CMU, we missed an oppurtunity. Thursday, Feb. 27 was Human Trafficking Advocacy Day, and it’s a problem that is lesser known in the Grand Junction community. College students around the country joined thousands of supporters from 161 countries in marking their hands with red X’s to support victims of human trafficking.

Students from schools in Texas, Missouri and Lousiana took part in rallies to support programs such as the End It Movement and the Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking.

Just two years ago, a 70-count indictment took down a trafficking ring that spanned the I-70 corridor from Grand Junction to Denver, the main offense being child prostitution. The raid took down 14 people and their reach hit multiple towns and cities between here and Denver. With such a substantial bust, officials hoped that this effort would put a dent in a problem few want to talk about.

According to reports from 2013, however, the problem is still far from a solution in Colorado. Denver had the fourth most victims of all major U.S. cities rescued last year with 59, up from 49 in 2012. While the rescues were substantial for victims, the number shows a disturbing trend–that trafficking is on the rise in Colorado.

An estimated 20 million people worldwide are victims of trafficking, and the victims might not be limited to sexual trade, although that can be the most damaging. In early February two men were convicted of shipping women from the Phillippines to work in Colorado nursing homes. It was advertised as a nursing job paying $72,000 a year after the $250 application fee to be made out directly to one of the defendants. Laborers were forced into nursing home jobs and cuts of their pay went to the men coercing them.

We should take the example set by our counterparts at other universities to become the voice of change in our community. As college students, we are supposed to be the agents of change that disturb the established system, much like our parents did when they were displeased with Vietnam. Grand Junction gives us a perfect place to do it. Whether the town wants it or not, CMU is the dominant force of transformation in the Grand Valley. We should use this as a platform to project our voices as students. The town has a tendency to get stuck in a rut, afraid of change. Students need to be the ones to talk about what others won’t and keep Grand Junction moving forward.