Atlantic County Organization Receives $350,000 Grant to Combat Human Trafficking

The Women’s Center in Linwood has been awarded a $350,000 New Jersey Human Trafficking Victim Services Program grant to further statewide efforts to combat human trafficking, Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced on Monday.

Under this grant, The Women’s Center will provide access 24 hours a day, seven days a week to statewide services for victims of human trafficking, including shelter, food, court accompaniment, transportation, counseling and system linkage, clothing, and referral services, among other services.

“New Jersey continues to be at the forefront in the fight against human trafficking,” Hoffman said.  “The grant announced today will ensure that victims and survivors of human trafficking get the much-needed resources that they so deserve.”

The grant takes effect April 1.

“The problem of human trafficking did not end on Feb. 2 when the play clock hit zero at the end of the Super Bowl, and neither did our resolve to combat this horrific crime and provide assistance to these most vulnerable victims,” Division of Criminal Justice Director Elie Honig said.

The Women’s Center will partner with other agencies throughout the state to address the crime of human trafficking.  The Women’s Center is a not-for-profit organization with over 40 years of experience in providing services to domestic violence and sexual assault victims, especially female victims, and 27 years of providing services to human trafficking victims.  More information about The Women’s Center can be found at http://www.acwc.org/.  

“Our mission is to work collaboratively to eradicate human trafficking by reducing the vulnerability of potential victims and the demand for exploitation in all its forms; ensuring adequate protection and services to victims, and supporting the efficient prosecution of the criminals,” Women’s Center CEO Claudia Ratzlaff said.

The New Jersey Human Trafficking Task Force maintains a hotline (1-855-END-NJ-HT) that is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week by detectives in the Human Trafficking Unit within the Division of Criminal Justice.  For more information about the Task Force, visit http://www.NJHumanTrafficking.gov.