Know the Indicators of a Potential Victim

Indicators that Your Student is Potentially Being Trafficked One of the most frequently asked questions advocates get is, how can I recognize a student that is potentially being trafficked? This can be difficult, especially since so many of the initial signs resemble other abuse scenarios such as bullying, physical or emotional abuse, sex abuse, etc. in the younger age groups. However, there are some signs to look out for, including: • Change is personality or demeanor – from happy to sad, from talkative to quiet • Change in appearance • Physical abuse ...

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The Educator’s Role in talking to/Teaching Children About Human Trafficking

In today’s tumultuous climate for America’s youth we have to wonder how educators are able to stay on track when it comes to actually doing what they went to college to learn to do, teach. Students are faced with unbelievable life challenges that not many educators are equipped to, or want to, deal with. But the hard facts are that students bring their personal lives and all that is happening outside of school into the classroom and teachers are forced to deal with it all, in addition to teaching their lesson plans. At NEST we hope to give educators tools to help them ...

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Is There Really a Prince Charming for Every Cinderella?

Since the film debut of Pretty Woman in 1990, audiences everywhere have been charmed by the “fairytale” romance that leaves audiences with a "Cinderella" feeling, that dreams can come true for the least of those in American culture. Whether impoverished or enslaved, someone will come along to rescue us from dire circumstances...right? On Monday, March 23rd, the cast was brought together for a reunion on NBC’s Today to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the iconic movie. For those who are not aware of the very real tragedy of human trafficking, the story is light ...

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NEST Curriculums are Making an Impact

With the school year already in progress in some parts of the country and others that will be opening their doors next week, our team of volunteers have been working to get the word out to schools all across America in hopes that educators will incorporate a human trafficking prevention curriculum into their lesson plans for the 2015 school year. To date a NEST curriculum has been implemented in 40 of the 50 United States. This is an exceptional feat and praise is due to the writers of the quality programs that have been created with one goal in mind -- preventing more ...

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NEST Curriculum Providers Serve on Panel

Since the National launch of National Educators to Stop Trafficking (NEST) in May of this year efforts to market the program and get the word out to educators across the United States have been and are on the forefront. We have been seeking venues to share and enlisting volunteers to do some direct emailing to school boards in various states. The 2014 Trafficking In America Conference, July 16-18, 2014 in West Palm Beach, FL added NEST to their agenda. This opportunity gave us a platform to present NEST to over 350 attendees whose focus is bringing education and ...

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Aware, Inc. Merges to Enhance Program Opportunities

One of the NEST Curriculum Providers, AWARE, Inc. is excited to announce that it will be merging its school-based programs with Northwest Family Services (NWFS) July 1, 2014. Through this partnership, AWARE programs will be able to continue serving youth that provide them with important tools on forming healthy relationships, media literacy, and the prevention of human trafficking involving community youth. This merge will allow AWARE programs to reach thousands of additional youth due to NWFS solid history with Portland schools and its capacity to develop and market ...

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Summer Vacations give Youth Time to Explore

Summer vacations from school can be challenging for families. With so many households now having both parents (or the only parent) working during the day, and many holding a second job in the evening, youth are often left to fend for themselves and this can present a multitude of potential problems. School has ended and summer vacation has begun. It's a good time to engage youth in projects that they might not be able to participate in during a busy school year.  Church groups, youth groups, even some schools all have activities planned for youth that need to become ...

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New Tool to Stop Human Trafficking Equips Educators and Empowers Youth

What if no young people ever fell into the traps of human trafficking and sexual exploitation again?  The team behind National Educators to Stop Trafficking believes that is possible, and they’ve created an incredible resource for educators and youth leaders to help make it happen. Those most vulnerable to human trafficking are in our schools and youth organizations.  In the United States, the average age of entry into sexual slavery is 13, and about 80% of sex buyers do so for the first time before age 25.  Yet not many educators or youth leaders are equipped to ...

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Human Trafficking is Not the “New Kid on the Block” in Today’s List of Social Issues

When we think of the horrible crime of modern day slavery (human trafficking) we most always attribute it to the bad guys -- the pimps and the traffickers, right? However, there are many ways that we are all complicit in fueling today's #2 crime (#1 by some new reports) against humanity. I ran across this article not long ago and thought it to be full of content that we can all learn from and begin to understand some of the complexities of this issue. There is a tendency to separate human trafficking into 2 separate categories, sex and labor; however, sex trafficking ...

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Kimberly

The US Department of Justice states that the average age of a trafficked victim is 12 to 14. "Kimberly" was 12 years old when she was manipulated by her 18-year-old boyfriend who asked her if she loved him after their first time having sex. Once she said yes, he allowed 5 other men to enter the room and they proceeded to gang rape her . . . 12-years-old. The protocol was standard in the world of romeo pimps that are often times the first step to seasoning for trafficked victims. Time after time, day after day, advocates;,care givers, rescuers, and service providers of ...

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