Human Trafficking
In recent years the Zonta Club of the Pikes Peak Area and our parent organization Zonta International, have become aware of the growing problem of human trafficking.
In 2005, we donated $500 to the Polaris Project, a Washington DC based non-profit working to combat human trafficking and modern-day slavery. In 2007, we began to assist Polaris with a Community Needs Assessment Survey in Colorado Springs. The goals of the survey are to raise awareness of human trafficking in our community, to determine the scope and nature of the problem and to identify the current resources available for victims. Our service committee made phone calls to local service providers to obtain the names of contact people at these organizations. Our next step is to be trained to help conduct the survey.
Through our involvement, two of our members attended a human trafficking training with the Colorado Springs Police Department on December 13, 2007.
James Jarman, of television station KOAA (Channels 5 & 30), interviewed one of our members in a story titled, "Human Rights Group Organizing Help for Local Human Trafficking Victims". As a result of the interview, our club has received both local and national recognition and we are receiving requests for further information.
What you can do:
- Educate yourself and others by following the listed website links. Human trafficking is not just an international problem, it happens right here.
- Our interest in human trafficking led us to the realization that
unlicensed massage parlors in El Paso County may well house victims of
human trafficking and modern-day slavery. Currently the city of Colorado
Springs has stringent licensing laws, but beyond the city boundaries,
these laws do not exist.
You can help by contacting your County Commissioner to encourage him/her to work to create licensing standards for massage therapists in El Paso county. www.elpasoco.com/elected_officials.asp
- Zonta International http://www.zonta.org/
- Polaris www.polarisproject.org
- US Department of Health and Human Services, the Campaign to Rescue
and Restore Victims of Human Trafficking www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking/
Excellent website with lots of other links. Has "Look Beneath the Surface" campaign tool kits available for free (order online). - Human Trafficking www.humantrafficking.org
- Zonta Club of Sanibel-Captiva, Florida http://zontasancap.com/
- Touching the World http://ttwonline.org/
- Free the Slaves http://www.freetheslaves.net
- Human Trafficking Task Force of Southern Colorado
National Hotline 1-888-3737-888
© 2008-2012 Zonta International