Love 146 is an international non-profit that fights child sex slavery and exploitation.
“Our desire is to see sex trafficking abolished globally. However, we have a heart for the domestic sex trafficking that is happening in our own backyard,” said Van Dine, a Kettering resident studying at Wright State University.
The group works to raise awareness through speaking engagements and other programs; partner with like-minded organizations to fight all forms of human trafficking, which also includes child soldiers; influence legislation to fight human trafficking; and raise money for prevention and aftercare programs.
Young is a Springboro resident and worship minister at Miamisburg Christian Church. He first learned about human trafficking while reading a book about social issues. “For some reason, that one stuck in my head,” he said.
While in Colorado to help plan a church, he attended a human trafficking conference and saw a movie about a girl victimized by trafficking in Thailand.
In summer 2010, Young, Van Dine and Kelsey Mygatt formed the task force before Mygatt married and moved to Indiana.
The group has around 25 active members who focus primarily on what is happening in the Dayton area.
“We want to change the social perception of teen prostitution. They are commercially sexually exploited children. If you are under 18 in any kind of sex work, that is automatically a case of human trafficking,” Van Dine said. “People will look at a 15 year old prostitute and say, ‘She is a drug addict. Where are her parents?’”
Fundraisers provide dollars for projects such as a program that provides hotels in areas such as Dixie Highway with bars of soap featuring on their wrappings national hotline numbers for those victimized or suspected victims.
More information is available at www.love146dayton.org; on Twitter @146dayton.org; and at the Love 146 Dayton Task Force page on Facebook.
The group’s meetings are held 6:30-8 p.m. the first Monday of each month at Indiana Wesleyan University, 2912 Springboro Road West, Dayton.
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