SEX TRAFFICKING PREVENTION
Sex Trafficking & Commercial Sexual Exploitation of ChildrenRaising Awareness and Public Education are Key Components of Prevention
Hoʻoikaika Partnership is committed to education, prevention and providing resources to protect keiki and strengthen our communities.
About Child Sex Trafficking
Child sex trafficking is one of the largest criminal industries in the world, generating an estimated $150 billion annually, with nearly $10 billion contributed by the United States. It operates on supply and demand and is happening in plain sight, in every community.
Sex trafficking is the exchange of sex or sexual activity for something of value and often involves force, fraud or coercion. Children may be exploited through survival trafficking (trading sex for basic needs), gang-controlled initiation and quotas, pimp or non-familial control, familial trafficking — a significant issue in Hawaiʻi — and online grooming across social media and gaming platforms.
Traffickers use calculated stages of luring, grooming, coercion and exploitation, targeting vulnerabilities such as home instability, abuse history, isolation, mental health challenges and lack of trusted adult support. Anyone can be a victim.
Source: Parents and Children Together (PACT)
Resources
Hawaii Human Trafficking Reporting Line:
- Neighbor Islands: (888) 398-1188
- O’ahu: (808) 832-1999
Learn More:
- Trafficking Victim Assistance Program for Hawaiʻi (Immediate help for victims)
- Mandated Reporter Checklist
- National Human Trafficking Hotline & Hawaii Statistics
- Human Trafficking Resources (Hawaiʻi Department of Health, Child & Adolescent Mental Health Division)
- Human Trafficking Prevention Program (Hawaiʻi Department of the Attorney General)
- Ho’ōla Nā Pua (Prevention, intervention and empowerment)
- Netsmartz Online Safety: Tipsheets, Guides for Middle School, Gaming Safety, Sextortion, and more.
- Arizona State University Sex Trafficking Intervention & Research: Hawaii research studies, training materials for teens, parents, school educators, community providers, etc.
Scheduling Training with PACT
Parents And Children Together (PACT) provides comprehensive case management services for youth identified as victims of trafficking through Hawaii’s Trafficking Victim Assistance Program.
If you, your agency, educational institution, or community group would like a presentation on Child Sex Trafficking, click here to complete a brief training request form.
For more information and resources, contact:
- Heather Pietras, Crisis Advocate
- Cayla Kutaka, Program Director
mauicst@pacthawaii.org or 808-243-7001
PACT Sex Trafficking 101 Training Materials include warning signs, facts, training highlights, a mandated reporting form, resources for victim services and more.
These videos provide education and awareness on sex trafficking in Hawaii.
Through real stories, expert insights and survivor voices, these videos help people recognize warning signs, understand how trafficking happens and learn how to respond. When we take the time to watch, we become better equipped to protect our communities.
Kuleana: Our responsibility is to keep our children safe.
Past Child Abuse Prevention Events & Resources
2023 ‘Ohana Fest Event
Ho’oikaika Partnership hosted an event for National Child Abuse Prevention Month 2023, demonstrating community support for keiki & families.
Nurturing Resilient Families On Maui
Parenting in today’s fast-paced world is no easy task. Ho’oikaika Partnership has launched a campaign to support families.
Parenting Isn’t Easy
Parents & caregivers can build protective factors to draw on during difficult times during parenting to shield from life’s stresses.