Free Counter Sex Trafficking Resources for Law Enforcement – Guardian Group
The UN recently did a study and found that 27.6 million victims of trafficking exist across the globe, yet governments across the country only identified 115,324 victims [1].
This is less than half of 1 percent of victims being identified.
“Without effective victim identification, governments cannot hold traffickers accountable, and people of goodwill cannot offer tailored, trauma-informed services to trafficking survivors. Society cannot address what it cannot identify. Victim identification is the prerequisite to successful prosecution and prevention of this crime. Yet, governments' rate of victim identification is appallingly low.”
– John Cotton Richmond, Chief Impact Officer at Atlas Free, former US ambassador – at – large to monitor and combat trafficking in persons.
Guardian Group exists to identify potential victims of sex trafficking here in the United States to law enforcement. Our work supports under-resourced law enforcement agencies across the country creating space for a more proactive approach to combating sex trafficking.
Through the OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence) skills and expertise of the Project 1591 volunteer force and our internal Analysis Team, potential victims are identified. The information is then packaged into a Publicly Available Information Report (PAIR) and delivered to law enforcement via a state-wide distribution email list. These reports contain the identified individual and valuable account information that can be used by law enforcement to identify force, fraud, or coercion if sex trafficking is occurring. All free of charge.
Help expand our reach by inviting your local law enforcement to sign up for their state distribution list.
Every law enforcement partner represents a touchpoint to offer a victim a path to freedom. Escort ad websites are the starting point most often used to identify victims of trafficking to law enforcement. These sites allow you to filter by location and often the ads for a region are grouped under the largest city in the area. There are approximately 975 cities represented across the United States on these escort ad sites.
It is our goal to have a least 1 active law enforcement partner in each city represented on these websites.
This is where you come in.
If you are active U.S. law enforcement, sign up for your state's email list. Once your credentials are validated you will begin to receive state specific email alerts containing name, age, location with a hyperlink to the secure password protected PAIR as they are developed and delivered through Project 1591.
If you would like to see the number of PAIR reports that have been delivered already in your state, you can check out the map here. If you do not see any in your state, it is because we do not currently have a law enforcement partner ready to receive these reports and take action. You could be the first!
If you are not law enforcement, share this opportunity with officers you know that are interested in free research support for their counter sex trafficking work.
“Our department has been partnering with Guardian Group for several years. The partnership has severely reduced the manhours required to identify, locate, and rescue victims of human trafficking. The new Project 1591 process streamlines the leads by Guardian Group and securely delivers them to ensure sensitive information is not compromised. The leads provided by Guardian Group and the Project 1591 process have made significant improvements in out investigation into human trafficking, the rescuing of victims and the apprehension of human trafficking offenders.”
– Georgia Police Department
Everyone has a role to play in increasing victim identification – helping expand our reach to law enforcement across the nation could be yours!
References
[1] U.S. Department of State. (2023, July 17). 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report – United States Department of State. U.S. Department of State. https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-trafficking-in-persons-report/
This “Eyes on Trafficking” story is reprinted from its original online location.
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ABOUT PBJ LEARNING
PBJ Learning is a leading provider of online human trafficking training, focusing on awareness and prevention education. Their interactive Human Trafficking Essentials online course is used worldwide to educate professionals and individuals how to recognize human trafficking and how to respond to potential victims. Learn on any web browser (even your mobile phone) at any time.
More stories like this can be found in your PBJ Learning Knowledge Vault.
EYES ON TRAFFICKING
This “Eyes on Trafficking” story is reprinted from its original online location.
ABOUT PBJ LEARNING
PBJ Learning is a leading provider of online human trafficking training, focusing on awareness and prevention education. Their interactive Human Trafficking Essentials online course is used worldwide to educate professionals and individuals how to recognize human trafficking and how to respond to potential victims. Learn on any web browser (even your mobile phone) at any time.
More stories like this can be found in your PBJ Learning Knowledge Vault.