• Ahava Kids Mission Statement
• Why 'Ahava?'
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• Meet Ahava Kids Founder
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At this very moment, there are more slaves in the world than at any other time in history; more than during the Pharos of Egypt, the Roman Empire, or the transatlantic slave trade of the colonial era. Modern day slavery takes many forms.

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Why 'Ahava?'

Established in 2004, Ahava Kids (AhavaKids.org) is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit human rights organization dedicated to the rescue and care of human trafficking victims in the United States and throughout the world. We accomplish this through our coordinated efforts of Intervention, Care and Prevention. This is the most effective method for removing young people from the numerous dangers of trafficking while giving them the best chance for survival and a decent life.

The following describes each of aspect of the Ahava Kids Intervention, Care and Prevention programs.

Intervention
Direct Street Intervention – Direct intervention is the very core of Ahava Kids’ effectiveness and impact. Intervention Specialists from Ahava Kids regularly journey to the streets looking for trafficking victims, speaking with them, offering immediate rescue and care, or providing any help they need.

Cybervention – For online victims of trafficking, immediate intervention is their last, best hope. Ahava Kids’ Cybervention is an aggressive outreach program focusing on these special-case victims. Trained Ahava Kids volunteers reach out to potential victims online through the email addresses and phone numbers provided in individual listings. They offer any and all assistance including immediate rescue, safety, shelter, freedom, protection, healthcare, education, and a future with hope.

Law Enforcement Training – Local, State and Federal law enforcement agencies, along with criminal justice officials, frequently contact Ahava Kids for the immediate care and shelter of at-risk trafficking victims they have located or assisted. Ahava Kids also conducts training sessions to those in the criminal justice system in order for them to more easily recognize victims. Read some of our Success Stories.

Care
Ahava Kids Safe Houses – Our emergency housing program provides urgently needed secure shelter and comprehensive care for young adult victims of commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking. With two locations, one in Connecticut and one in Georgia, each Safe House has the capacity to care for at least 100 victims annually. With the necessary resources, Ahava Kids will establish other safe houses in locations throughout the United States where victim care is needed most. Our homes also operate a 24-hour, Toll Free Rescue Hotline which offers immediate rescue or help to victims. When rescued, they are quickly relocated to an Ahava Kids Safe House where they undergo extensive assessment and are provided with all the care they require to rebuild their lives.

Ahava Kids Rescue Kits – Ahava Kids’ Intervention Specialists often begin building relationships with trafficking victims working the streets of America by providing them with items they need to survive. This is a very effective method for establishing trust between victims forced or coerced into commercial sexual acts and Ahava Kids. Along with the Toll Free number for the Ahava Kids Hotline, rescue kits contain new clothes, hygiene products, shoes, etc. In addition to those we provide directly to victims, Ahava Kids also gives Rescue Kits to law enforcement personnel so they can distribute them to victims they find in their work.

Ahava C.A.R.E.S. (Care And Rescue Emergency Services) – In partnership with volunteer doctors and nurses, Ahava Kids health, rehabilitation and wellbeing program evaluates and treats young victims of trafficking. They are assessed for their physical, mental, and emotional status, along with drug and STD testing.

Ahava Treatment Protocol - The care and long-term restoration of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) victims is a complex and difficult process. Victims are caught in a world they did not make or choose, and are trapped in lives of constant fear, isolation, torture, and forced drug addiction. Moreover, best practices for the care of CSEC victims are rare and untested. Ahava Kids is developing the first comprehensive protocol for their care and restoration.

Prevention
Law Enforcement Training Seminars – An educational program that brings the realities of human trafficking to the first-line of defense, local law enforcement and criminal justice professionals. Live seminars with experts in all fields and disciplines related to trafficking facilitate the seminars.

Corporate Zero Tolerance Initiatives – Corporate Social Responsibility is essential to effective community action against human trafficking. Ahava Kids enlists change agents in order to build partnerships and community collaborations with corporations of influence by providing training, protocol design and implementation, and zero tolerance criteria.

CREP (Children’s Rights Education Project) – A partnership between Ahava Kids and the University of Connecticut and other colleges, CREP offers hands-on projects for students who are dedicated to addressing the issue of human trafficking. Programs include the production and distribution of the Law Enforcement Training Seminar and Rescue Kits to police departments, educational events at public schools, and Cybervention.

Recently, Ahava Kids has:

• Conducted intervention in more than 50 cases of human trafficking in the United States.
• Opened two Safe Houses for Human Trafficking victims in New England and Georgia.
• Established a nationwide 24-hour Rescue hotline for victims of human trafficking.
• Assisted local, state and Federal investigators with several human trafficking investigations.
• Began serving as a member of Connecticut's Domestic Violence in Immigrant Communities Task Force and Testified before Connecticut’s Human Trafficking Task Force.
• Presented the issue of trafficking and the mission of Ahava Kids to State and Federal
• Detectives at the FBI offices in New Haven, with more seminars scheduled.
• Traveled to Iraq to investigate Human Trafficking there.