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TOPEKA, Kan. — Top officials in Kansas, including the state’s Attorney General, plan to crack down on sex trafficking by targeting buyers.

Attorney General Derek Schmidt joined Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer in signing the Demand an End petition.

Demand an End is a national campaign to combat sex trafficking by reducing the demand, launched by Schmidt and several other organizations in July.

“As part of ongoing efforts to combat human trafficking, we need to address what drives the demand for trafficking victims- the money spent by those who buy sex,” Schmidt said. “Our goal is to foster a culture in Kansas in which the buying and selling of human beings for another’s sexual gratification is unacceptable.”

At the signing Monday in Topeka, Governor Colyer said sex trafficking is a problem all over the country.

“Human sex trafficking is not just a Kansas issue, but an issue across the country. It’s time we put an end to trafficking by holding sex buyers accountable. If we target the buyers and take away the demand, then we can start to put an end to this horrible practice.”

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, of the 25,000 runaways reported in 2017, one in every seven children were likely victims of child sex trafficking.