January 2018 National Slavery and Human
Trafficking Prevention and Awareness Month 
 

On January 11, 2018 members of the Rochester Regional Coalition Against Human Trafficking and leaders and representatives of City Council, Monroe County, Town of Brighton, New York Senate and Assembly, U.S. House of Representatives and local organizations convened at the Ebenezer Watts Conference Center in downtown Rochester. City Council, Monroe County and State leaders each presented the Rochester Regional Coalition Against Human Trafficking with a document that proclaimed January as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention and Awareness Month and that thanked RRCAHT for their work educating the Rochester region about human trafficking.

Celia McIntosh, chair of RRCAHT, reminded attendees that a common misconception is that trafficking is a foreign epidemic— but thanks to the momentum of education and awareness, we are coming to recognize that it exists within the United States.

Human trafficking is the fastest-growing and second-largest criminal industry in the world. It is estimated that this industry generates around 150 billion dollars annually (more than Nike, Starbucks and Google combined).

Since 2007, the National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline has received more than 36,000 reports of human trafficking in the United States. Of those, 5,687 were from New York State, 5th highest in call volume to the national hotline. We know this is likely a gross underestimation given the hidden nature of the crime.

RRCAHT calls Trafficking in Persons a global public health problem, a violation of basic human rights and a crime against humanity.

In response to the increased incidence of human trafficking reports within the Greater Rochester community, RRCAHT was formed in 2013 as a coordinated response to the needs of trafficked victims. What started out with a couple of nonprofits and individuals now includes many across the community spectrum, including: Sisters of St. Joseph, Stop Abuse Campaign, World Wide Documentaries, Feminists for Nonviolent Choices, Worker Justice Center of New York, National Council of Jewish Women, The Vignelli Center for Design Studies at RIT, Angels of Mercy, Villa of Hope, Church Women United and our newest member, Bright Star Community. In addition to these groups, many individuals give their uncompensated time to RRCAHT— simply because they refuse to do nothing.

RRCAHT is dedicated to eliminating human trafficking in our communities through education, advocacy, and networking with individuals and organizations. To put the words of our mission into action, we developed our "Yes, Here" campaign to foster awareness. We placed our "Yes, Here" message on the exterior of RTS buses throughout Monroe County to educate the public that human trafficking occurs in Rochester and our entire region.

Another mainstay of RRCAHT is our Care Pack Initiative. Our goal is to help victims by providing them with essentials like toiletries, quarters, combs, snacks, and warm blankets. We organize community groups that collect supplies, assemble them in packs, and distribute them to organizations like Center for Youth, Angels of Mercy and Paper Bag Ladies.

Over the past two years, RRCAHT has also sponsored two families whose members were victims of human trafficking, by purchasing school clothes and supplies, and Christmas gifts.

RRCAHT is a leader in education and awareness, aiming to educate the community and make visible the problem of trafficking in the Rochester Region. We do this via open monthly meetings, a quarterly e-newsletter, interviews in the press, training for college students, nurses, health care providers, social workers, mental health counselors, churches, faith based communities, senior programs, and rotary clubs.

One initiative for 2018 will be to educate and engage young people about the problem of trafficking in our community. Our voice is constant and our reach is far.