United Way of East Central Alabama’s Anti-Trafficking Initiative exists to partner, collaborate, and provide services to help stop and prevent sex trafficking in our local communities and beyond. Our work includes prevention efforts through awareness, education, and training, as well as intervention efforts through connections with local and statewide resources and organizations. We are focused on providing safe communities and a lifetime of stability and well-being for all residents. United we fight. United we win. United we can stop trafficking!
If you would like more information on United Way’s Anti-Trafficking Initiative, including information on group or civic club presentations, youth or adult prevention education, group training, or intervention and advocacy for victims of trafficking, please contact:
Pam Stack, Outreach Coordinator
United Way’s Anti-Trafficking Initiative
256-770-6444
pstack@uweca.org
What is Trafficking?
Human trafficking is modern day slavery. It is the exploitation of a person’s vulnerabilities for the profit of a trafficker. It happens everywhere. It happens here.
United Way of East Central Alabama is committed to eradicating sex trafficking in our local communities. Sex trafficking often looks like prostitution. However, the majority of adults prostituted are under the control of a trafficker who uses force, fraud, or coercion as a means to control. We are dedicated to changing the understanding of what trafficking is and to making a difference in the lives of those being exploited.
While force, fraud, or coercion must be proven for adults, that is not the case for children. If a commercial sex act takes place with a child, that child is a victim of trafficking. Consent is irrelevant! Pass the word: “There is no such thing as a child prostitute.” The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received 17,200 reports of possible child sex trafficking in 2021. These reports come from every state in the United States as well as Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. Our children deserve our protection from these predators, and United Way of East Central Alabama is committed to protecting our children.
There are many myths that prevent us from understanding what trafficking really is. To learn more, please visit Myths and Misconceptions.