Human trafficking is a huge problem in today’s society, yet it is one of the least known. Human trafficking may be illegal in the majority of countries on Earth, and yet it still continues to exist in the shadows unbeknownst to most of the government and citizens. It refers to the exploitation of any individual for personal – the trafficker’s gain, for example domestic servitude or forced labour, or for commercial gain, for example child labour or sex trafficking.
Human trafficking can happen to anyone, regardless of race or age, or anywhere, whether in developed countries like Canada and the US or in more vulnerable communities in Asia and Africa. Human trafficking is usually overlooked due to its illegality in most countries and how many people think slavery in developed countries was abolished after the American Civil War.
Slavery rates are also misrecorded, an example being the UK government only reporting half of all slavery rates in the country. This article will highlight ten non-profits and charities that rescue and empower human trafficking victims, educate communities, and advocate for change in many different parts of the world.
Top Non-Profits for reducing human trafficking
Restore NYC
Founded in 2009, Restore NYC is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting sex trafficking victims in New York City and helping them achieve freedom. They provide support to survivors including housing, legal assistance, counseling for trauma, and other things which would empower them to independence and freedom. The organization also raises awareness about sex trafficking and strives to educate communities about the crime.
They are a Christian organization and have partnered with several churches to spread God’s word to survivors. They advocate for policy change and educate communities to combat sexual exploitation. Their vision is a safer, more supportive environment for survivors and support in preventing exploitation for everyone – regardless of ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, religion, or status in society.
Ratanak International
Founded in 1989, Ratanak International is another example of a Christian organization dedicated to helping human trafficking survivors heal from their traumatic experiences and spreading God’s word to communities in Cambodia. They offer job training, counseling, and more to help human trafficking survivors achieve their dreams.
Their mission is to work collaboratively to be a catalyst for transformation in Cambodia through empowerment of people experiencing exploitation, and they envision a world where every individual can live in dignity, achieve their full potential, and experience the love of Christ.
Their main focuses are on protecting potential victims before exploitation and trying to prevent them from getting exploited, returning them to their hometowns and families, and restoring their lives and finding them stable jobs.
Rahab’s Daughters
Founded in 2015, Rahab’s Daughters is committed to education, research, and taking action against human trafficking. They are focused on providing safety, counseling, and training for human trafficking survivors. Their mission is to educate the community, rescue and rehab to restore survivors into their new lives, and to stop the demand for commercial slavery.
They have rescued and healed more than 1,000 people in America from trafficking, hosted 700 community awareness tasks, including the United Against Trafficking podcast, and educated hundreds of volunteers in the fight against human trafficking. They also conduct outreach programs with a goal of collaborating with other organizations and educating communities about human trafficking.
International Justice Mission
Since 1997, International Justice Mission (IJM) has operated worldwide to bring freedom and safety to human trafficking survivors in vulnerable communities. Their main goals include protecting vulnerable people from exploitation, rescuing victims, bringing perpetrators to justice, restoring survivors’ lives, and advocating for policy changes and strengthening justice systems.
Their vision is a world where all are free and safe. IJM has rescued more than 76,000 people from trafficking, convicted 4,000 perpetrators, and protected 11,000,000 from violence. They have partnered with other organizations and influenced international laws and policies to ensure the safety of the vulnerable and reduce trafficking.
Touch of Life Foundation
Founded in 2021 by a group of high school students, the Touch of Life Foundation is committed to rescuing and restoring the lives of underprivileged women and children. They operate in Vienna, Virginia, withgoals to educate and empower women and children to fight for their rights. Since their founding, they have combined local efforts in their community with global needs, and they offer support programs to make sure that all women and children, whether they have been trafficked or not, have access to freedom, equal rights, education, and safety. One notable example of how they have combined local efforts with global needs is through their Human Rights Movement, which has mobilized people from all over the world to take action against human trafficking.
Polaris Project
Founded in 2007, the Polaris Project – named after the North Star, which is a historic symbol of freedom – leads a survivor-centred and equity-driven movement to end human trafficking. Their mission is to combat and prevent modern slavery, and they envision a world where zero individuals are sold or exploited. They operate the US National Human Trafficking Hotline, which has identified over 100,000 cases of trafficking, where they connect victims and survivors of trafficking to support services and hold traffickers accountable for their crimes.
They currently have the largest known dataset of human trafficking in North America. In 2017, they won the Skoll Award for Entrepreneurship due to their status as transformative leaders whose organizations create significant change, as they have done countless times against human trafficking. They respond to up to 5,000 cases and assist more than 500 survivors each year.
Free the Slaves
Founded in 2000, Free the Slaves operates worldwide, putting an extra focus in vulnerable communities where the highest rates of slavery are. Their main focuses and values are influencing government officials, advocating for change, engaging and empowering local communities, movement building, and continuous learning.
Their vision is a world where no one is enslaved or sold, everyone is free, and slavery doesn’t exist and is a thing of the past, and they recognize that ending slavery must be a collective effort, and it will not succeed unless everyone in society is involved. Throughout the years, they have freed 20,000 people from slavery, educated 770,000 to prevent slavery, and trained 1600 government officials.
Their mission is to abolish slavery, support slavery survivors, and educate communities, particularly vulnerable ones where slavery is most common.
Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking
The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking is a nationally-operated charitable organization dedicated to ending all types of human trafficking in Canada. They aim to end human trafficking in Canada by providing strength and support to victims and stakeholders through education and taking action.
The Centre exists to ‘create a national strategy for change’ according to their website. They have been established as the national ‘backbone’ organization for working on the issue of human trafficking in Canada, and they operate Canada’s national human trafficking hotline.
They collaborate with private sector businesses and frontline service providers Canada, including Daemon Consulting, Dentons, the Donner Canadian Foundation, and Strano + Pettigrew.
Joy Smith Foundation
The Joy Smith Foundation was founded in 2011 by Joy Smith, a Member of Parliament whose goals to bring perpetrators to justice arose when there were no laws protecting human trafficking survivors at that time. She filmed a documentary telling Canada’s story of human trafficking in 2010.
Today, the Foundation works across Canada and worldwide and is widely recognized as an important organization leading the fight to end human trafficking. They launched the very first human trafficking education centre in 2021, the very first of its kind, and they also launched a podcast titled “Luma and Bloom,” which expands on difficult topics concerning human trafficking.
The organization’s mission is to ensure that every Canadian man, woman, and child is educated and empowered to stay safe from manipulation, force, and abuse designed to exploit them into trafficking.
Conclusion
The work done by these non-profits and charitable organizations addresses the many challenges that come with and as a result of human trafficking, such as abuse, exploitation, mental health issues, and the restoration of victims back into society after their rescue or escape. As addressed when describing the organizations’ missions, various organizations grapple with various causes in human trafficking: rescuing victims, counseling, job training, advocacy, and more. Each has their own unique skills to work with victims, and every contribution, no matter the organization, will be one step further to ending trafficking.
