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

Hundreds of Maine girls and women, as young as 14 years old, are trafficked for 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 can help survivors move forward in their lives, heal, and rebuild life on their own terms.

“People who are trafficked are people who do not have what they need, and that’s what traffickers prey on: addiction, poverty, childhood sexual abuse, and domestic violence.”
— Carey Nason, Executive Director of Saint Andre Home