Tricia Grant and Tanya George, two human trafficking survivors, testified in front of the Windham Town Council about the proclamation to support trafficking survivors. Contributed / Just Love Worldwide

The Windham Town Council issued a proclamation condemning human trafficking and supporting two first-in-the-nation laws – L.D. 1435 and L.D. 1436 – which protect survivors from criminal charges.

By passing this proclamation, which declares Windham’s support for efforts to combat sex trafficking and raise awareness on the issue, Windham follows in the footsteps of Auburn, which passed the first anti-trafficking proclamation in the state this January.

The laws in question, L.D. 1435 and L.D. 1436 were passed in 2023, and protect survivors from being the ones convicted of crimes, rather than traffickers or pimps. Advocates of these bills note that no survivor wanted to be in the position they were forced into, with many of them being forced into criminal activities against their will, but many of them hold criminal charges and convictions that prevent them from getting jobs and housing.

Ahead of the proclamation being adopted, two trafficking survivors spoke. One of them, Tricia Grant, was the head of Just Love Worldwide, a Westbrook-based nonprofit that supports trafficking survivors, helps educate people about the issue, and advocates for laws to protect survivors of sex trafficking and prostitution.

Speaking to the Lakes Region Weekly, Grant explained that Just Love, which was founded in 2018, has three primary focus areas. One of these is providing education and training to anyone who needs it or wants it by reaching out to law enforcement, churches, schools, medical professionals and chambers of commerce, among others. Another is supporting policies that help protect survivors from being charged for crimes they did not commit willingly, and help them to access lawyers to help seal their records.

The most important aspect of their mission, Grant said, is survivor care, helping and supporting survivors wherever they are on their journey. Some people Just Love works with are still actively in a life of exploitation, while others have been out of that life for years, but need somewhere to turn to. Grant explained that Just Love helps survivors access community resources, while also letting them know that they are not alone.

Grant recalled how the Auburn proclamation was passed in January, which is also known as Human Trafficking Awareness Month. At the hearing, a woman had testified whose daughter had been trafficked in Windham as a 13-year-old. Once Auburn had adopted the proclamation, they told the daughter, who was so moved that she and her mother decided to encourage every major town in Maine to adopt a similar proclamation.

Grant said that there were several options for dealing wit the sex trade in Maine, including full criminalization, full decriminalization and/or legalization, and the equality model, which Just Love supports, one which would criminalize the act of buying sex, but not the act of selling. Grant argued that the issue is not with those who are being exploited, and noted that Just Love runs a program that works with men who get caught buying sex for the first time.

“If we can end the demand,” said Grant, “we can end trafficking.”

Tanya George, another survivor, said that she thought Windham would be the best place to start, and was glad that people were realizing how prominent the problem is, even in small towns such as Windham.

Council member Mark Morrison asked what the town can do in addition to supporting the proclamation, to which Grant said that they could provide education to law enforcement, council members, medical professionals and schools, among others. She said that Just Love has been reaching out to chambers of commerce to identify the problem at common sites: hotels and restaurants, and encouraged law enforcement to understand new laws, noting that they received a lot of pushback in other communities because law enforcement felt as though a tool was being taken away from them.

Morrison, a Rotarian, offered to get Grant connected with the Sebago Lake Rotary Rotary Club, while council head Jarrod Maxfield commended the efforts of Just Love, saying that, while the town council doesn’t usually take up “social issues” due to their perceived divisiveness, he couldn’t imagine anyone not agreeing with a resolution like that. The town then read out the proclamation, and voted unanimously in favor of adopting the proclamation.

When asked about how the Windham Police Department would be taking action in the wake of the proclamation, Police Chief Kevin Schofield explained to the Lakes Region Weekly that officers from Windham had recently gone to a training in how to deal with trafficking. Schofield noted that most trafficking operations go far beyond a single community, and investigations are most often conducted across multiple communities, led by a regional or statewide task force of multiple departments in conjunction with federal agencies.

As for Just Love, it is currently working on getting similar proclamations signed in as many Maine cities and towns as they can, and will be meeting with Sen. Susan Collins’ office on Friday, March 14.

“It’s been a great process so far, and we’re very excited about it,” said Grant.