Fighting Sex Trafficking at the Truck Stop

Miami is home to a special type of child welfare program called CHANCE (Citrus Helping Adolescents Negatively Impacted by Commercial Exploitation) that is designed specifically for youth in foster care that have been trafficked. CHANCE has an intensive curriculum that educates foster parents and clinicians about child sex trafficking and child trauma, and families are only allowed to take in one child at a time so that they are prepared for the child's unique health needs. Studies done on the program have found that the youth have significant improvement in many emotional and mental categories.

Largely unbeknownst to the public eye, Cleveland has been battling human trafficking in various forms for many years. Recently, the city has become a leader in trying to eradicate this longstanding problem. Thanks to a small group of activists and nonprofits, using billboards and gift bags as well as other creative methods, these groups are raising awareness, conducting strip club outreach, and creating a victim support network to help make human trafficking an issue of the past.

Across the country, hospitals are embracing intensive intervention programs to help victims of violence — including those who have criminal histories — after they have been brought in for treatment of injuries. Such programs can help prevent retaliation, reduce the chance a patient will be violently injured again, and put people on track for success.

Partnering cops and clinicians has led to a cultural change in New Haven's police department. Their definition of a victim extends past the person with physical injuries in order to help children from violence-stricken households, a more comprehensive approach.

Human trafficking has become an increasingly prevalent problem, especially in states such as Florida that host a large tourist population. To better serve the victims, Miami-Dade County has created a trauma-focused court that directs adolescents to support services rather than prostitution charges.

School-sponsored instruction on affirmative consent and increased resources for victims of sexual violence on campus have brought colleges closer to meeting Title IX requirements. Across the United States, schools like the University of Iowa are requiring students to attend courses that promote healthy behavior and campus culture. Furthermore, schools across the US are increasing support for Title IX coordinators and bringing in organizations like Green Dot and Bringing in the Bystander to conduct workshops for students.

The group Truckers Against Trafficking launched in 2009 to enlist the help of truck drivers to spot and report cases of human trafficking, which was common at many truck stops. The group trains truckers through video tutorials using experts on trafficking to offer tips on how to spot people being coerced into prostitution. Eight states now require the training and parts of the program are used in nearly 40 states, while truckers have helped identify more than 1,000 trafficking victims.

Truckers are ideally placed to spot and report sex trafficking. “They’ve been trained to be vigilant and they’re on the city streets, pulling into areas and being put up in hotels where this happens,” says Kylla Lanier, deputy director for Truckers Against Trafficking.

In Nueces County, new local programs, projects, and partnerships - spurred by a particularly deadly year for women - are demonstrating how improved assessment by law enforcement and engagement by community members is helping to reduce abuse and homicides while preventing domestic violence overall.

Since its April 2018 founding in Malaysia, the Be My Protector app has enabled interventions in 120 cases of suspected human trafficking, sparked by anonymous reports that its app enables. In about a third of those cases, which mostly involved migrant workers in South and Southeast Asia, the victims were able to return to their homes, while others were offered counseling. But, like the more than 90 such apps available around the world, Be My Protector has struggled to make a big impact. Many such apps capitalize on a trendy subject without a clear focus on improving conditions and helping victims.