By Baptist Press
Bars of soap with a hotline to report sex trafficking have become one of the strategies for combatting the crime at motels and strip clubs. Photo from traffickfree.com/soap
NEW YORK CITY — Human trafficking victims are reaching out for help in increasing numbers, according to an advocacy group that operates a national text and phone call center.
More than 1,600 survivors of human trafficking reached out for help in 2015 — a 24 percent increase over 2014, according to the nonprofit anti-trafficking organization Polaris.
The hotline also takes calls from concerned friends, family, and bystanders who witness suspected human trafficking incidents.
In 2015, Polaris’ National Human Trafficking Resource Center received 21,947 calls, 1,535 online requests, 1,275 e-mails and 1,472 SMS messages on its BeFree Textline. Human trafficking took place in all 50 states.
