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Collaborative to End Human Trafficking Message For Human Trafficking Awareness Month 2022

Human Trafficking is the exploitation of humans for profit, often categorized by sex and . It is a complex problem we face in our communities.

The Collaborative to End Human Trafficking began in 2007 and was built on the understanding that a multifaceted human rights and public health issue like human trafficking cannot be solved by one organization or system alone.

We recognized that only when we bring people together to unlock our collective potential can we create solutions that break the cycle of human trafficking.

Message For Human Trafficking Awareness Month 2022

Kirsti Mouncey, LISW-S, LCDCIII

President/CEO

More about Collaborative to End Human Trafficking

Based in Northeast Ohio, the Collaborative to End Human Trafficking leads Greater Cleveland's Coordinated Response to Human Trafficking. Our mission is to educate and advocate for the prevention and abolition of human trafficking while connecting services on behalf of trafficked persons.

Freedom is a fundamental human right. It is a cornerstone of what makes us human. Yet, across the world and in our own communities, this right has been stripped from far too many as they are forced, tricked, and coerced into situations over which they have no control. They are robbed of those same rights that we value most.

Since its beginning in 2007, the Collaborative to End Human Trafficking has identified human trafficking as a prevalent, yet often unrecognized, issue in Northeast Ohio. It was in response to the need for and advocacy that the organization has brought together local professionals and members of religious female communities to create a community-wide call to action, seeking a systemic, multi-disciplinary response to human trafficking in this region.

Today, this ever-growing collaboration includes diverse communities, businesses, non-profits, and governmental organizations. In partnership with them, the Collaborative equips the community with the knowledge, tools, and needed to address human trafficking. We provide leadership and expertise that empowers the community, making it easier to identify and support those impacted by the crime and to eradicate those factors that enable the crime.

From the Collaborative's broad public-awareness campaign, Human Trafficking Happens Here Too, to the development of suggested best practices across , public safety, hospitality and other sectors, the Collaborative to End Human Trafficking exists to uphold every person's fundamental right to freedom and dignity.