Chemung County Safe Harbour

Youth Exploitation Indicator Survey

This survey is designed to help determine if you, or someone you know, are at risk of becoming involved in a situation or relationship that would be unhealthy or unsafe for you. Have you ever felt uncomfortable receiving gifts from someone? Have you wondered about your friend's older boyfriend? Have you or someone you know ever been asked to do something in exchange for something you really need? Please complete the survey to access additional information on this topic.

Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is a modern-day form of slavery whose victims are the United States and foreign-born, and include young children, teenagers, and adults of all backgrounds. Human trafficking is a serious crime that is punishable by both New York State and Federal Law to recover from this crime, survivors require a wide range of intensive support. A person is a victim of human trafficking if he or she is compelled into performing commercial sex acts or labor through force, fraud, or coercion, or if he or she is a minor who exchanges a sex act for something of value.

Facts About Human Trafficking

Of the child trafficking survivors identified in New York State, 85% had prior involvement in the child welfare system. [Gragg et. al, 2007]
Approximately 100,000 to 300,000 minors are at risk of being trafficked in the United States [U.S. Department of Justice]
More than 80% of reported trafficking victims are female and more than half are children. [U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Polaris]
In 2016, the National Human Trafficking Hotline received the fifth-highest in substantive human trafficking reports from New York State. The hotline takes calls from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. Territories. [ National Human Trafficking Hotline]
The human trafficking industry generates an estimated $32 billion in profits each year. [ U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Polaris]

Safe Harbour: New York Program

In January of 2012, the New York State Office of Children of Family Services (OCFS) received funding in the New York State budget to support Safe Harbour legislation. The New York State Safe Harbour for Exploited Children Act (2008) protects commercially sexually exploited children by recognizing them as victims and paves the way for better outcomes.

Through this funding, OCFS implemented a state-wide child welfare-based response to the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) and child trafficking. Safe Harbour: NY aims to enable New York's child welfare and allied youth service systems to screen, identify, and respond effectively to the needs of children and youth trafficked for sex and or labor and improve system response. As of January 2019, Chemung County received Safe Harbour Seed Funding from New York State OCFS to initiate education, awareness, and planning on a local level.

Identify a Victim

These questions may help you identify a child victim:

Does the child's employer control their money and/or housing?
Have they ever ran away? If so, where did they go?
Has there been child welfare involvement? Why?
Have they had an older or controlling dating partner?
Can they come and go as you choose?
Have they ever exchanged a sex act for something of value?
Have they ever been tricked or forced into a job or work?
Do they want to leave your job but can't?
What are their working and living conditions like?
Are they allowed to contact family/friends?

Traffickers often target children and teens who:

Are refugees, undocumented immigrants, or non-English speaking
Are runaways or homeless
Have been placed in foster care or the juvenile justice system
Have histories of physical, sexual, emotional, or substance abuse, as well as physical and/or mental disabilities
Have unstable home life
May identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender

Anti-Trafficking Hotlines & Help Lines

Access resources about Anti-Trafficking.