafficking organizations and have been used by other governmental organizations, Nichols said.
“They cherry picked those foreign languages translations that they thought would be best to include based on upon the data,” he added.
Washington state is a hotbed for the recruiting, transportation and sale of people for labor, according to the state Office of the Attorney General (OAG).
According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, 367 people were involved in human trafficking in Washington state in 2023.
Some of the factors that contribute include the state’s international border with Canada, abundance of ports, vast rural areas and dependency on agricultural workers, attorney general’s office said.
Clallam County’s includes many of those features, indicating human trafficking is likely a problem “probably at an unknown level,” Nichols said.
“This would be something the organization can do tangibly to help combat human trafficking, which is a crime that is believed by many to be much more prevalent than we know and understand,” he said.
The idea originated after Nichols gave a human trafficking presentation to the Soroptimist International of Port Angeles Jet Set club in November.
“One of our initiatives is to bring awareness to human trafficking,” club member Deb West said.
During the question-and-answer period, former Clallam County auditor and soroptimist member Patty Rosand asked about the possibility of getting anti-trafficking signs installed in the county, specifically near the auditor’s office where people apply for marriage licenses.
“For Mark, it was like a light bulb went on,” West said.
Soon after, Nichols brought the idea to the commissioners and the process was set in motion.
Nichols said the hope is that the signs will trigger more reports about human trafficking.
If even one person takes advantage of this resource, “then the entire campaign would have been worthwhile,” Nichols said during a November work session.
The signs will cost the county just less than $5,000.
In addition, Nichols said he plans to investigate the possibility of installing Braille signs, based on suggestions by Commissioner Mark Ozias, and panic buttons.
He also plans to reach out to other local governments to challenge them to do something similar, in recognition of January’s status as National Human Trafficking Prevention Month.
West said the soroptimists would be happy to lend support to that cause as well.
For those who are interested in learning more about human trafficking and how it affects the Peninsula, Nichols will give a free public presentation at 12:35 p.m. Jan. 30 at the Peninsula College Little Theatre, 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd. The presentation also can be viewed on Zoom.
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Reporter Emma Maple can be reached by email at emma.maple@peninsuladailynews.com.
