Here’s a special announcement. Click here.
Here’s a special announcement. Click here.
USIAHT’s flagship program, the Trafficking Free Zone, is a community-based initiative to reduce the number of sex buyers, whose continuous financial investments create an illicit market for traffickers to exploit young victims.
There are those who think your community is safe to sell human beings for sex. But Why?
You can protect your community by becoming a PUBLICLY CERTIFIED Trafficking Free Zone
Begin the process to become a Trafficking Free Zone (TFZ) and be added to our growing list, nationwide, of TFZ’s who have publicly made a stand to protect their communities and end sex trafficking.
This is your City, county, AND PUBLIC SECTOR ENTITIES (LAW ENFORCEMENT, SCHOOLS, ETC.)
By encouraging your local municipalities to become Trafficking Free Zones, we can work to change policies & systems that protect victims, disrupt traffickers, and prosecute buyers.
Sign a public proclamation. A proclamation sends a clear message to your sphere of influence that you are educated about human trafficking in your community, you are enraged that our children are being exploited, and you are engaged in the effort to stop the trafficking of our children.
Have your team go through our online training to become a Trafficking Free Zone. Your employees will also be given the chance to go further with our Abolitionist Project should they decide to take a more active, personal role. Lastly, publicly display our PSA materials (posters, flyers, etc.) so that your internal team can be reminded of what to look out for and stay engaged.
Add your business / organization logo and website to our online directory of active Trafficking Free Zones. Place our TFZ window decal(s) in a visible location for your customers and/or staff to see on a consistent basis. In addition, add the TFZ badge to your website.
Continue to sign the pledge each year to renew your TFZ status on our online directory and to receive the updated website badge for that year.
Studies have shown that prostitution is hardly a choice that women (or men) desire to make. Here are some statistics regarding sex workers in the United States according to ProstitutionReach.org:
70% to 95% physically assaulted
60% to 75% were raped in prostitution
PTSD Rate higher than combat veterans
More than 90% want to leave prostitution, but lack viable options
“Sex trafficking is a supply and demand issue. Financially participating in commercial sex creates the demand. There are never enough willing participants, creating a market for trafficking.” – Washington Trafficking Prevention
This demand unfortunately is not bound to any specific demographic, race, social status, or geographic area. The internet also contributes to the demand for sex purchases. In King County, Washington, here are some disturbing results of a study:
Ending human trafficking–specifically sex trafficking–will take a holistic approach between multiple sectors of society, including criminal justice, government and social services, healthcare, schools, businesses, organizations, and local communities.
A Trafficking Free Zone is a geographical area, a business, a community, or a defined space that has publicly declared itself to keep Traffickers away through policy changes, public awareness, employee & volunteer training, and continued engagement. By reducing consumer demand and making it harder for sex to be solicited in these “zones,” traffickers will no longer profit and inevitably cease to sell humans for sex.
Each community is different and requires strategic contextualization when it comes to preventing demand, responding to the crime, and protecting / helping victims. We believe that by creating Trafficking Free Zones where the community is 1) Educated, 2) Enraged, and 3) Engaged that there will be unified efforts to end human trafficking and ultimately will reduce the supply and demand of purchased sex.
Some of this success has been measured in places such as Seattle/King County, Washington:
If you are an individual who is passionate about ending human trafficking as a whole and/or in your community, you can sign up to become an Abolitionist by clicking HERE.
Finding new and innovative ways to combat the demand for purchased sex, raise awareness to this nationwide epidemic, and provide safe environments for victims.
At USIAHT, we are combating the demand for sex trafficking in the United States—and we need your help. Your support will help us intervene, provide care for victims, and protect children from exploitation and harm.