It Happens Here
Boise is such a wonderful community that many who live here have no idea that human trafficking occurs in our state. Hard as it is to comprehend, human trafficking takes many different forms. Still, the one consistent thing is that a human being loses their rights and identity and is forced to work for no reward — often doing manual labor or forced into prostitution.
Traffickers lure victims away from their homes and what is familiar to them. Sometimes, they even take them out of state or to a different country under the pretext of a better life and a way to make money that they can send home to support their families. Once they arrive, they lose access to their passport and often have no way to communicate with anyone as they often cannot speak the native language. For me, one of the saddest forms of human trafficking involves the kidnapping and sale of children into slavery. The issue is so prevalent worldwide that the United Nations has designated July 30 as World Day Against Trafficking in Persons to raise awareness of the problem and has created a protocol that they hope to implement globally to punish those that engage in this horrific practice.
One of the newer nonprofits in our community is the Idaho Anti Trafficking Coalition. Their specific mission is to provide awareness, education, services and safe housing for victims of human trafficking in Idaho. During this past year they served 401 individuals, of whom 29.3% were under the age of 17. These are individuals who identify as being trafficked. In many instances, the Coalition helped get them back home. As the WCA works to enhance partnerships with organizations throughout our community that serve similar clientele, we have spent time with the Idaho Anti Trafficking Coalition to better understand the work we each do to provide appropriate referrals between our two agencies.
We are so grateful to have the privilege of working with excellent nonprofit service providers — like the Coalition — to leverage our resources and serve those who need us most.
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