Woman teaches ‘no face’ to human trafficking at local seminar

FORT MYERS, Fla. – When most people think of the Super Bowl, they think of football and commercials.

Iris Sanchez of Defend Your Beauty thinks of sex trafficking.

“There’s a correlation that when Super Bowl comes into whatever town that it’s in, there’s a lot more demand for human trafficking victims,” Sanchez said.

Sex trafficking is wildly under-reported, but Sanchez made it her goal to raise awareness through her organization. She hosted a seminar Thursday in downtown Fort Myers.

Willow Epps, a 12-year-old, attended with her mom and sister. She said the information presented was scary.

‘It confuses me because I think people should talk about it more because it’s like something that’s important to know about,” she said.

Florida ranks third in the nation for the number of human trafficking cases. Sanchez said trafficker come in all shapes, sizes, races and genders.

“Things like this happen and it’s unfortunate that there really is no face,” she said.

The event was Sanchez’ first. She is planning a Defend Your Beauty walk for October.