Lexington nonprofit is raising awareness of human trafficking

Jan. 24, 2025, 6 a.m. ·

The two founders of Traffic Stop
Stacey Cahill (left) and Lisa Molina co-founded the nonprofit Traffic Stop one year ago after publishing a novel together. (Photo courtesy Traffic Stop)

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A Lexington nonprofit raising awareness of sex trafficking is planning its next steps as it enters its second year of work.

The founders of Traffic Stop created the organization to spread awareness of sex trafficking and its relationship to Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP). After celebrating its first anniversary, co-founder Stacey Cahill said there’s still a lot to be done around the state and region.

“Our work had just begun in getting the word out on what human sex trafficking was, especially in our community…and we're just trying to help people understand that it's happening in their backyards," she said.

Co-founder Lisa Molina is a survivor herself and an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

“Due to the high rates of violence that is encountered by Native Americans and Alaskan Indigenous people, those high rates of violence lead often into sex trafficking, because there are historical roots, historical trauma, forced assimilation, erasing of identity that causes the historical trauma," she explained. "So due to that systemic oppression and high rates of vulnerability, we are more susceptible to become victims of human trafficking.”

Molina, who is an MMIP family member and anti-trafficking advocate, and Cahill, a licensed independent mental health practitioner, worked together to publish a novel called Traffic Stop Human Division last year. They realized there was more to do to make sure Nebraskans had the tools and the awareness to stop human sex trafficking and continue to raise awareness in the region.

"Writing the book 'Traffic Stop' allowed me to gain a better understanding and a voice to address the sexual violence in Native country," Molina said. "So, I wanted to bring that to light here in Nebraska. In an area that is not dominated by Native culture, that's one other way to bring awareness to a marginalized group of people who are suffering."

In Native communities, Molina described how higher rates of unsheltered youth and youth in foster care puts them at a higher risk to experience trafficking. She said almost 25% of those youth are exchanging sexual favors for basic necessities, which is called survival sex.

In its first year of work, the nonprofit stayed primarily in Nebraska, but organizers plan to expand to South Dakota, Colorado and Kansas in the near future.

"We are willing to do what we can to educate as many people as we can, because this is a hidden epidemic in our community," Cahill said.

Human sex trafficking is the most common type of trafficking in the U.S. and continues to be one of the fastest growing.

Although the exact numbers are likely underreported, the form of modern slavery generates at least $150 billion on an annual basis.

"It's one of the most underreported crimes in the United States, and we are trying to get more education about what it is, so people will be more apt to get the help that they need and to report it," Cahill said.

Traffic Stop's goals for 2025 include working with children, through a partnership with Freedom 4/24, to offer age-appropriate tools for online safety awareness. It will also provide affordable therapy and online support groups for survivors. This is in addition to their regular presentation services: "Drop in the Bucket," "Human Trafficking 101" and "Deep Dive."

Molina said she likes to include personal stories, since that can show the real people behind the numbers and statistics in the presentations.

According to the annual report from the Nebraska Human Trafficking Task Force, the state Human Trafficking Hotline received 113 calls in 2024, compared to 98 in 2023.

The Traffic Stop founders added human sex trafficking and MMIP cases are growing more complex as well with the introduction of artificial intelligence and urged lawmakers to create a law to address its role in the crime.

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