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Community Comes Together To Combat Human Trafficking In Their Own Backyard

This article is is brought to you by Dignity Health

Watch enough crime shows, and a story about human trafficking will come on sooner or later. These story lines can be hard to watch, as this form of modern-day slavery traps people in forced labor or the commercial sex industry. But when you turn off the TV, the problem goes out-of-sight, out-of-mind.

Unfortunately, human trafficking doesn't just live within the confines of our television sets, and it doesn't go away just because we're not thinking about it. Rather, it's all around us, lurking in our own communities every day.

For Laura Saufley of Greenville, N.C., a local race opened her eyes to the reality of human trafficking in her own backyard. Sure, she knew when she signed up for the 5K, which benefited Eastern North Carolina Stop Human Trafficking Now that it was in support of a good cause, but had no idea to the extent human trafficking existed in her local area. "Until then, it was an unseen problem for me. It happened in 'other places' but not here," she admits. A speaker at the race opened her eyes to the problem. "I realized that it is happening everywhere, including our own community," she explains.

These days, Saufley is involved with a group of people who support Restore One, a North Carolina organization that is working to open the nation's first safe house specifically for young male victims of sexual trafficking. Although sex trafficking is often thought of as a problem faced only by girls, Restore One aims to shed light on the problem of exploited males, since approximately half of the youths who are forced into the commercial sex industry are boys. Anchor House, which is on track to open in 2016, will be home to four adolescent male victims at a time.

Fundraising has been a community effort, as well. Restore One's annual event, the Stand for One Gala, is well attended by local folks. Funds from the gala are used not only for the Anchor House project, but also to promote education and awareness of trafficking issues. To further help with getting Anchor House off the ground, a local construction company pitched in by donating much-needed kitchen appliances and matching grants from anonymous donors have encouraged additional giving from project supporters.

Anna Smith, one of Restore One's founders, has said, "I started Restore One because I believe every life matters, and I believe that when given a chance, one life can change the world." Saufley has caught her vision and now understands that human trafficking is everyone's problem. It's happening in every community, and we can all take a role in the fight against it.

This article was written by Meghan Ross via Examiner.com for CBS Local Media.

 

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