It's called Safe House Ministry, a new mission for disaster relief ministry Eight Days of Hope, which is partnering with existing ministries that provide care for survivors of human trafficking.
Colleen Fabling, the Safe House Ministry manager, told American Family Radio that Eight Days uses its construction and renovation resources to help a fellow ministry expand or renovate a facility.
“That sometimes looks like building from the ground up to add on or to help a ministry begin to provide a safe place,” she told the "Today's Issues" program.
The public has become more aware of trafficking in recent years thanks to the "Sound of Freedom" film (pictured at right) and news stories about illegal immigration and drug cartels.
In response to the issue, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado) has introduced a bill to combat human trafficking. The legislation, H.R. 9755, would require owners and employees of massage spas to undergo a fingerprint-based background check.
"Massage wellness spas have been identified by law enforcement as one of the primary locations for criminals engaged in human trafficking," Boebert stated in a press release.
Trafficking is far more prevalent than most people know, Marcel van der Watt, of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, tells AFN.
"It really comes down to the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act,” he says. “Every year millions of men, women, and children are trafficked worldwide, including in the United States, and victims can be any age, race, gender, or nationality."
In the AFR interview, Fabling said there are more than 13,000 animal shelters in the U.S. but there are fewer than 1,000 beds available to allow human trafficking survivors to start over.
