Snow had fallen the day before, but on Monday evening the walkways outside the Two Harbors Law Enforcement Center were cleared, allowing residents to gather for the annual candlelight vigil honoring victims, survivors, and those still trapped in sex trafficking. Inside, candles and printed sayings waited on each chair as soft music was played by musicians Kathleen Wilcox and Dale Rogers. Familiar faces settled in quietly.
This was the third year I attended the event, and the consistency of the gathering stood out. The message has not changed. The need has not changed. What has grown is the community’s understanding of how close to home this issue can be.
For Marlys Wisch, who helped form the Lake County Sex Trafficking Task Force, the vigil remains essential.
“This is one of the things I do every year, no matter what,” she told the crowd. “Because I want people to be remembered.
” She reminded attendees that the vigil is about “honoring the people who have died being trafficked, who are still living in the life and haven’t found a way out. Those who are survivors and have made a way out of the life and then are trying to build their lives again into something of a normal life.”
Wisch also noted the task force’s longevity, stating, “We formed in 2013 and we’ve done the vigil now since 2014.”
Before reading this year’s commissioner’s proclamation recognizing January as Human Trafficking Awareness Month, Lake County Commissioner Rich Sve shared a story about a relative who had undergone trafficking-awareness training in the military.
“He said he was in Italy and there was something going on next door. And he brought that up and then brought it up the chain of command,” Sve said. “He saw something, he spoke up. It’s what we always talk about.”
Sve emphasized that trafficking is not distant or abstract.
“We live in a time when our country often feels divided, but there are issues that rise above politics, party, and ideology. Protecting people from exploitation is one of them. Human trafficking is not a partisan issue. It is a human one. And that is why we are gathered here today,” he said. “Human trafficking is not just a big city problem. It can, and it does occur in small towns and rural communities, just like ours. It involves the exploitation of individuals through force, fraud, and coercion.”
He added that counties often see the earliest warning signs.
“We are often the first call, the first office someone walks into, and the first system to notice when something doesn’t look right,” Sve said.
State Rep. Natalie Zeleznikar echoed that message, recalling the first time she learned about trafficking.
“It was probably over 10 years ago when I first heard of this at a Rotary meeting and wondered, what in the world is this? Is this really a thing?” she said. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think Minnesota would be third in the nation for sex trafficking.”
Zeleznikar highlighted bipartisan legislation that strengthened sentencing and reporting requirements and urged residents to remain alert to the silent hand signal sometimes used by victims to ask for help.
“It should be a flag to you to ask the question of perhaps this person is in trouble. They’re sending a visual cue to us. We might not know any other information, but then I now know when I see that, I would be quickly calling 911 and letting the police get there and intervene and be taking notes of what the people are wearing,” she said.
She cautioned against assuming safety based on familiarity or trust.
“Just blind trust is Minnesota naive, is what I would say. It’s not Minnesota nice. It’s Minnesota naive. We have to see facts and see objective truths when they’re there,” said the representative.
Mel Alvar, the Safe Harbor regional navigator for northeastern Minnesota, offered both professional insight and personal testimony.
She pushed back on language often used around victim support, stating, “It is our job to put the tools in front of them and to remind them how powerful they are. I’ve really stopped saying things like, we empower victims because that’s signifying a power imbalance. We need to remind them of the power that they were inherently born with because someone along the way has told them that they can take that away from them.”
Alvar noted that Safe Harbor served more than two thousand young people between 2023 and 2025 and conducted hundreds of trainings and consultations. She also highlighted a new nine-million-dollar statewide grant to expand Minnesota’s response to labor trafficking.
“When folks feel connected, it becomes increasingly difficult for exploiters to isolate and manipulate them,” she said. “We must normalize asking for help.”
Lake County Attorney Lara Nygaard closed the speaker portion with a reminder that trafficking often hides in plain sight.
“Tonight is about remembering that behind every victim, there’s a person who has dreams,” she said. “As we sit here today, remember that prevention is one of the most powerful tools. And prevention and education can lead the way out of that darkness. And we have to educate ourselves and others and remain aware of the exploitation that occurs even in our own community.”
She outlined the legal definitions of sex and labor trafficking and stressed the importance of recognizing behavioral red flags such as sudden isolation, unexplained gifts, controlling partners, or concerning online interactions.
“Remember that this isn’t just a law enforcement problem,” Nygaard continued. “This isn’t just a prosecution problem or a problem for the court. This is a community problem that requires everyone’s attention, knowledge, and work.”
As the musicians began to play again, residents lit their candles and stepped to the back microphone to read the short sayings placed on each chair. One by one, people approached the stand, offering brief reflections as the room remained quiet and attentive.
After the final reading, Wisch invited the room into a closing prayer.
“We stand united in our unwavering resolve to end the scourge of modern-day slavery,” she said. “Our hearts ache for the countless victims who suffer daily. We pray fervently for the complete eradication of human trafficking from the face of the earth. May every victim be set free, and may every trafficker face the consequences of their heinous actions. Grant us, your faithful servants, the strength and determination to tirelessly fight against this injustice until it is completely obliterated from our world.”
Every speaker that night, from the commissioner to the navigator to the county attorney, returned to the same idea: awareness is not a one-night event. It is a habit, a responsibility, and a choice communities must continue to make together.
For residents looking to learn more or get involved, the Lake County Sex Trafficking Task Force shares resources at lcsex-trafficking.com. North Shore Horizons continues to offer a 24-hour helpline at 218-834- 5929, and PAVSA provides support at 218-726-1931 for anyone seeking immediate assistance.
