By Greg Jordan, CNHI West Virginia
BECKLEY — How the tragedy of human trafficking touches Appalachia and what the world’s other rural communities are doing to address it will be among the topics when two members of a Raleigh County child advocacy center head for the United Nations Dialogue on Human Trafficking.
Just for Kids Child Advocacy Center in Beckley announced this week that Executive Director Dr. Deaneé Johnson and Project GRACE Coordinator Ria Mitchell have been invited to serve as United States delegates at the United Nations Dialogue on Human Trafficking this October in Vienna, Austria.
The Just for Kids Child Advocacy Center provides a safe, child-friendly environment for children who have experienced abuse or witnessed violence. Through a multidisciplinary approach, the center coordinates medical, legal, therapeutic, and advocacy services to help children and families find healing and justice.
This invitation to the United Nations dialogue comes soon after the launch of Project GRACE (Gathered Response to Address Child Exploitation), an initiative introduced in early 2025 by Just for Kids to combat child trafficking and exploitation across West Virginia.
“We are deeply honored to have a seat at this global table,” Johnson said. “Human trafficking is a worldwide crisis, but it manifests in unique ways here in Appalachia. Our participation ensures that the voices and experiences of children in West Virginia are heard in an international conversation. This is our opportunity to think globally and act locally.
Mitchell said that this opportunity highlights the urgency for collaborating on the human trafficking issue.
“Project GRACE was built on the idea that no single agency can fight exploitation alone,” she said. “To carry our local insights into a global dialogue is not only humbling—it’s necessary.”
Johnson said the invitation to Vienna came when a colleague she knew contacted her about attending it.
“I knew her from many years ago,” she said. “She forwarded it to me because she knew this was in my wheelhouse, and so I wanted to give Ria Mitchell, who is our Project GRACE coordinator, a chance to do something impactful and meaningful that she’s never done before; so, she applied and we ended up getting accepted.
Human trafficking in West Virginia and other parts of Appalachia appears differently than it does in other regions.
“Appalachia is very unique primarily because of our geographic location and the isolation of families,” Johnson said. “One of the primary forms of child trafficking that we see around Appalachia is familial trafficking. Most people in this area associate trafficking only as an international crime or where a child has to be taken across state lines – the boogeyman in the bushes that’s going to take your child. Human trafficking is done through force, fraud or coercion and is when someone forces someone to do something sexually in order to received something of value in return. It’s different with kids. You don’t have to have the force, fraud or coercion piece for minors.”
Another factor which makes human trafficking in Appalachian so different is the ongoing struggle with the opioid epidemic, she said. Family members addicted to drugs often use their children as a means to get those drugs.
“And that is considered child sex trafficking,” Johnson said, adding this type of exchange has only recently been labeled as child sex trafficking.
Johnson and Mitchell were invited to the join the United Nations dialogue and speak about human trafficking in rural Appalachia and other rural regions across the world. Just For Kids is a service provider while other attendees will be people such as politicians and academics.
By participating in this international dialogue, Johnson and Mitchell can get a more rounded perspective about human trafficking and how other rural communities combat it.
Johnson was asked if more human trafficking cases are being seen in Appalachia.
“It’s not necessarily a growing problem,” she said. “It’s always been there. We just haven’t called it what it truly is. I do want to put the caveat there that the opioid epidemic has increased the unique circumstances here in West Virginia.”
Online exploitation is another factor in human trafficking. Technological advancements and new apps let children interact with people from around the world, Johnson said.
“Human trafficking needs to be talked about more and needs to be understood,” she said, adding it’s one of the least-charged crimes in the region. “It’s one of the most misunderstood crimes.”
“Dr. Johnson’s international reputation once again brings recognition to Just for Kids and to West Virginia, as she is invited to participate on a global stage addressing the crisis of human and child trafficking,” said Marcy Nolan, board president of Just for Kids. “I am confident that Deanee’ and Ria will highlight the challenges of trafficking that exist in West Virginia while also bringing back global perspectives that will help create new pathways to success in their efforts here. I am thrilled that they have this opportunity.”
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Feature image: Adam Justice, of Beckley City Police Department, left, and Sgt. B.J. Adams, of the Raleigh County Sheriff’s Office, pin badges on Ambrose Harrah, 4, during the Just For Kids Child Advocacy Center “Hope in Bloom” events to honor Child Abuse Prevention Month in this April file photo. File photo