ATLANTA — The First Lady of Georgia said she had no idea how big of a problem human trafficking was across the state until just a few weeks before her husband was sworn into office in January 2019.
First Lady Marty Kemp said she, along with her husband and their three daughters, attended an anti-human trafficking news conference at Atlantic Station. The event, #StopTraffick, was unusual in the fact that to get their message across, the organizers brought in yellow school buses for a visual. It's that visual that got the First Lady's attention.
"It (news conference) had 72 school buses, which represented 3,500 kids that are taken in human trafficking a year in the state of Georgia," Kemp explained.
She added, "I'm a very visual learner."
The photo below is a visual from that day.
Kemp said it was an issue she never heard about while out on the campaign trail. However, after that day, she knew human trafficking would be an issue her office would work to tackle.
"I was just shocked that it was going on in our state," she said.
Shortly after taking office, Kemp announced that her husband signed an executive order to form Georgians for Refuge Action Compassion and Education Commission - the GRACE Commission.
"It has really brought all the experts to the table to learn what I didn't know," Kemp explained.
The GRACE Commission is made up of public officials, law enforcement, for-profit and non-profit organizations, faith-based institutions, and experts to tackle human trafficking, seek justice for victims, and hold bad actors accountable.
"I knew when I learned about it, I had to do something about it," she said.
Since that news conference, Kemp has passed eight pieces of legislation, which not only target buyers and sellers but also help the survivors.
She pointed out that the support from legislators has been unanimous.
"On both sides of the aisle because, I mean, how do you pick one side or the other? This is not about politics," Kemp explained.
The First Lady's latest initiative to become a reality is Grace's Place in Lawrenceville. The facility will provide physical and mental care along with educational resources for up to 24 child survivors of sex trafficking.
"I want this to be a role model for the country," Kemp said.
She added, "It is great. It will be a home and a loving place for these individuals to come to and just restart their life."
The First Lady is watching her current legislation move through the General Assembly. SB 370 would do a number of things while specifically targeting illicit massage parlors.
If passed in its current form, it would do the following:
- Add convenience stores, body art studios, and businesses with licensed massage therapists to the list that must display the GBI’s Human Trafficking hotline notice
- Allow the Georgia Board of Massage Therapy to make surprise inspections at massage therapy businesses and massage therapy educational programs.
- Require massage therapists to affix a passport-sized photo with their license certificate that is displayed at their place of work.
- Require massage therapy board members to annually complete HT awareness training.
- Builds on work of SB 42 from last year
- Ensure businesses, where victims may be taken, are displaying lifesaving information
- Allow Board to detect illicit massage businesses (IMBs) through surprise inspections and notify authorities
- Photo component cracks down on the usage of one license by IMBs for multiple individuals
"My goal is to get it (human trafficking) out of Georgia completely," Kemp said.
The First Lady also praised the Attorney General's Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit, which 11Alive has covered extensively on convictions and lengthy sentences for buyers and sellers.
Attorney General Chris Carr said last year alone, the Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit recovered and assisted 129 people, led and assisted 81 case investigations, and secured 29 new convictions, with all guilty defendants sentenced to prison.
The First Lady said something every Georgian can do is educate themselves on the signs to look for when it comes to Human Trafficking. Her office developed a Human Trafficking Awareness Training video, which you can watch here.
Contact the Human Trafficking Hotline
- If you suspect human trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline toll-free at (888) 373-7888.
- To report suspected human trafficking in Georgia, call the Statewide 24-Hour Human Trafficking Hotline at (866) 363-4842.
- Call 911 or your local law enforcement agency to file a report if you believe a victim is in imminent danger.
- For more information on how to get help for both national and foreign-born victims of human trafficking, visit www.endhtga.org.