This year’s campaign, “End the Exploitation,” highlights the vital role of law enforcement and the criminal justice system in dismantling organized trafficking networks while ensuring a victim-centered approach.
According to the United Nations, “Human trafficking continues to be a global threat driven by organized crime. More and more victims are being trafficked every year, across greater distances, with greater violence, for longer periods of time and for greater profit. From 2020 to 2023, there were more than 200,000 detected victims globally, which is just the tip of the iceberg. The actual number of unreported cases is believed to be significantly higher.
Organized criminal networks are driving this victimization and exploitation, using migration flows, global supply chains, legal and economic loopholes and digital platforms to facilitate cross-border trafficking on a massive scale. They profit from forced labour, sexual exploitation and coercion into criminal activities, such as online scams and drug smuggling.” Read more here: https://www.un.org/en/observances/end-human-trafficking-day.
Saint Francis has taken an active stance in trafficking education, prevention, and response for years. Our Immediate Response Assessment Teams partner with the Kansas Department for Children and Families and law enforcement to identify immediate safety, placement, and treatment needs for youth judged as high-risk for trafficking. Thanks to legislation and changing public perceptions about victims, we collaborate with law enforcement with the same “victim-centered approach” that this year’s campaign describes.
We also look for possible involvement among youth in care. If a youth is assessed to be at risk, we provide specific therapeutic services by a licensed therapist trained in human trafficking and trauma-informed care.
Is there room in your life to help protect kids from trafficking?
If you suspect a young person is being trafficked, call the Human Trafficking Hotline at 1 (888) 373-7888.
