Frequently Asked Questions

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Our mission is to provide accessible and compassionate support services to individuals and families in the community, with the goal of promoting financial health, literacy & stabilitiy.

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Human Trafficking survivors whom have undergone extensive training  from various governmental and non-governmental agencies such as the OVC who focus on providing education in the various areas of human trafficking such as, sex trafficking, involuntary servitude & debt bondage.

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Yes, we offer online counseling for individuals who are unable to attend in-person sessions or prefer the convenience of virtual sessions.

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Initiatives such as the Washington Anti-Trafficking Response Network (WARN) serve as examples of the major steps that Washington has done to combat human trafficking. Through comprehensive efforts in prevention, protection, and prosecution, WARN, a cooperative effort between governmental and non-governmental organizations, aims to improve the state's response to human trafficking. 

ANSWER:

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) defines human trafficking based on three separate elements that explain what traffickers do, why they do it, and how they do it. 

The act itself involves the recruitment, transportation, trafficking, harboring, or receipt of persons for labor or services

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Traffickers (which include corporations) do this by intimidating or luring victims through:

• Force
• Coercion
• Kidnapping
• Fraud or deception
• Abuse of power
• Payment

Once traffickers have acquired a victim, they exploit them for their benefit by forcing them into sex work, forced labor, and other types of non-consensual activities.

ANSWER:

Forcing someone to participate in the sex industry against their will is known as "sex trafficking." Anybody under the age of eighteen who works as a prostitute is legally regarded as a victim of human trafficking, according to the Polaris Project.

The following are signs that someone may be a victim of sex trafficking:

Expressing a wish to quit the sex industry but being afraid to do so.

being forced or forced to work in the sex industry.

They always had companions, called "guards," with them wherever they went.

being in the sex trade industry and being managed by a manager or other authoritative figure.

having someone controlling every part of their life—a mentor, a partner, or someone else altogether.

working in fields, whether legal or illicit, where there is constant pressure to engage in sexual actions in exchange for money.

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As per the National Human Trafficking Hotline, forced labor, or labor trafficking, is described as "a form of modern-day slavery in which individuals perform labor or services through the use of force, fraud, or coercion." This can manifest in various industries like farm work, domestic servitude, and factory labor, where victims often receive minimal or no compensation for their efforts. Disturbingly, a significant portion of forced labor victims are children.

In 2019 alone, the organization documented over 1,200 cases of forced labor and identified more than 2,500 individuals, showing indicators of likely being victims of labor trafficking. Texas ranked third in reported forced labor cases nationwide, with a notable focus on the trafficking of foreign citizens. 

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According to End Slavery Now, Bonded labor, also referred to as debt bondage or peonage, occurs when individuals pledge themselves into slavery as collateral for a loan or inherit a debt from a family member. This situation may be masked as an employment agreement, or; loan, but in reality, the worker commences with a debt to settle—often under harsh conditions. Unfortunately, the repayment of the loan sometimes becomes unattainable, leading to the entrapment of the individual in permanent enslavement.

ANSWER:

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a U.S. government agency responsible for overseeing financial products and services for consumers, has published details of a new credit repair law and process for victims and survivors of trafficking to block adverse information from their consumer and credit reports that resulted from their trafficking experience.

This was created in response to efforts by survivors and other advocates to create and design an accessible process. This will change the lives of many survivors by providing a new pathway to financial freedom.

This process is new and will continue to evolve. There are some questions about the process that have not been answered yet. We will continue to provide updates as we get more information.