AIR DATE JANUARY 20, 2022
Title: Human Trafficking Awareness
In a 2019 report, Orlando ranked third in the nation for reported human trafficking cases. Emily uncovers what can be done to address this serious issue.
Guests and Locations
Lifeboat Project, Founder/CEO – Jill Bolander Cohen
United Abolitionists, Founder/President – Tomas Lares
Human Trafficking: Help and Resources for Survivors in Central Florida
In a 2019 human trafficking report, Orlando ranked third in the nation for reported human trafficking cases. Keep reading to uncover some of the causes of human trafficking and what help and resources are available for survivors in Central Florida.
Hear from Jill Bolander Cohen- founder and CEO of the Lifeboat Project and Tomas Lares- founder and president of United Abolitionists.
Lifeboat Project – Providing Help to Human Trafficking Victims
The Lifeboat Project is a non-profit organization that provides lifelong care to human trafficking survivors in the Central Florida area. They have a “compass program” that guides the survivor on a journey back to health, safety, healing, and growth.
“When a survivor comes to the Lifeboat Project, our interviews have gotten up to four to five hours, really sitting and having a heart to heart with them,” Jill explains, “So, what I created was something called an ISP, an Individual Survivor Plan, because everyone comes in at different levels.”
Lifeboat currently has half survivors of labor trafficking and half of sex trafficking survivors. They also have five countries represented and men who were trafficked. So, human trafficking has many different faces.
Aside from mentorship and advocacy, the Lifeboat Project provides housing to human trafficking survivors. One home for women, one for LGBTQ+, one safe house, and another housing location in Downtown Orlando.
Take a stance against mindless human suffering and join the fight against human trafficking. The Lifeboat Project always accepts donations to fund survivor housing and human trafficking education programs and trainings. Helping spread awareness is the first step toward change. The second step is supporting those who are addressing the problem.
United Abolitionists Network and Human Trafficking
The United Abolitionists is a network of first responders working to stop all forms of human trafficking across the nation- especially Florida.
“Here in Florida, unfortunately, we have all the forms [of human trafficking]. So, there’s sex trafficking, labor trafficking, domestic servitude of adult persons, minors, foreign-born and domestic,” Tomas opens the discussion.
The United Abolitionists have a 24/7 hotline (1-833-9-STOP-HT) for adult male and female sex and labor trafficking victims in Florida. There is also the Department of Children and Families Abuse Hotline (1-800-96-ABUSE) that can be called when child trafficking is suspected.
Part of their first responder duty is making the victim feel comfortable and providing resources and support. Their team will reunite the survivors with their families or guide them to a program or shelter.
“We also start at the rescue backpacks. And so, we have clothes and hygiene products that we give to that individual, no matter if they want help or not, and let them know that we’re here. We give them our hotline number,” Tomas explains in detail.
You can support their mission by getting involved in their backpack drive.
“On January 27th and 28th, we have our 14th Annual Human Trafficking Awareness Days. And we bring everyone together, the governmental and non-governmental stakeholders here in our region, to talk about what they’re doing to give volunteer opportunities, and equip the community on what to look for,” he ends.
You can visit Stop Human Trafficking to learn more and discover more survivor resources.
