Much like the rest of the country, you will find Wisconsin in the principal's office when it comes to grades for addressing child and youth sex trafficking. Wisconsin is one of 32 states that received a failing grade from Shared Hope International. This non-profit, non-governmental Christian organization exists to prevent sex trafficking and bring justice to women and children victimized by it. Minnesota was the only Midwestern state not to receive a failing grade from the organization, but barely passing with a C. States are graded under an advanced legislative framework that takes a look at the laws on the books related to and impacting child and youth sex trafficking. According to Awaken Wisconsin Executive Director Kasia Klaus, every county in the state had at least one report of trafficking, making the failing grades in areas like identification of and response to victims, continuum of care, tools for a victim-centered criminal justice response, and prevention and training troublesome. Klaus says they have been working with lawmakers on legislation that would provide Safe Harbor for sex-trafficked victims.

Awaken Wisconsin provided services to over 100 victims in the past year, primarily in Brown County. Klaus believes that many people think that trafficking is just a big city problem when it affects communities of all sizes.

Awaken Wisconsin offers drop-in services at its center on the east side of Green Bay and an outreach program at the Brown County Jail.  According to the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, there were 445 allegations of child sex trafficking in Wisconsin in 2021. Of those allegations, the Human Trafficking Institute shows that seven human trafficking cases were filed in federal court, with fourteen defendants being convicted.