Austin, TX, Nov. 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Starting in January 2022, the Bullock Texas State History Museum will offer a traveling version of its groundbreaking exhibition Not Alone: Working Together in the Fight Against Human Trafficking. The exhibition is available to organizations across Texas free-of-charge for a display period of up to five weeks, thanks to funding from Nancy Ann and Ray L. Hunt, the Texas Trucking Association, and the Texas Bar Foundation. Reservations are open now.
“By raising awareness of how human trafficking affects Texans, the Bullock is proud to use its educational platform to create this bilingual traveling version of Not Alone," said Bullock Museum Director Margaret Koch. "We invite communities to host the exhibition so everyone has the opportunity to become better informed, inspired, and empowered by utilizing well-researched information and compassionate human stories of resilience and hope.”
Although underreported, recent statistics suggest there are hundreds of thousands of people being trafficked in Texas at any given time. The Bullock Museum created the exhibition with the goal of spotlighting an issue impacting thousands of Texans and preventing further exploitation of vulnerable individuals in the state. The Museum consulted an expert advisory group for the project, including the Office of the Governor Public Safety Office and the Texas Human Trafficking Task Force, Governor’s Commission for Women, McCain Institute, National Center for Mission and Exploited Children, and Love146.
Not Alone uses a series of questions to help visitors ages 10 and older understand the issue in a straightforward and empowering way — learning to identify signs of trafficking in their communities, and becoming advocates for themselves, friends, families, and neighbors. On each exhibition panel, visitors scan a QR code to access original videos virtually, featuring interviews with advocates and survivors who expand on the exhibition’s guiding questions.
The traveling exhibition, which is designed for easy venue self-installation at schools, museums, libraries, and community centers, includes pre-printed panels with text presented in both English and Spanish. The exhibition requires 500 to 750 square feet of display space, and the Bullock Museum will provide all venues with help guides, resources, and printable handout files.
"The most important thing is prevention," said Kristen Abrams, Senior Director of Combatting Human Trafficking at the McCain Institute. "It's going back to those root causes and thinking about what we as individuals can do to chip away at those things that make people vulnerable to trafficking."
Texas venues interested in reserving Not Alone: Working Together in the Fight Against Human Trafficking can contact the Bullock Museum at TSHM.TravelingExhibits@TheStoryofTexas.com. For more information, visit TheStoryofTexas.com/NotAlone.
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