About

VAST (the Valley Against Sex Trafficking)

Mission Statement

 

We are a  collaborative effort comprised of community members, service providers, businesses, organizations, law enforcement, church members, and government officials united with a passion for justice.

Our mission is to unite and empower individuals towards awareness, prevention, action and aftercare efforts that eradicate sex trafficking and exploitation in our communities.

 

We do this through

 

Awareness:

  • Educating community members, service providers, groups and organizations about the prevalence of local, national, and global sex trafficking.

  • Building a community network to identify signs of trafficking and be equipped to take action.

Prevention:

  • Identifying at-risk populations and seek to strengthen local efforts that provide opportunities to educate, to empower and to protect the vulnerability of these individuals and their families.

  • Acknowledging and establishing efforts to reduce the demand in our culture’s sex industry.

Action:

  • Strengthening laws, training law enforcement and increasing community standards that will reduce the   demand of the sex industry within our region.

  • Identifying plans for outreach, for investigation and for rescue of trafficking victims in the Lehigh Valley.

  • Developing and utilizing a unified response effort amongst community members, law enforcement, and human services for victims.

  • Advocating & serving the exploited

Aftercare:

  • Equipping and utilizing local services to care for the needs of victims including shelter, educational and vocational development, healthcare services, legal services, counseling services, spiritual support and social support.

  • Re-integrating individuals back in the community through a support network that fosters independence and life skills.

 


If you believe you are a victim of human trafficking or may have information about a potential trafficking situation, please contact the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC). call our hotline at 1-888-3737-888.  Hotline Call Specialists are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year to take reports from anywhere in the country related to potential trafficking victims, suspicious behaviors, and/or locations where trafficking is suspected to occur.   All reports are confidential.  Interpreters are available. To submit an online tip, visit   link to:  www.traffickingresourcecenter.org

 

If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, please call 911.