love146

In honor of President Barack Obama declaring January of 2014 National Human Trafficking Awareness Month, international human rights organization Love146 is asking people to throw a Valentine’s Day party as a way to raise awareness and combat child trafficking and exploitation.

The National Center For Missing & Exploited Children estimates that over 100,000 children are trafficked every year within the United States and that hundreds of thousands more are at risk. Leading up to Valentine’s Day, Love146 is introducing a new way to combat this problem that gets people directly involved.

Love146’s mission – to work toward the abolition of child trafficking
and exploitation through prevention and aftercare

Love146-1We’re asking you to bring a bake sale to your school, throw a dance party, put on a concert with local musicians – anything that will raise awareness and support. In 2014, we’re doing even more to end child trafficking and exploitation here in the United States, and everything raised this Valentine’s Day season will go towards providing prevention education to children and caring for survivors here in America. You can learn more and get started right away at www.love146.org/celebrate.

In 2002, co-founders Rob Morris, Lamont Hiebert, Desirea Rodgers and Caroline Hahm went on an exploratory trip to Southeast Asia to determine how best to combat the issue of child sex trafficking. In Asian brothels, they saw young children sold for sex. “We found ourselves standing shoulder to shoulder with predators in a small room, looking at little girls through a pane of glass,” said Morris. “All of the girls wore red dresses with a number pinned to their dress for identification. Sorrow covered their faces with nothingness. Except one girl. Her number was 146. She was looking beyond the glass. She was staring out at us with a piercing gaze. There was still fight left in her eyes. There was still life left in this girl. We have taken her number so that we remember why this all started.”

From that first trip, Love146’s mission became clear – to work toward the abolition of child trafficking and exploitation through prevention and aftercare. After spending several years launching successful programs in Asia, the organization has decided to turn their attention towards protecting children in the United States. To that end, Love146 has worked hard to educate thousands of children in schools and group homes all across the country.

Last year’s Valentine’s Day campaign helped Love146 hire an additional social worker.

Learn + Connect
Get involved and learn more about Love146 
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From the Editor
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Photo by LOVE 146