Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month

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January is National Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month. Here at Transitions, we are involved in several aspects of working with this population. We offer services to survivors of human trafficking, provide education and outreach to the local schools and the community, and also participate in the Pennsylvania Alliance Against Trafficking in Humans (PAATH). These are just some of what we do with regard to human trafficking in this area of service.

PAATH was formed as a work group, following the passage of Act 105 in the fall of 2014. This act significantly strengthened Pennsylvania’s legislation regarding human trafficking. From this statewide work group, three main committees were formed: the outreach and community awareness committee, the training committee, and the direct services committee.

I personally co-represent Transitions on PAATH’s Direct Services Committee. This committee meets regularly and works to develop best practices for working with this population. Currently, we are working to develop a referral tool for organizations to utilize when they interact with survivors of trafficking. For example, if an organization comes in contact with a survivor and that survivor needs to get to a different area in Pennsylvania for safety or other reasons, the organization can use this tool to easily locate a service provider that can best serve that client in that area. This committee has been working diligently to develop a survey to send out to service providers to help us identify those organizations throughout Pennsylvania that are serving this population. The survey will also be used to identify if the organization is using a trauma-informed approach to service, which we believe is essential to working with these victims and survivors. Once all the data is collected from this survey, we will be able to create the referral tool for organizations to utilize. I am so thankful to see so many people come together to work toward being better equipped to serve survivors of human trafficking. This crime against humanity is very heartbreaking and I am pleased to see what is being done to combat this tragedy in my home state of Pennsylvania.

A quote that I am so inspired by reads, “When our grandchildren ask us where we were when the voiceless and the vulnerable of our era needed leaders of compassion and purpose, I hope we can say that we showed up, and that we showed up on time.” (Gary Haugen, IJM President and CEO)

I believe here at Transitions, we are showing up to be leaders of compassion and purpose on behalf of trafficking survivors in Pennsylvania, and I am honored to be a part of that effort. 

Written by Missy H., AmeriCorps Volunteer

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