Intro: Ken PROTECT Overview

PROTECT – A Joint Collaboration PROTECT’s Joint Mission Three Nonprofit Organizations PROTECT’s Joint Mission To reduce the vulnerability of children by identifying and preventing human trafficking using a standardized, trauma informed education curriculum and systematic delivery methodology. www.protectnow.org Three nonprofit organizations – 3Strands Global Foundation, Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives, and Love Never Fails - have been facilitating in-person human trafficking prevention education for educators and students since 2008, and have collectively educated over 100,000 students and teachers. In partnership with the California Department of Education, the California Office of the Attorney General, Sacramento State Institute for Social Research, and Cisco Learning Management Systems, Polaris Project, the three nonprofits formed PROTECT in order to scale their impact. The PROTECT curriculum materials are grade-level appropriate, state standard-compliant and provide a holistic view of the reality of human trafficking in California and around the world. The PROTECT mission is to reduce the exploitation of our youth by educating counties, teachers, and students. The PROTECT program is scalable and systematic for all counties. In 5th Grade, students learn about safe people, safe places, and safe choices. In 7th Grade, students learn about the types of child abuse and how to develop personal boundaries. In 9th Grade, students learn how to understand and recognize human trafficking. In 11th Grade, students learn about the connections between historical and modern-day slavery and how they can become a modern-day abolitionist.

Child Protective Services PROTECT - Protocol Teachers Administrators Classified Workers PROTECT understands that concise and all-encompassing protocols are vital to helping keep our youth safe. PROTECT will train county leadership, teachers, and administrators about how to understand, recognize, and report suspected instances of human trafficking and ensure that school protocols are in place if a student is identified as a victim. Child Protective Services NGOs and Survivor Leaders Law Enforcement

Growing Problem California is a hotspot for human trafficking cases in the United States. This image is the Polaris Project Heat Map. They have a toll-free National Human Trafficking Hotline, and the map shows places where calls have been made to the hotline to report a case of human trafficking. As you consider how trafficking affects California, and your classrooms, notice that you cannot really see California under all the red on the heat map. California has more reports of human trafficking made to the hotline than any other state. Polaris Project, https://polarisproject.org/facts

Students, teachers and county workers will receive a PROTECT Tip Card upon completing the curriculum. This tip card includes signs of human trafficking, tips for prevention, and a list of resources to contact if they are being exploited or abused or if someone they know is this situation. See this slide for a list of signs of human trafficking.

More Signs of Sex Trafficking CSEC Children under 18 performing commercial sex acts Children under 18 are unable to legally consent to sex. As a result a child cannot be a willing participant in prostitution, exploitation, or pornography. Instead they are a victim of human trafficking which we refer to as a Commercially Sexually Exploited Child (CSEC). There is no such thing as a child prostitute.   Another sign of sex trafficking is branding. Victims of trafficking are branded to establish ownership and control. Traffickers may brand their victims with tattoos of bar codes or symbols, burn marks, branding irons, or even carving their name into the victim’s skin with a sharp object. Branding

More Signs of Labor Trafficking Lack of payment Debt bondage Lack of payment – A victim may not be receiving paychecks or might be paid an unfair wage “under the table.” Debt bondage – A victim may be unable to repay a longstanding debt they owe to an employer or trafficker. Unfit working conditions – A victim might not receive bathroom or lunch breaks, or be able to come and go freely. Unfit working conditions

On the back of the PROTECT Tip Card, there are some resources listed that can be used to report a case of human trafficking. The most important number for to learn is the toll-free National Human Trafficking Hotline, which is 1-888-373-7888 and can be called 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All communication with the hotline is strictly confidential, and it exists to provide human trafficking victims and survivors with access to critical support and services to get help and stay safe.