Human Trafficking Hotline
1-888-373-7888 or Text BEFREE (233733)
For More Information on the Human Trafficking Hotline – Visit www.humantraffickinghotline.org
Who We Are
Mission Statement: “Grounded on the belief that every life is Sacred, the mission of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis Anti-Trafficking Ministry is to educate on the scourge of human trafficking as an offense against the fundamental dignity of the human person, to advocate for an end to modern day slavery, and to provide training and technical assistance about this issue.”
(Adapted, with permission, from the USCCB Become a SHEPHERD Mission Statement.)
List of Archindy – Catholic Charities Anti-Trafficking Steering Committee Members
What is Human Trafficking?
“Human trafficking is a horrific crime against the basic dignity and rights of the human person. All efforts must be expended to end it. In the end, we must work together—Church, state, and community—to eliminate the root causes and markets that permit traffickers to flourish; to make whole the survivors of this crime; and to ensure that, one day soon, trafficking in human persons vanishes from the face of the earth.”
- USCCB - On Human Trafficking
Human Trafficking is the human transport, transfer, harboring or receipt of a person by such means as threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud or deception for the purpose of exploitation.
What We Do
- Human Trafficking Education 101 presentations that centers around education, prevention and support of victims and survivors.
- Provide support to Catholic Churches and Schools as they educate those within their communities about human trafficking.
- Please refer to our Toolkit and Resource tabs on the left hand side of the webpage
- Advocate for laws that will end human trafficking and provide the much needed support to victims and survivors.
Definition of Labor and Sex Trafficking
Sex trafficking victims are manipulated or forced against their will to engage in sex acts for money. Sex traffickers might use violence, threats, manipulation, or the promise of love and affection to lure victims. Truck stops, hotel rooms, rest areas, street corners, clubs, private residences are just some of the places where victims are forced to sell sex. Any person under the age of 18 involved in a commercial sex act is considered a victim of human trafficking. No exemptions.
Forced labor takes on many forms. And it happens here in the U.S. and overseas. Through force, fraud, or coercion victims are made to work for little or no pay. Very often these victims are forced to manufacture or grow the products that we use and consume every day. Victims of forced labor can be found in factories on farms, doing construction work, and more. Victims of domestic servitude are hidden in plain sight, forced to work in homes across the United States. Their traffickers sometimes take their identification, papers, and travel documents in order to limit their freedom. They are prisoners working as nannies, maids, or domestic help. Every year in the United States, thousands of human trafficking cases are reported but many more go unnoticed.
Contact Us
For more information on how your community to can do more to help end Human Trafficking, please contact:
Theresa Chamblee
Director of Social Concerns
Catholic Charities
1400 N. Meridian St.
Indianapolis, IN 46202
317-236-1404
tchamblee@archindy.org
