Survivors of human trafficking will now have more support in West Michigan, as a local nonprofit has stepped in to offer crisis response services.
“We do not want to tolerate exploitation and human trafficking in our community”
An emergency safe shelter, telehealth access and mobile advocacy are among the services now available to survivors of sex and labor trafficking through Safe Haven Ministries. The West Michigan nonprofit works to prevent and end relationship abuse, something Executive Director Rachel VerWys says has intersections in the human trafficking space.
“The intersectionality of people experiencing abuse that involves power and control really falls into the sector of human trafficking abuse and exploitation as well. This really complex intersections of forced coercion that ends up in people having involuntary servitude, debt bondage or experiencing sexual exploitation.”
While VerWys says data on trafficking is fairly limited, a recent study by SEE Human Trafficking Coalition found the average age of entry for victims of human trafficking in West Michigan is 15 years old.
“The issue of human trafficking is hard to capture in data…as complex as the problem is we know that we see it happening in our community and a lot of it has been proxy stories…hear from stories.”
News of the services expansion comes during Human Trafficking Awareness month. VerWys saying this commitment will be a community-driven effort for the long haul, dedicated to understanding the complex nature of human trafficking and bringing spaces of safety to its survivors.