I've been in this for 26 years, but I've been in anti-violence prevention for longer than that, not to age myself. All forms of violence, for me, need to be eliminated.
I will tell you that language has changed, for sure. Legislation has clearly changed to a certain degree. I know that women, 20 years ago, would not come forward, because they knew that they would be arrested and charged. Now, we're holding the actual traffickers and johns accountable, and a woman cannot be charged if she is selling sex. You can only be charged if you buy sex, so that has changed significantly.
I think there's more of a collaborative effort. We as service providers are more willing to support individuals with very complex needs. I think we were very structured in the way that we provided support 15 or 20 years ago. I'm hoping that we are more collaborative in the way that we do things, that we do have more funding and continue to get funded for programs, and that we continue to change systemic barriers for folks who are being trafficked.