Disrupting Traffick’s goal is to disrupt the cycle of sexual exploitation. They achieve this by providing crisis stabilization and offering tangible resources to women and youth who are at risk of being trafficked or are currently experiencing trafficking.
Disrupting Traffick fills gaps in the co mmunity through preventative support, crisis stabilization and long-term recovery.Their resource center, located at 1625 N Street,provides clients with food, clothing, hygiene items, emotional support, transportation resources and hope for a better life. The center offers no-strings-attached support in a private, trauma-informed space where clients can meet with a Client Advocate.
Disrupting Traffick operates from a simple but powerful belief: traffickers exploit unmet needs, and when those needs are met, prevention begins. Their dedication to preventing sexual exploitation through community education, outreach and practical support is now paired with a much needed brick-and-mortar location that serves clients with tangible resources. Through dignity-centered care and early intervention, Disrupting Traffick works to disrupt cycles of exploitation before they take hold. Through its partnerships with the Lincoln Community Foundation, Lincoln Hygiene Network, Well Being Initiative and more, the organization is also able to bring awareness to a need our community faces.
“What began as outreach grew into something much bigger,” Brooke Carlson, founder and executive director, reflects.
“Today we are not just responding to trafficking—we are reshaping what safety and restoration can look like for survivors in Nebraska.”
The team at Disrupting Traffick recognizes the compassion and generosity community members bring through volunteering, in-kind donations and financial support.
Vulnerabilities that lead to trafficking:
- Come from a low socio-economic background
- Be homeless or have run away from home
- Be a political, cultural, or ethnic minori
- Be an immigrant
- Have a history of sexualabuse,rape,or domestic violence
- Be or have been in foster care
- Have been subject to natural disasters, conflict, or political turmoil
Facts + Stats:
- 66-90% of sex workers report a history of childhood sexual assault
- At least 32% of trafficked individuals in Nebraska are minors
THE SAFE HOUSE + RESOURCE CENTER
A safe house client may come to shelter with little more than the clothing on their back. The resource center offers an organized space allowing clients to shop with dignity while replenishing their wardrobe.
Once basic necessities such as safe shelter,clothing and food are met, clients are able to work with an advocate to map a long term recovery plan. This may involve support accessing identification,counseling services or support groups, employment, family reconnection or a long term recovery center out of state.
It’s important to meet a survivor where they are at in their own journey yet at the same time helping them move forward, with a positive goal and boundary setting. Starting small with daily goals they have set for themselves and reaching towards monthly and yearly goals they believe are attainable.
Watching a mother of two grow from our safe house through our transitional living program to having safe permanent housing and employment reaffirms that this program is an asset not only to her, but her family and our community as a whole.