Wrap Up on our Human Trafficking Awareness Initiatives

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What is Human Trafficking?

Human trafficking can consist of sex trafficking and labor trafficking. Human trafficking is a form of modern day slavery. Traffickers use fraud, coercion, or force to get them to produce services against their will. Sex trafficking can take place in a variety of places including residential brothels,  escort services, fake massage businesses, strip clubs, and street prostitution. Labor trafficking can be found in a labor setting including, domestic work, small businesses, large farms, and factories.
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Recognizing the Signs
Poor Mental Health or Abnormal Behavior:
  • fearful, anxious, depressed, submissive, tense, or nervous
  • Shows unusually fearful or anxious behavior after bringing up law enforcement
  • Avoids eye contact
Poor Physical Health:
  • Lacks medical care or is denied medical services by employer
  • Appears malnourished or shows signs of repeated exposure to harmful chemicals
  • Shows signs of physical and/or sexual abuse, physical restraint, confinement, or torture
Lack of Control:
  • Has few or no personal possessions
  • Is not in control of own money, no financial records, or bank account
  • Is not in control of own identification documents (ID or passport)
  • Is not allowed or able to speak for themselves (a third party may insist on being present and/or translating)

Common Work and Living Conditions:
  • Is not free to leave or come and go as they wish
  • Is in the commercial sex industry and has a pimp/manager
  • Is unpaid, paid very little, or only through tips
  • Works excessively long and/or unusual hours
  • Is not allowed breaks or suffers under unusual restrictions at work
  • Owes a large debt and is unable to pay it off
  • Was recruited through false promises concerning the nature and conditions of work
  • High security measures exist in the work/living locations (e.g. opaque windows, boarded up windows, bars on windows, barbed wire, security cameras, etc.)
Other:
  • Claims of just visiting and inability to clarify where he/she is staying/address
  • Lack of knowledge of whereabouts and/or of what city he/she is in
  • Loss of sense of time
  • Has numerous inconsistencies in his/her story

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Get Involved!
There are many ways for you to get involved to help diminish human trafficking. You can volunteer in your community. With a simple Google search you can find many organizations to volunteer with in your community. Here is a referral directory to see if there is one near you. 

You can also reach out with social media. Follow Polaris and your government to keep up to data with information concerning human trafficking.

You can also find training and events every month to get yourself involved.
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2018 Fundraiser and Gala Highlights!








Letter from the Executive Director;

Dear Friends of the Community,

Since 1976, Asian American Community Services (AACS) has strengthened and empowered the Asian/Pacific Islander (API) community in the Greater Central Ohio area and beyond. From our humble origins as a small gathering of like-minded individuals, AACS has grown into a community-based organization that serves thousands of individuals, families, and organizations every year.

Embarking on our 41st year of life-transforming and community building work, we are moved and choose to be lead by the theme,Looking To The FutureWhether serving Cambodian teens at out Healthy Asian Youth (HAY) After-School Program in the Hilltop, out Health Intervention and Prevention Community workshops for AAPI seniors, or though engaging the AAPI community in civic engagement, we are committed to maturing as a non-profit to expand those whom we are able to serve. As we look to the future, we need people who are just as passionate as we are, inseeing communities transformed through strategic planning, intentional relationships, and community development.

We want to strengthen support where there are systemic barriers for the woman, youth, and families that we encounter everyday. In Looking To The Future, donations would not only mean continuous scholarships for students who graduate from our HAY Program but also additional ESL and group therapy classes to assist new and older Americans in their transition and self-sufficiency in the United States.
We would't be able to do this without you. Thank you in advance for your 
continuous support!

Sincerely,
Kathy Chen 
 This year's Gala was incredible. It consisted of great food, friends, and entertainment.
The Gala began with a Taiko Performance.


Taiko if a form of Japanese drumming that can date back to 2000 years ago!

The Gala then ended with a Lion Dance Performance.


Lion dancing is a Chinese traditional dance in which performers mimic a loin's movement in a lion costume.
This dance also brings good luck and  fortune.