Josh Louwerse, youth engagement program coordinator of Covenant House in Anchorage, stands outside of Covenant House in downtown Anchorage. &quot;We&#039;re extra vulnerable to [sex-trafficking] in Alaska for the same reasons we are vulnerable in other areas. We have historical trauma, we top the country in suicide, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and the same reasons we are vulnerable to all of those problems are the same reasons we are a vulnerable state for trafficking,&quot; Lowerse says. &quot;We also have transient male-dominated industries--millitary, oil, fishing, tourism, there&#039;a lot of trnasient folks here. And then take those factors and put them together in rural areas, and that makes up much of our state.&quot; Lowerse, a former youth pastor, says that he didn&#039;t intend to work neccessarily on helping victims of human trafficking, but rather that he just felt called to help at-risk kids. But as it has become more clear that human trafficking is an issue in Alaska, he says, &quot;we have to do something about it.&quot;