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Putting an end to human trafficking

Photo: David Michalczuk/Flickr Creative Commons
Photo: David Michalczuk/Flickr Creative Commons

Maryland got an “F” grade from a national nonprofit for its efforts to protect children from being trafficked for sex. Amanda Rodriguez, of the state’s Human Trafficking Task Force, says what’s missing is state law that treats trafficked kids as victims, not criminals.

Then we ask Jeanne Allert, who founded ‘The Samaritan Women’ to support trafficked women with shelter, counseling, education, and job training … why the non-profit has changed focus and moved from Baltimore:

“We became aware of how big the problem is nationally and so it became a shift to take what we’ve been given and what we’ve learned and share that with others, so they could reach into areas and to survivors that we would not be able to reach.” A project she’s coaching is Harriett’s House on the Eastern Shore -- we talk with its founder, Julie Cain.

Links: The Samaritan Women video, The Samaritan Women Institute for Shelter Care,Turnaround, Inc., Shared Hope

Sheilah Kast is the host of On The Record, Monday-Friday, 9:30-10:00 am.
Melissa Gerr is a Senior Producer for On the Record. She started in public media at Twin Cities Public Television in St. Paul, Minn., where she is from, and then worked as a field producer for Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland. She made the jump to audio-lover in Baltimore as a digital media editor at Mid-Atlantic Media and Laureate Education, Inc. and as a field producer for "Out of the Blocks." Her beat is typically the off-beat with an emphasis on science, culture and things that make you say, 'Wait, what?'