HUMAN TRAFFICKING AWARENESS
MCAT
MCAT (Montcalm Coalition Against Human Trafficking) is a sub-committee of WAN. This is a brand new committee of this kind in our community. People within our community are not ready to acknowledge that this is happening in our backyard, but it is. Sex trafficking is the fastest growing crime and is second only to drug trafficking. In West Michigan alone the state department estimates there are 2,400 minors for sale at any given time, mostly on the Internet.
Find us on Facebook
MCAT’s mission and goal is to create a coalition comprised of WAN members, young people, educators, law enforcement and the general public for the purpose of educating and creating awareness within our community about human trafficking.
MCAT provides materials to our community to educate and advertise, as it is a growing problem whether we want to admit it or not. Our community is suppressed and with that causes many other problems within our homes. A good example is teen runaways; they are especially high risk to becoming involved with human trafficking. They are promised love, affection and gifts. Another big issue is sexting (sending test messages with sexual content); many kids are doing it and we need to educate parents about what apps to look for and all the warning signs associated with these horrible things.
We must protect our youth from becoming victims of these crimes. We can do this by educating them. We need to take control and promote their safety while helping to eliminate the risk.
The MCAT committee is passionate about what we do and want to make a difference within our community.