Human trafficking is here. In Maine. And it’s on the rise.

Hundreds of Mainers – the majority women and girls as young as 14 – are trafficked into forced labor and commercial sex each year. Traffickers are known to exploit vulnerabilities and target teens who have run away or people who are trying to make a letter life for themselves but simply don’t have everything they need.

Too often, trafficking victims have suffered long before they were trafficked. An estimated 70 to 90% of victims are survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

Often stuck, unsure where to turn or who to turn to, survivors can remain caught “in the life” and can feel invisible and stigmatized.

But there is hope. By raising awareness of the crime of human trafficking, erasing that stigma that victims often experience, and by reaching out to the survivors of trafficking we are helping survivors move forward in their lives, heal, and rebuild life on their own terms.

CourageLIVES provides comprehensive community-based services for survivors of human trafficking, exploitation, and abuse, and their families. Services include outpatient therapy, case management, housing support, transportation assistance, employment support, educational assistance, referrals to resources and service providers, and, importantly, basic needs support through our Empowerment Pantry and Courage Clothing Closet.

Whole-person, goal-oriented, and focused on each individual’s needs and dreams, CourageLIVES gives survivors and their families the support they need to thrive.

“I am a survivor, and I am in recovery. I am living proof that people change and life can be so much better than the darkness so many live in.”

– Maine sex trafficking survivor