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End Slavery Tennessee

https://www.endslaverytn.org (ESTN) is a nonprofit faith-based organization founded in 2008, established as a 501(c)3 organization in 2012. ESTN’s staff, volunteers and supporters work to promote healing of human trafficking survivors and to strategically confront slavery (human trafficking) in the state of Tennessee (Mission & Vision, n.d.). Specifically, the organization provides specialized case management and comprehensive aftercare for survivors while also tactically addressing the issue of trafficking through advocacy, prevention and training of front-line professionals including law enforcement, hotels and health care providers.

There are an estimated 40.3 million people currently enslaved in the world, with most of them (71%) women and children (2017 Global Estimates, 2017). Today, those who are enslaved “are forced into labor, service or sex slavery to make money for their exploiters. … (The) same people who traffic drugs and weapons realize that selling people is more profitable and less risky (Human Trafficking Defined., n.d.).” Happening throughout the world, including the United States, “victims are of every age, race, gender and nationality. The industry generates billions of dollars … of profits per year and comes after drug trafficking as the most profitable form of transnational crime. Victims work in legitimate and illegitimate labor industries such as restaurants, hotels, sweat shops, massage parlors and agriculture (Duncan, 2017).” In the U.S., “sex trafficking is currently the #2 crime … and is projected to rise to the #1 crime this year, reflecting both its profitability and the lack of a strong network of laws and services to prevent it (Stop Sex Trafficking in TN – Learn, n.d.). ESTN works locally and statewide; however, enhancing the awareness of the magnitude of human trafficking worldwide and in the U.S. will help bring the message home that slavery is still happening and continues to grow.

One in four victims is a child (2017 Global Estimates, 2017). In Tennessee alone, 1,200 children are trafficked every month, usually sold for sex (Human Trafficking Defined., n.d.). “Many victims are moved to Tennessee because of its geographical relation to Atlanta which is a major trafficking hub (Stop Sex Trafficking in TN – Learn, n.d.).”

During 2017, ESTN provided services and treatment for approximately 200 survivors. That’s a 70% increase since ESTN was established in 2012.

As the state-designated single-point-of-contact (SPOC) agency coordinating needs for human trafficking survivors for middle Tennessee (What is a single point of contact agency, n.d.), ESTN works with the TBI as the first contact to ensure that quality services are provided to all human trafficking survivors in a 29-county region of Middle Tennessee.

ESTN serves in a government-designated role as the SPOC, as a non-governmental organization (What is a single point of contact agency, n.d.). The organization has been very effective thus far in generating both awareness and funding during its first five years, with national recognition resulting. Due in great part to the work initiated by End Slavery Tennessee, the state of Tennessee earned an “A+” and was just ranked number one in the country for its response to human trafficking (State Report Cards for Sex Trafficking Laws in the United States, 2018).

References

2017 Global Estimates. (2017). Retrieved March 05, 2018, from https://www.alliance87.org/2017ge/modernslavery#!section=0 Duncan, B. (2017, September 28). 10 Human Trafficking Organizations Fighting for Freedom. Retrieved March 02, 2018, from https://www.collegemagazine.com/10-human-trafficking-organizations-fighting-for-freedom/

Global Estimates of Modern Slavery. (2017). Retrieved March 5, 2018, from https://www.alliance87.org/global_estimates_of_modern_slavery-forced_labour_and_forced_marriage-faqs.pdf

Human Trafficking Defined. (2014). Retrieved March 22, 2018, from https://www.tn.gov/tbi/crime-issues/crime-issues/human-trafficking.html

Mission & Vision. (n.d.). Retrieved January 17, 2018, from https://www.endslaverytn.org/mission-and-vision/

State Report Cards for Sex Trafficking Laws in the United States. (2018). Retrieved March 05, 2018, from https://sharedhope.org/what-we-do/bring-justice/reportcards/ Stop Sex Trafficking In TN - Learn. (n.d.). Retrieved March 24, 2018, from http://www.stopsextraffickingintn.com/learn/

What is a single point of contact agency? (n.d.). Retrieved January 17, 2018, from https://www.endslaverytn.org/blog/what-is-a-single-point-of-contact-agency?utm_content=buffer7c12f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer