FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Rena Resnick Met Council [email protected] 212-453-9623 Met Council and S.O.A.P. Partnered to Provide Support to Victims of Sex Trafficking Ahead of the Super Bowl NEW YORK- February 3, 2014- Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty (Met Council) partnered with S.O.A.P (Save Our Adolescents from Prostitution) to raise awareness of human trafficking, the second fastest growing criminal activity in the United States. During the week of January 27, 38 volunteers from Met Council provided outreach materials to 50 hotels in order to find and assist missing children and sex trafficking victims. These materials included 11,000 free bars of soap imbedded with the National Human Trafficking Hotline phone number (1-888-3737888). Met Council’s volunteers distributed posters with photos of Missing Children to hotel staff for the front desk and Red Flags brochures with indicators of potential victims of human trafficking. In response to President Obama’s designation of January as National Human Trafficking Awareness Month, Met Council worked to publicize the reality of sex trafficking in order to combat this form of modern-day slavery. “Met Council was proud to partner with S.O.A.P in order to save the lives of vulnerable children here in New York City,” said CEO of Met Council David M. Frankel. “Through our Family Violence services, we educate, advocate and foster a dialogue about the impact, and Met Council counselors are standing by to assist victims of sex trafficking.” “Countless victims of sex trafficking live among us,” said Shoshannah Frydman, Director of the Family Violence Department at Met Council. “The numbers are staggering. Sex Trafficking is an epidemic that hurts people from every community, from all over the world — including American born children. It is estimated that 27 million people, including 2 million children, are currently in bondage in modern-day slavery across the world.” Legally, sex trafficking is the act of forcing, coercing or tricking a person to either work or engage in sex for money, and in that situation s/he would experience serious harm if s/he tried to leave and any minor engaging in commercial sex. In the United States, there are an estimated 100,000 to 300,000 children exploited by the commercial sex trade each year (Polaris Project, 2010). In New York City alone, more than 2,200 children are victimized each year. For more information on raising awareness of Human Trafficking and Red Flags, please contact us at [email protected] ### About Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty Met Council is one of New York’s largest human services agencies, providing 100,000 New Yorkers with critical services in their fight against poverty every year. Since 1972, Met Council has been a defender and advocate for New Yorkers in need, and has raised awareness around the growing problem of Jewish poverty. With services ranging from domestic violence counseling to kosher food pantries, Met Council helps individuals find lasting solutions to complex problems. www.Metcouncil.org