Beauty salon owner raises money and awareness for sex trafficking victims

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – It was a special night of fundraising for one local salon owner, Julie Chapus, who has made it her mission to put an end to the underground business of human sex trafficking.

“In 2020, the National Human Trafficking hotline received 10,500 calls. Seventy-two percent of those calls were sex trafficking reports and New York State was labeled fourth in the nation for having the highest number of trafficking, And I’m not talking New York City,” Chapus said.

Just last week, two people were accused of kidnapping a woman from a hotel in Henrietta as part of a sex trafficking ring.

One example of the crisis Julie Chapus, is trying to bring an end to.

“It’s really to bring a lot of community awareness for the community to know that trafficking is an issue right here in Rochester, ”Chapus said.

Which is why she nd hundreds of other supporters gathered Saturday night to raise money for victims and her beauty school.

“I think people are really beginning to understand what a horrible problem we do actually have here in Rochester. When we see so many people. Like the more people we can bring awareness with, it’s only going to spread,” Chapus said.

According to Chapus, raising enough money to open a salon that will bring jobs to victims who may be caught up in sex trafficking is a worthwhile cause.

“We are trying to raise the money to get our doors open for this school that’s really what we need. The state will not allow us to unless they see two years operating expenses, so we are trying to raise $800K to get our doors open,” Chapus said.