Here’s a special announcement. Click here.
Menu
Here’s a special announcement. Click here.
Sixteen missing children have been rescued after a month long operation by the US Marshals Service.
At least four of the recovered youngsters were connected to child sex trafficking in the Philadelphia area, officials say.
Authorities began Operation Safeguard on 5 February when a marshals task force took over 26 missing children cases at the request of law enforcement agencies. The marshals said that the children were considered some of the most at risk cases in the Philadelphia area, based on sex trafficking, exploitation, sexual abuse, physical abuse and medical or mental health conditions.
BC staff have been angered by a warning in an internal memo against using the word paedophile to describe a child sex predator.
The email sent by a senior producer told staff in the Tasmanian bureau to avoid the term paedophile even in cases where offenders had a long history of abusing children to avoid ‘marginalising’ anyone.
The justification used was advice from Tasmania’s Sexual Assault Support Service (SASS), which told an ABC reporter that use of the word could stop abusers seeking treatment therefore making it more likely they’d continue offending.
Moncton’s YWCA is beginning a new project that aims to raise awareness of human trafficking — and prevent it. The Brave YW project is for girls, women, and non-binary youth aged 11 to 19.
Participants will get help with access to housing, food, mentors, counseling, and training in things like digital literacy and online safety.
They’ll also help to develop resources such as safety plans and guides about warning signs and how to help a friend who is being exploited.
The Sports World Against Trafficking (SWAT) League announced today that it is launching the Blue B Safety Code, a simple, effective technology-based solution aimed at parents and caregivers to promote child safety. This is the first of many initiatives they are developing in their mission to eradicate human trafficking. Over 70% of survivors surveyed stated that this code would have allowed them to leave their trafficking situation sooner. Of this same group of survivors, 34% stated that they would likely have never been trafficked.
A woman has been sentenced to 50 years in state prison for forcing a 17-year-old girl to act as a sex slave at hotels in Mercer County three years ago, according to the state Attorney General’s Office.
Ashley Gardener, 32, of Trenton, received her sentence in Mercer County Superior Court on Thursday.
She was convicted by a Mercer County jury in October 2019 of first degree conspiracy, first degree human trafficking, second degree facilitating human trafficking, first degree promoting prostitution of a minor, first degree promoting organized street crime and second degree endangering the welfare of a child.
Miami Beach Police Department officers arrested seven men on Thursday night after an investigation that lasted weeks resulted in two search warrants at two apartment buildings along the 700th block of Jefferson Avenue in South Beach. On Feb. 17, a 23-year-old victim of human trafficking that was trapped in the area called 911 to ask for help just before a severe beating.
The victim told officers she was struggling with suicidal ideations and described how she had been trapped in a cycle of abuse, prostitution, and addiction since the coronavirus pandemic began, police said.
On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) joined Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), and Maggie Hassan (D-Catherine Cortez Masto Senator nevadaN.H.), and Representatives Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio-16), Annie Kuster (N.H.-02), Guy Reschenthaler (Pa.-14), and Lucy McBath (Ga.-06) in reintroducing the END Child Exploitation Act, legislation designed to extend the period of time that technology companies are required to preserve information about child sexual abuse images they report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
The Phoenix Police Department, in partnership with other Arizona authorities, on Friday announced 37 arrests in connection to human trafficking and sex crimes. Undercover police placed ads on websites commonly sought out by suspects seeking illegal sex acts with children as part of an investigation dubbed Operation Broken Hearts. The probe targeted “sexual predators engaged in child sex crimes and human trafficking,” Phoenix police wrote in a Friday Facebook post.
The Salvation Army is partnering with Catholic Charities to provide housing for victims of sex and human trafficking crimes.
The safe house is secure and not open to the public, but professionals provide meals, life-skill classes, and case management for the victims. The new grant gave Catholic Charities half a million dollars and a partnership with the Salvation Army which will allow them to house victims anywhere between 6-24 months.
Tampa, Fla. – Today, the U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking (USIAHT) announced results from Project ReachOut to provide services to victims and potential victims of sex trafficking during Super Bowl LV week in Tampa.
Utilizing integrated online technologies to allow victims of trafficking and individuals at high risk of being trafficked, to reach local service providers, Project Reach Out distributed over 5,800 text messages resulting in 4,325 contacts with victims and potential victims.
Finding new and innovative ways to combat the demand for purchased sex, raise awareness to this nationwide epidemic, and provide safe environments for victims.
