National Anti-Trafficking Council

In 2003, The Salvation Army (TSA) established its National Anti-Trafficking Council, which is comprised of Salvation Army officers and employees from various branches of the organization including its U.S. national headquarters, four territorial (i.e. regional) and divisional offices, as well as a representative from The Salvation Army Mexico Territory. In 2011, the council added a representative from the Canada and Bermuda Territory and a representative from the Salvation Army World Services Office. To view the list of current appointees to The Salvation Army's National Anti-Trafficking Council, click here.

The National Anti-Trafficking Council has played a vital role in the development of our anti-trafficking programs and services. The Council is guided by the following Purpose Statement.

Purpose Statement

The purpose of the National Anti-Trafficking Council is to promote and support the work of The Salvation Army in preventing human trafficking and in achieving the freedom, health and well-being of its survivors.

Definitions

  1. Human trafficking refers to the recruitment, harboring, transportation, providing or obtaining, of any person, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception or of the abuse of power, for the purpose of sexual exploitation or forced labor. Trafficking may involve slavery or servitude in any industry, such as forced or coerced participation in agriculture, prostitution and other commercial sex industries, manufacturing, or other industries or in domestic servitude or servile marriage.
  2. Commercial sex act means any sex act on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person.

Core Principles

The Council hereby affirms the following:

  1. All people have the right to just wages and benefits, as well as decent working conditions.
  2. Prostitution and related activities are not forms of work, are inherently harmful and dehumanizing, and contribute to the phenomenon of trafficking in persons.
  3. Trafficking in persons denies the innate and infinite value of human beings as beloved children made in the image of God by destroying their personhood and reducing them to an economic and service value.
  4. All forms of trafficking are horrific and unacceptable, and all its victims are equally worthy of rescue and assistance. The Council will, inasmuch as possible, endeavor to promote and support services for all victims of trafficking in the US irrespective of the victim's country of origin, gender, age or form of exploitation.
  5. No one agency can single-handedly defeat or provide for all the needs of trafficking survivors, and therefore collaborations must be developed at the local, regional, national and international levels to achieve these goals.
  6. Appropriate services are provided by trained personnel and are culturally sensitive, suitable for age and gender, and are responsive to the varying degrees and types of trauma survivors may suffer.

Roles/Functions of the Council

To fulfill its purpose, the Council and its members will do the following:

  1. The Council will make informed and strategic recommendations to The Salvation Army in its efforts to eradicate and prevent human trafficking and serve those victims rescued herein.
  2. The Council will promote, support and make recommendations regarding the continued education of The Salvation Army on human trafficking matters.
  3. All Council members will promote, support and inform anti-trafficking efforts of TSA and its partners as well as the development of culturally-appropriate, collaborative and comprehensive trafficking service programs within each member's geographic purview.
  4. Territorial Council Representatives will serve as liaison for TSA trafficking efforts between their territories and: 1) other territories, 2) national headquarters 3) non-TSA entities in their territory.

Desired Outcomes

The ends to which the Council strives are to:

  1. Increased identification and rescue of trafficking victims.
  2. Increased prevention of new incidents of human trafficking.
  3. Restoration of rescued survivors of human trafficking (including prostitution).
  4. Increased capacity of The Salvation Army to provide services to victims of human trafficking.

 

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