Dire does not quite describe the situation we faced when we first began trying to pass anti-human trafficking legislation in the Commonwealth of Virginia. For years we worked to establish a strong legal framework for combating human trafficking. Sometimes we were successful, other times we weren’t. My predecessors successfully navigated difficult waters to help criminalize abduction for the purpose of forced labor, as well as extend asset forfeiture to vehicles used to traffic children. These were no minor feats and took countless hours of hard work, dedication, and passion on the part of many. Despite these successes we were still plagued by our inability to pass strong sex trafficking legislation and provide effective assistance to survivors of human trafficking. Another equally pressing problem in the Commonwealth was the revelation in the Crime Commission Report that none of the statutes currently used to arrest and prosecute traffickers had been used. While there is no one magic item that helped us pass paradigm-shifting anti-human trafficking legislation this year, I do think our success can be attributed to several noteworthy factors:

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February 14, 2002.  Nine years ago, today, a single sheet of paper filed with the Rhode Island State House gave birth to Polaris Project – an idea that ordinary community members need to come together to fight slavery once again.  While our work helps to bring freedom to anyone in any situation of human trafficking, we made a purposeful decision to make “VDay our BDay” to recognize our part in a broader movement to stop violence against women and girls. [Read more →]

Human trafficking is a horrific crime that takes a full person and degrades them into a thing to be sold.  True assistance, the type I have seen Polaris Provide provide to our clients over the years, is the type that works to reverse the effects of this horrible experience by treating individuals with the utmost respect and dignity.

We take our value of empowerment very seriously in every stage of our response while helping a person out of a human trafficking situation throughout our involvement in their recovery.  Though we assist hundreds of victims of human trafficking every year, you will notice that we don’t have a lot of photos of victims on our website.   Why is that? [Read more →]

It’s that time of year again – the holidays are officially in full swing! We’re asking our supporters not only to open up their wallets and closets, but also to open up their hearts.

I want to tell you a story about a girl named Britney.* Britney met a man the same night she ran away from her abusive home life when she was only 16 years old. With nowhere to turn she accepted a ride from the man who also offered her food and a place to stay. This man turned out to be a pimp. After a couple weeks the pimp forced her to sell her body ten to fifteen times a night to strangers who found her on the internet. [Read more →]