Raising Awareness of Sex Trafficking of Youth in the US - An Upworthy Collaboration
“This project was supported by Grant #2014-MU-FX-K009 awarded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Justice.”
Raising Awareness of Sex Trafficking of Youth in the US
Have you witnessed sex trafficking? Your first response is probably “no.” But many of us have seen it — we just didn’t realize it at the time. The reality is that sex trafficking doesn’t just happen in faraway places. In fact, young people are sexually exploited — forced to perform sexual acts for money, food, a place to stay, or other basic needs — in every state in the U.S.
That’s why Youth Collaboratory (known as MANY during this campaign), Wichita State University Center for Combating Human Trafficking, and Upworthy, in partnership with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, worked together to educate youth, young adults, and the general public on what sex trafficking of youth is, how it happens, and what we can do to prevent and end it as part of our 4 Youth By Youth (#4YBY) campaign. Below are a number of articles, tools, and resources that will help you participate in identifying, preventing, and working to end sex trafficking of youth in the United States.
For more information, please see the links below:
Sex Trafficking Awareness Series from Upworthy
- Article 1: Sex trafficking is happening in the U.S. — and young people need to know about it.
- Article 2: You can have a life after surviving sex trafficking. Here’s how it starts.
- Article 3: Sex trafficking of youth still happens today. Here’s why it’s difficult to escape.
Tools for Support
- Loveisrespect: Loveisrespect’s purpose is to engage, educate and empower young people to prevent and end abusive relationships.
- National Runaway Safeline: The National Runaway Safeline is the federally designated national runaway and homeless youth crisis hotline (800.RUNAWAY) and online service in the United States.
- National Human Trafficking Hotline: The National Human Trafficking Hotline (888.373.7888) is a national anti-trafficking hotline serving victims and survivors of human trafficking and the anti-trafficking community in the United States. The toll-free hotline is available to answer calls from anywhere in the country, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year in more than 200 languages.
- RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) is the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization. RAINN created and operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE, online.rainn.org, or en español at rainn.org/es) in partnership with more than 1,000 local sexual assault service providers across the country. RAINN also carries out programs to prevent sexual violence, help survivors, and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice.
Tools for Providers + General Public
- Toolkit to Build Understanding of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children
- Toolkit for Building Survivor-Informed Organizations
- Understanding the Complexities of Commercial Sexual Exploitation – Webinar Recording Release
- Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Sex Trafficking of Minors in the U.S. – Infographic
- Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children – Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
- Responding to Youth Homelessness: A Key Strategy in Preventing Human Trafficking
Follow Along On Social Media:
- Youth Collaboratory
- Wichita State University
- Youth Catalyst Team
- Upworthy
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