New Exhibition Highlights Human Trafficking On Cape Cod

24 January, 2025 – HYANNIS, MA – A new art exhibition at the Guyer Art Barn in Hyannis displays incarcerated women's thoughts and experiences with human trafficking on Cape Cod. Many female inmates have experienced being trafficked, the Barnstable County Sheriff's Office says that is no coincidence.

January is Human Trafficking Awareness month and Cape Cod kicked it off with an art exhibition at the Guyer Art Barn in Hyannis last Friday.

"We very much believe in the raising awareness about human trafficking. I still feel like on the Cape there is so much education that still needs to happen," says Barbara Clarkson, Chief of Inmate Services and Programs at the Barnstable County Sheriff's Office. "I think if you took a poll tonight out of the people that were here, I think the majority of them would be shocked by what they heard."

Human trafficking is a reality on Cape Cod, it exists in two forms: sex trafficking and labor trafficking. According to the nonprofit organization Polaris, labor trafficking is "the crime of using force, fraud or coercion to induce another individual to work or provide service. Common types include agriculture, domestic work, restaurants, cleaning services, and carnivals."

The Cape And Islands District Attorney's Office has created a region-wide human trafficking task force, reaching over county borders to reach victims and conduct successful prosecutions. DA Robert Galibois says though the work to end human trafficking on Cape Cod at first centered around sex trafficking, the office is now pivoting to investigate labor trafficking too.