Tomorrow's hope
Sex Trafficking Intervention
Tomorrow's Hope is a sex trafficking intervention and prevention ministry of the Transformation Network. In 2011, the Tomorrow's Hope initiative was birthed in honor of a 17 year old sexually exploited girl who was killed by a predator looking for young prostitutes.
Our mission is through intervention and prevention, to keep the most at risk youth from being commercially sexually exploited.
Our mission is through intervention and prevention, to keep the most at risk youth from being commercially sexually exploited.
Human Trafficking:
The United Nations defines human trafficking as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons by improper means (such as force, abduction, fraud, or coercion) for an improper purpose including forced labor or sexual exploitation.
The latest global estimate according to the International Labor Organization (the United Nations agency that deals with global labor issues), calculates that nearly 21 million people are victims of human trafficking worldwide. Roughly 4.5 million of those victims are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
The United Nations defines human trafficking as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons by improper means (such as force, abduction, fraud, or coercion) for an improper purpose including forced labor or sexual exploitation.
The latest global estimate according to the International Labor Organization (the United Nations agency that deals with global labor issues), calculates that nearly 21 million people are victims of human trafficking worldwide. Roughly 4.5 million of those victims are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
- Human trafficking is a highly-organized and lucrative business, generating 150 billion USD per year.
- The National Human Trafficking Hotline had 24,062 referrals resulting in 3,598 Trafficking cases in 2015
- The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children states that 1 in 6 runway children are CSEC victims. 2.8 million Children ran away in 2012, meaning that 466,667 youth were CSEC victims in that year.
- As many as 90% of trafficked youth in America are runaways.
- The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children states that three out of four runaways will be approached by a pimp or a sexual predator and that this recruitment takes place in the first 72 hours after a child runs away.
Prevalence in Portland:
- In PDX Metro area between 2007 and 2013, there were 469 identified CSEC (Commercially Sexually Exploited Children).
- This is a relatively average number when compared to other State averages.
- Highlighted media coverage is not necessary true in relation to Portland being a hub of commercial sexual exploitation. CSEC happens in all major cities.
- Portland boasts one of the most collaborative processes in tackling CSEC
What We Do:
- Tomorrow’s Hope focuses on the recovery of runaway adolescents
- Our mission is to find the missing child and reconnect them back to a safe place within those first 72 hours.
- Our multidisciplinary teams come alongside families of a runaway or at risk missing child and help them put into place the best practices that have been proven to increase the odds of having the child found and recovered.
- Our team coordinates and performs active searches for the child and helps put together broadcast, print and social media campaigns
- We also come alongside the family and provide moral support, a listening ear, and help them find professional resources to assist the family in finding the roots of runaway episodes.
Other Services
- Rapid Response Extraction Team:
This is a service to partner agencies and ministries that bring women and girls out of prostitution. Tomorrow’s Hope offers a team that is able to safely move the person from where they are to an agency’s shelter, safe house or other locations without putting the person leaving prostitution at risk. - Safe Passage Service: We have a team who will come at the request of a minor who finds themselves in a position where they may be at risk for sexual exploitation, and take them to a safe place. This can be very helpful in removing minors from the presence and influence of recruiters and pimps.
Reflection
I was in charge of various organizational tasks, examples of which were data input, organizing the office space, managing databases, as well as managing data on the Tomorrow’s Hope cell phone. The most meaningful work I did related to the time I spent speaking to young women who are currently living on the streets of Portland. I built relationships with many of these teenagers, some who were at serious risk of being trafficked.
I understand that the few people who run TH wear a lot of hats. My goal was to alleviate some of the work done by the director by doing the smaller tasks so he could focus on the bigger ones. There were various organizational and managerial tasks which I completed to help TH run more smoothly, as well as free up time for my supervisor to spend on more meaningful tasks. I worked to clean up the office space, the databases, and the TH cell phone to make the practical operation of TH more efficient.
This opportunity has been invaluable in allowing me to work in a field I’ve been passionate about for a long time. I truly believe in the mission of Tomorrow’s Hope and it has been fantastic to work alongside people who are so passionate and making such an impact in this community. The most rewarding part of this experience was working on putting together the curriculum for the team member training. The information presented in the curriculum offers a realistic look at the issue of human trafficking and the steps we are taking toward ending child sex trafficking in Portland. From here I will be heading back to New Zealand, where I will be entering the police academy.
I was in charge of various organizational tasks, examples of which were data input, organizing the office space, managing databases, as well as managing data on the Tomorrow’s Hope cell phone. The most meaningful work I did related to the time I spent speaking to young women who are currently living on the streets of Portland. I built relationships with many of these teenagers, some who were at serious risk of being trafficked.
I understand that the few people who run TH wear a lot of hats. My goal was to alleviate some of the work done by the director by doing the smaller tasks so he could focus on the bigger ones. There were various organizational and managerial tasks which I completed to help TH run more smoothly, as well as free up time for my supervisor to spend on more meaningful tasks. I worked to clean up the office space, the databases, and the TH cell phone to make the practical operation of TH more efficient.
This opportunity has been invaluable in allowing me to work in a field I’ve been passionate about for a long time. I truly believe in the mission of Tomorrow’s Hope and it has been fantastic to work alongside people who are so passionate and making such an impact in this community. The most rewarding part of this experience was working on putting together the curriculum for the team member training. The information presented in the curriculum offers a realistic look at the issue of human trafficking and the steps we are taking toward ending child sex trafficking in Portland. From here I will be heading back to New Zealand, where I will be entering the police academy.