To the editor:

In response to the New Ulm Human Rights Commission’s letter dated January 26…

My husband and I attended the informational event on sex trafficking. It was excellent. Only 5% of trafficking involves abduction. Most of the ‘groomers’ are someone the victim knows. Social media and television also play a huge part. Even something as innocent as dance allows the groomer or perpetrator a good look at young girls, as their costumes and moves can be sexual in nature. Danielle (the speaker) wants the information she gave shared as much as possible. She said to watch the documentary “Raised on Porn,” and a good book for children is “Good Pictures Bad Pictures.” There is a podcast called Action169. She told us we need to teach our children proper internet etiquette, like not giving addresses out online, or passwords. As parents, we need to monitor our children’s internet use by knowing their passwords and logins. We need to look through their phones and see what our children are up to. Here are good apps to help monitor: Family Link, Family Time, Bark, Net Nanny, and missingkids.org.

Danielle has been through more than most people can even imagine. The sex industry, drugs and alcohol addiction, abortion, and more. But through her newfound faith, she has forgiven herself because God does. Her mission is to empower women to overcome substance use and to help those in the strip club industry get out. She said these young women need compassion, not condemnation.

At the end of the presentation, there was time for questions. Someone asked about protecting or educating the LGBTQ community. I can’t remember the exact wording of her question, but Danielle answered with, “I believe God made two genders-male and female”, which drew an applause from many in attendance. The rest of the message I got was that the groomers or perpetrators don’t know how their victims identify. Everyone is at risk. Every needs to be protected. I really don’t think the speaker’s intent was to offend or hurt anyone in the LGBTQ community, but to make them aware that they also need to be protected like everyone else.

There was so much good information in Danielle’s very personal journey. It’s too bad the writers of the Jan. 26 letter to the editor focused on a 10-second personal opinion of the speaker, and not the presentation as a whole.

Donita Platz

Lafayette