YORK COUNTY, Pa. — On Saturday, the ninth human trafficking awareness workshop was hosted by Unstoppable You Ministries in cooperation with Hanover Area Diversity Alliance in the Borough of Hanover.
The workshop is designed to educate people about the warning signs of trafficking.
“Anytime there’s vulnerabilities, you have evil people that will exploit those vulnerabilities, whether it is housing insecurity, food insecurity, substance addiction,” said Jennifer Foxworthy, Founder and CEO of Unstoppable You Ministries.
Human trafficking occurs when a person is exploited for profit through servitude.
According to organizers, traffickers often build a relationship with the trafficked person before exploiting them.
Children and teens are often the most targeted groups with the average age of a trafficked child being 12 years old.
“It’s right here in Lancaster, it’s happening in Hanover, it’s happening in Red Lion, it’s happening in York City, no county is untouched,” Foxworthy said.
Unstoppable You Ministries partners with local nonprofits to spread the message further while working alongside law enforcement agencies.
“We constantly have to be changing with the environment that we’re serving in that community, the problems that arise we have to learn from too, we constantly have to go back and train ourselves on what’s going on out there,” said James Grothey, Troop J Community Service Officer from Pennsylvania State Police.
Knowing the warning signs of trafficking is important, but knowing who to tell can mean the difference in saving someone from serious harm.
“Come right to our stations whether that’s state police, whether that’s a local law enforcement office, call 911, have them come out to your house,” Grothey said.
“This is not about Unstoppable You Ministries, this is not about law enforcement or lawmakers, this is about unstoppable you, unstoppable me, unstoppable we,” Foxworthy added.
The tenth workshop is expected to be hosted April 2024 in York County.
If you or someone you know may be the victim of human trafficking, call The National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.