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Child Sex Trafficking - a topic that has been in the headlines and on the minds of many around the country. Often, people may think of sex trafficking as something that happens overseas, but we know it is happening here, in our own community. Alliance For Children has recognized this as a victimization of children for many years, starting around 2010 in partnered efforts with the Fort Worth Police Department. Recognizing that trafficking victims include minors - often teenagers who are vulnerable - we did what we do best: we welcomed the partnership of our Multidisciplinary Team to understand what role we play in criminal investigations of this nature, and how Alliance For Children can help the children and families impacted by this type of victimization.
Recognizing that there might be similar traumas to the other child abuse victims we were already serving, we increased our education for the professionals with whom we work alongside regarding the dynamics of Child Sex Trafficking (CST), and continued providing our core services during the course of these investigations and accompanying healing services. Our Forensic Interview, Family Advocate, and Clinical Counseling Programs began to address traumas specific to children who had experienced CST, knowing this might differ from those who had experienced sexual abuse without additionally being trafficked. The additional layer of the commercialization aspect of CST was added to the recognized trauma of sexual abuse and sexual assault of the children that walked through our doors, as well as the understanding of the embedded trauma that often impacted the victims - most often from their own homes prior to their trafficking sexualization.
The attention to CST has only increased in Tarrant County recently, and we are incredibly proud of our partnerships with local law enforcement, medical providers at Cook Children's Health Care System, JPS Health Network, and Texas Health Resources, the Department of Family and Protective Services, the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office, Tarrant County Juvenile Services, and CST advocate providers at UnBound Fort Worth and Traffick 911, as well as the remarkable support CASA gives to children. We saw 38 child victims of sex trafficking in our last fiscal year (October 1, 2021 – September 30, 2022), and because of the efforts to identify these children in need of support, assistance, and sometimes rescuing, we are furthering our efforts to help children and families impacted by child abuse at all levels.
What do we want you to know? You have a team of amazing individuals, experts in their field, ready. Ready for intervention. Ready for justice. Ready to help. Now we ask you - are you prepared to speak up for child victims in Tarrant County?
Learn more about the risks to children and the experiences of former child sex trafficking victims in this article from CNN.
Sign up for one of our Stewards of Children child abuse prevention classes and learn how you can help prevent and recognize abuse in your community.
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