TRIGGER WARNING: This page contains potentially triggering content. Mentions of assault, abuse, and human trafficking.
TRIGGER WARNING: This page contains potentially triggering content. Mentions of assault, abuse, and human trafficking.
Human trafficking is a significant issue in Florida; many people are forced into this life right in our backyard, right next door. If you or someone you know is experiencing this, LSF can help. Be advised the content on this page can be disturbing or triggering.
What is Human Trafficking exactly? Human trafficking is the process of coercing people using violence, deception, or coercion, stripping them of their freedom and exploiting them for financial or personal gain. It can look like a girl forced into sexual exploitation; men tricked into accepting dangerous job offers and forced into free labor in building sites, farms, or factories; or women recruited then trapped to do domestic work in private homes. All victims are exploited and/or abused while being denied access to a way out. There does not need to be a crossing of borders for trafficking to take place.
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LSF COMPREHENSIVE CASE MANAGEMENT
LSF is dedicated to supporting survivors of labor and sex trafficking through Trafficking Victim Assistance Program (TVAP) in Tampa Bay Area. Lutheran Services Florida will provide comprehensive case management services to foreign-born victims of trafficking, derivative family members and minor children of victims of trafficking through a cooperative agreement with socia agency Tapestri, the Department of Health & Human Services’ (HHS), Office of Trafficking in Persons (OTIP) and others.
Human trafficking affects all kinds of people anywhere, in cities, suburbs, and rural areas. Although some people are bigger targets, victims can come from any background including any race, gender, social class, age, ethnicity, and immigrant status or documentation. A person younger than 18 who engages in a commercial sex act, is a victim of sex trafficking—regardless of force, lies, or threats. Traffickers target people who are trying to escape poverty or discrimination. Victims often have their documents taken away and they are forced to work until their debt is paid off.
According to the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC):
Through Trafficking Victim Assistance Program (TVAP) in the Tampa Bay Area, LSF can provide comprehensive case management services to foreign-born victims of trafficking, derivative family members and minor children of victims of trafficking through a cooperative agreement with social agency Tapestri, the Department of Health & Human Services(HHS), Office of Trafficking in Persons (OTIP), and others. All services are free and confidential.
Enrolled clients will receive comprehensive case management services such as:
To report a trafficking tip, call the
National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-3737-888
a national, toll-free hotline, available to answer calls from anywhere in the country, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year.
If you suspect someone is in immediate danger, please call 911.