Polaris Project
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| Motto | Freedom Happens Now |
|---|---|
| Formation | 2002 |
| Type | NGO |
| Purpose | Combat human trafficking and slavery |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
| Location |
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CEO
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Bradley Myles |
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Main organ
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Board of Directors |
| Website | Official website |
Polaris is a nonprofit, non-governmental organization that works to combat and prevent modern-day slavery and human trafficking. The organization works directly with victims, hosts tip and crisis hotlines, and offers solutions to those victimized by human trafficking. The organization is one of the largest anti-trafficking organizations in the US, with programs operating at local and national levels through their offices in Washington, D.C. and Newark, New Jersey. They operate the National Human Trafficking Resource Center NHTRC) which serves as a central national hotline on human trafficking. Other anti-trafficking organizations, such as International Justice Mission and Truckers Against Trafficking, cite Polaris data. Polaris also advocates for stronger state and federal anti-trafficking legislation, and engages community members in local and national grassroots efforts. Polaris has been criticized for releasing false and misleading data regarding sex trafficking. Critics of Polaris state that the organization fails to distinguish between consensual sex work and coercion, and that the policies Polaris lobbies for harm sex workers.
Polaris was founded with the name Polaris Project in 2002, by Derek Ellerman and Katherine Chon, who were seniors at Brown University, when they were inspired to create a nonprofit organization that focuses on ending human trafficking and modern-day slavery. The inspiration came to them after learning about a forced labor criminal case which exposed how six South Korean women were forced to work at a brothel in Providence, Rhode Island. The organization was named after the North Star, which slaves in the Southern United States used to help find their way along the Underground Railroad to freedom in the North. The organization is committed to ending human trafficking and slavery and focuses its efforts in the United States. Polaris is one of the few organizations working on all forms of trafficking, including supporting survivors who are male, female, transgender people and children, US citizens and foreign nationals and survivors of both labor and sex trafficking. In April 2013, Polaris Project launched their Global Human Trafficking Hotline Network to connect with international anti-trafficking organizations running hotlines and coordinate efforts.
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Wikipedia