North Carolinastate officials don’t have hard numbers on how many women and girls are sold for sex each year.
But the N.C. Coalition to Combat Human Trafficking says the state ranks in the top 10 nationwide. The state’s major highways, tourism, ports and agriculture industries make it fertile ground for sex trafficking.
Amanda Greene with Wilmington Faith and Values reports about a local Christian nonprofit that is reaching out to the most vulnerable victims of sex trafficking – pregnant teens.
The way Wilmington resident MaLisa Johnson sees it, no girl grows up wishing to enter the sex trade. Sex trafficking is when a girl or a woman is being forced or coerced by a pimp to perform sex acts without monetary gain.
So in December Johnson is launching a Christian nonprofit boarding school for trafficked pregnant teens and teen moms called the Centre of Redemption. Funded through grants and regional churches, the Centre of Redemption will contract with area Christian educators, trauma and maternity counseling agencies to help the teens and their children long term. The Centre is working with area law enforcement with a toll-free sex trafficking hotline and is planning training sessions in September for area hotels and motels on how to spot sex trafficking in their businesses.
