USF launches BRIGHT Network to help human trafficking victims
TAMPA, Fla. - A team of researchers with the University of South Florida is hoping a new online platform will help victims of human trafficking escape and start their new life.
The Bridging Resources and Information Gaps in Human Trafficking (BRIGHT) Network allows non-profits that work to help victims coordinate and connect to resources for things like healthcare, housing, food or legal aid.
"It also is vetting. So, the vetting process is the most unique part and time-consuming, which is they know now that it's a trusted entity that's being watched. Since we've checked their background, trafficking is not happening out of that location, and it's safe," Shelly Wagers, a USF criminology professor and BRIGHT Network researcher, said.
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The BRIGHT Network is modeled after a similar program in Houston. Hillsborough County awarded the team of researchers $150,000 to develop the initial pilot program locally.
For the pilot program in Tampa, five local organizations – Created Women, Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, Justice Restoration Center, Selah Freedom and United Abolitionists – will utilize the platform to coordinate their work.
"And so, what it will look like for the Crisis Center is really if somebody calls into 211, you know, asking for resources that we're asking for help, a survivor of human trafficking calls in, we can connect them," Jennifer Thayer, the director or nursing for the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, said.
It's a coordinated effort to help victims in all areas of service they might need.
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"So that's one of the things that we do is use Florida's human trafficking victim expungement law to go in and expunge criminal records for the obvious reasons, that those are huge barriers to their recovery," Brent Woody, the executive director of The Justice Restoration Center, said.
The program will also help provide more data on the scope of the trafficking problem in the Tampa Bay area and where the most help is needed.
"And it's also going to allow us to have a better picture of what is really happening with human trafficking, who's been victimized from where and when based on when they seek services," Wagers said.
The program is in the official launch stage. The hope is to add more organizations in the next year and eventually expand the program to victims of domestic violence and sexual violence.