With the Super Bowl coming to our doorstep in the next few weeks, the Junior League of Summit hopes highlighting the issue will help our community learn more about what human trafficking is and how individuals can help prevent it. (January is also Human Traffic Prevention month.)
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime defines human trafficking as the recruitment, transportation, harboring or receipt of persons by means of force, fraud or coercion, with the aim of exploiting them. People are trafficked for many reasons including prostitution, servile marriage, begging, agriculture, restaurant work, construction, housekeeping and other criminal activity. Simply put, human trafficking is modern day slavery.
Human trafficking is much more common than we realize, and according to the Attorney General of NJ, the Super Bowl will be the largest human trafficking incident in our state. Junior League members throughout the state, through the Junior Leagues of New Jersey State Public Affairs Committee (SPAC), have been working to raise awareness and take action on the issue for several years and have ramped up efforts in preparation for the Super Bowl.
One of the ways SPAC is working to support victims of human trafficking in NJ during the 2014 Super Bowl is by partnering with the NJ Coalition Against Human Trafficking. Starting in September, the Coalition began working with S.O.A.P. (Save Our Adolescents from Prostitution) to reach out to hotel managers in NJ and educate them on human trafficking, how to identify victims, and how to handle such cases without putting anyone in danger. Coalition volunteers have been approaching motels to offer them free bars of soap with the National Human Trafficking Hotline phone number (888-373-7888 or text BeFree/233722) for use during the Super Bowl so that victims can find the soap in the hotel room they are being held in and call the hotline to be rescued.
And here's a way you can help! The JLS is also holding a warm weather accessory drive for the Polaris Project, which helps women who have been rescued from human trafficking situations. If you have any women's hats, gloves or other warm accessories that you're no longer using, donate them to the JLS Thrift Shop by Friday, January 17th, and they will go toward the cause.
For years, SPAC has been tackling human trafficking by volunteering support to programs and advocating for legislation that stops human trafficking, helps trafficking survivors get help from the government and increases penalties for those responsible. In part due to SPAC’s lobbying efforts, on May 6, 2013, Governor Christie signed the Human Trafficking Prevention, Protection and Treatment Act, into law. In addition to expanding the definition of human trafficking, the law increased both the financial penalties and prison time for traffickers and created the Commission on Human Trafficking to review enforcement and make recommendations to state policymakers.
We can all play a part in helping to stop human trafficking in our community. To learn more about how you can raise awareness, go to http://www.njhumantrafficking.org. You can also register to volunteer for the S.O.A.P. project at www.soapnj.eventbrite.com. If you believe you have identified a trafficking victim, you can call 855-END-NJ-HT (855-363-6548) toll-free at any time.
