In this report, what we hope impacts you the most are the voices of children. Too often I hear children referred to as “voiceless” or “silent.” I don’t think that’s accurate.

We’ve asked children in our programs what they think of the term “voiceless,” and they passionately insist that they have a voice. What we need are more people listening — and then adding their own voices to amplify the voices of children. In 2002 during the UN General Assembly’s Special Session on Children, two young delegates representing the children of the world made the following statement: “We are children whose voices are not being heard: it is time we are taken into account.”

Jimmy and Crystal, two of the children whose voices are heard in this report, talk about what they see as beautiful in the world: things like friends, new shoes, swimming, and an education. At Love146, we believe the most beautiful things in the world are actually children.

In the content here, we look at the last year and celebrate what we have accomplished together. I hope you are as thrilled as I am when you see the impact we’ve had and the significant strides we are making toward creating a safer world for children. Jasmine, a 9-year-old in our care, sums things up by stating that there are more people in the world who love and care about children than there are those who seek to harm them. Thank you for being part of that majority. Thank you for listening to their voices in this report, and for amplifying their voices by investing in their futures.

Our Round Home in the Philippines is uniquely built and designed to facilitate the restoration and holistic health of every girl entering its doors. A tree house is regularly the venue for therapy sessions. A volleyball court is available to play on. There’s even a punching bag for children to work out their aggression. The physical structure of the Round Home is intended to promote reflectiveness, a sense of peace, freedom, dignity, and self-esteem, as well as playfulness so that children can simply be children again.

The approach to our care in the Philippines is attuned to the needs of the exploited and traumatized child. It is characterized by efforts to keep the child safe and well-provided for. We work to instill hope, effect healing, promote growth, facilitate the release of potential, and enable them to come full circle, liberated from traumas and suffering to realize their innate worth.

After years of providing direct care to dozens of girls, Love146 began working to reach street children who were at an incredibly high risk of being sexually exploited or who had already been trafficked. We opened a temporary feeding shelter in an area where we suspected that the business of child sex trafficking and exploitation was thriving. Through this effort, we were introduced to boys who came through our doors asking for care. We knew we had to respond, and we created the White Home.

Since opening its doors in the spring of 2014, the Love146 White Home has cared for exploited boys, providing them with holistic care, including medical attention, nutrition, therapy, formal and informal education, and vocational training, all to help them walk toward recovery and prevent future exploitation.

Over the years, we have heard stories about exploitation and trafficking of children in the United States. We also heard our supporters ask, “When will you help kids here in our own backyard?” We began by listening. We talked with survivors of child sex trafficking in the US, asking them what sort of care they would have liked to have. We listened to government officials, asking them what was actually needed.

After much research, we realized that while many services for children exist in the US, service providers are generally not familiar with human trafficking, and few survivors have a trauma-informed advocate who understands human trafficking and can help them gain access to the services they need. Youth who have been trafficked are at higher risk for further exploitation; thus, one of the first things we tell a youth is, “We go where you go. If you move placements, or foster homes, or run away and come back, we will always be there.” By journeying with the youth, Love146 helps ensure that youth receive victim-centered services and the support they need to become self-sufficient and flourishing adults, which includes freedom from revictimization.

In addition to offering long-term services, our US Survivor Care program also includes Rapid Responses, providing youth who have been identified as trafficked, exploited, or at high risk with information and safety planning. We talk about the grooming process traffickers use, internet safety, healthy relationships, and solutions to potentially unsafe situations. We leave the youth with a backpack filled with items that have been identified as critical for this population: a blanket, a journal, a rain poncho, toiletries, hotline numbers, an emergency phone, and more. Some of these youth end up in our long-term care, but for those who don’t, our Rapid Responses provide information and resources to help keep these youth safe.

The feedback from youth we’ve served, as well as the local child protective services, has been phenomenal; this care is different, and it’s providing not what is expected, but what is actually needed.

One of the most hopeful things we do at Love146 is work to prevent child trafficking and exploitation. Prevention work is not glamorous. It’s tough to prove effectiveness and often difficult to explain to supporters. But we’re driven by the belief that child trafficking and exploitation is simply not inevitable.

Not a #Number is a child trafficking and exploitation prevention curriculum designed to teach at-risk youth how to recognize recruitment tactics, understand vulnerabilities, and develop skills to safely navigate potential and existing exploitative situations. Youth identify healthy support systems and learn how to access community resources when situations occur that increase their vulnerability or if exploitation is already underway. We also provide resources to educate parents, caregivers, and professionals about the issue and actions they can take to help safeguard children. Not a #Number has been embraced by schools, child welfare and juvenile justice agencies, and other youth-serving organizations.

We are working to reach youth before traffickers do. We dream of the day when the trafficking and exploitation of children is prevented from happening — at all.