Our Mission
Implement a coordinated community response to identify, prevent, and eliminate human trafficking in the Tri-County area.
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Support mandated reporters, law enforcement, and providers to identify and serve trafficking victims.
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Engage sustainable and sufficient resources to empower those victimized to be thriving community members.
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About Us
Human trafficking is a dynamic issue requiring action on the part of multiple actors. Law enforcement, social service providers, non-profits, and community members all play key roles in the identification, prevention, and elimination of human trafficking. Established in 2018, the Tri-County Human Trafficking Task Force works to bring entities together in a collaborative response to this issue.
The Task Force is organized into 8 subcommittees: Education, Law Enforcement, Legal Innovations, Child Direct Services, Adult Direct Services, Healthcare, Faith-Based, and Research. Each one of these subcommittees works to employ a different facet of the community in response to human trafficking.
Chairs:
Brooke Burris, Lincoln Tubman Foundation
Lauren Knapp, Charleston Co. Sheriff
Prevention
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Prevention & Education
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Leslie Bailey - volunteer
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Lindsey Hass - survivor-leader/trainer
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Research & Data
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Leslie Hill - Citadel Criminal Justice Dept.
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Kristen Hefner - Citadel Criminal Justice Dept.
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Stephanie Armstrong - MUSC/Human Trafficking & Healthcare Consulting
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Prosecution
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Law Enforcement
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Lauren Knapp - Charleston Co. Sheriff
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US Attorney’s Office
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Legal Innovations
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Charleston Pro Bono
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Rene Stuhr Dukes - Rosen Hagood Law Firm
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Protection
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Child Services
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Dee Norton CAC
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Dorchester CAC
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Adult Services
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Kat Wehunt - The Formation Project
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Adriana Mattingly - National Crime Victims Center
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Healthcare
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Jason Betts - MUSC
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Karen Drozd - MUSC Sexual Abuse Pediatrics
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Kris Oleksyk - Holistic Health Practitioner
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Partnerships
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Faith-Based
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Cyndi Mosteller - East Cooper Baptist Church
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Maraide Sullivan - St. Michael’s Church
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Supporters
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Patrons
About Human Trafficking
What is Human Trafficking?
An estimated 40.3 million individuals are subject to human trafficking worldwide.​
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International Labour Organization, 2016
Human Trafficking is defined as:
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Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age; or
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The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery (USDOS, 2019).