If only Edna Muñoz could work herself out a job. That’s ultimately what she’s working toward.
Muñoz (B.A. ’13) is the Human Trafficking Investigator for the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office. The position was created just over two years ago to dig deeper into cases and identify victims of human trafficking where it might not have been promptly evident. Now, police officers across nine jurisdictions are trained by the district attorney’s office on how to look for indicators of trafficking and what questions to ask during interactions that might otherwise seem routine.
Not only does Muñoz identify, investigate, and help prosecute human trafficking cases, she also works with juveniles who are identified as high-risk for human trafficking due to various vulnerabilities. Munoz has worked with schools and community organizations to provide awareness on human trafficking and expand proactive efforts.
Initially funded by a federal grant, her position and her work has been so impactful that Boulder County recently announced the creation of a second full-time investigator position. “Being more proactive will be beneficial,” Muñoz explains, “especially if we can prevent human trafficking from happening in the first place.”
Muñoz’s Project TEN (This Ends Now) program was honored as Boulder County’s 2023 Pinnacle Award Winner for Innovation that recognizes “new projects that are progressive and visionary, or that improve county functions in ways that serve as models for other government organizations.” Project TEN launched two years ago with the hiring of Muñoz to work closely with law enforcement agencies to better identify human trafficking and assist victims and potential victims. At the time of the award in December 2023, Project TEN had already investigated two serious cases with many victims, prepared the cases for court, and launched numerous investigations of perpetrators taking advantage of vulnerable victims.
An important first step is to shine a light on what human trafficking actually is and that it happens across every socioeconomic level. Media portrayals of creepy white vans with dark windows, kidnappers in other countries, and runaways seeking a different life are incorrect and outdated stereotypes. “A trafficker could be in their early 20s urging someone under age 18 to try drugs or offering them a place to stay in exchange for sexual acts,” Muñoz notes. “Generally, the initial questions we ask a victim are, ‘what are you running away from?’ Or toward? What in your life has led to this?’”
Considering the broader context around the issue is vital to solving it, and developing this “sociological imagination” is integral to CSU Sociology’s training in classrooms and beyond. Developing these skills and the ability to see different perspectives was a vital part of Muñoz’s experience in Sociology’s criminology and criminal justice education abroad program in Prague, Czech Republic – so much so that she even talked about studying and volunteering abroad during the interview for her current job. Muñoz’s minors in Ethnic Studies and Latin American & Caribbean Studies have helped her better understand other ethnicities and cultures.
“Seeing different perspectives is so valuable, especially when going into different communities,” she explains. “Coming in as a blank slate and being able to relate to different people with different backgrounds and let them know we’re there to help is so important.”
Seeing different perspectives is so valuable, especially when going into different communities... Coming in as a blank slate and being able to relate to different people with different backgrounds and let them know we’re there to help is so important.”
Muñoz draws on the critical thinking and problem-solving skillsets she learned during her time in sociology classrooms to do her job better – and to reach that goal of eliminating human trafficking. Over the past decade, she has fined tuned those skills and applied them to staying one step ahead during investigations, especially during interrogations for convoluted cases where she needs to closely follow protocol while also considering different angles. Her academic research training has been useful in successfully collaborating with agencies statewide. And the 20-page research papers she used to write in college have become 50-page reports with life-changing content. "Some of that research has been applicable to the work I am now doing and has played a huge role in being able to better understand people’s mindsets and motivations as hard life decisions are made,” she explains.
From starting in child protection and joining citizen ride-alongs to entering and graduating from the Longmont police academy, “Nothing has felt like it was wasted time,” Muñoz notes. “Different skillsets gained with different jobs have helped me get to my position now.”
“Sociology is very flexible,” she explains. “You can do a lot of different things.”
Even change the trajectory of youth in danger of becoming human trafficking victims and current victims needing empathy and compassion.