Child Save Arizona

Helping fight child sex trafficking and exploitation in Arizona

Prevention.Intervention.Recovery

Welcome to ChildSaveArizona

Child sex trafficking is a major problem in the United States and the most egregious act of evil against children.

ChildSave Arizona was created to help promote and support organizations actively involved in the fight against child sex trafficking and exploitation in Arizona.

• Law enforcement in Arizona have reported girls as young as 9 being sold for sex

• In Arizona, the average age of entry to prostitution is just 14.9 years old

• 35% of homeless youth in Arizona report being sex trafficked

 

There are three components to the fight against child sex trafficking.

Prevention.Intervention.Recovery

Prevention

One way to address and help prevent sex trafficking is by educating the public, including sex buyers, where and how sex trafficking takes place. Among other things, prevention efforts include educating the public on how the demand for paid sex facilitates sex trafficking.

Below are organizations actively involved in prevention efforts in the state of Arizona:

TrustAZ.org (Training and Resources United to Stop Trafficking)

CeaseArizona.org

Also important to prevention of child sex trafficking is foster care support. For the children in the Department of Child Safety system, having a safe and supportive place to live is critical. A foster care collaborative in Arizona is One4allAZ.com.

Intervention

The intervention process involves identifying where the crime is taking place and removing the victim from the situation.

In addition to local law enforcements efforts, both online and in the streets, to identify where sex trafficking may be occurring, other organizations also play an import role.

For instance, SAFE Action Project is an Arizona based, collaborative effort to train the tourism industry how to identify sex trafficking.  57% of trafficking victims were trafficked in hotel rooms.

The organizations below also execute online efforts to identify where sex trafficking may be taking place:

JUST.MEN.AZ

CEASE Arizona

Once the abuse is identified, removing the victims is executed by law enforcement.  In Phoenix, Arizona for instance, the unit assigned to sex trafficking is the Human Exploitation And Trafficking unit, also known as HEAT.  HEAT along with others in local law enforcement put their lives on the line daily to help those unable to help themselves. (Phoenix Police Department Anti-Trafficking Unit featured in PBS Frontline’s “Sex Trafficking in America”.)

Recovery

Once the victim is removed, recovering from both the physical and mental trauma begins.  Below are organizations in Arizona that actively support victims in their recovery.

Streetlight USA

All donations to ChildSaveArizona will be equally allocated to efforts in each component of the fight.