Intentional Collaboration
Human trafficking does not affect just one person or place. Nor can it be eradicated by a single person or organization. It requires the coordinated efforts and combined strength of individuals, communities and organizations. This philosophy is the driving force behind LCHT’s collaboration with organizations and initiatives similarly committed to ending human trafficking.
CoNEHT
LCHT is a proud member of the Colorado Network to End Human Trafficking (CoNEHT), a project of COVA, a statewide network of service providers in Colorado. The mission of CoNEHT is to provide a safe and appropriate environment for trafficking victims and comprehensive care that is sensitive to their unique needs.
CoNEHT also manages the development and coordinated use of a comprehensive, statewide network capable of meeting the unique needs of human trafficking victims including, but not limited to: case management, interpretation, food, clothing, shelter, emergency medical assessment and treatment, legal/immigration assistance, mental health treatment, dental care, and transportation.
Community Partnership with the Institute for Women's Studies & Services at Metro State College of Denver
The Mission of IWSS: The Institute for Women's Studies and Services offers a rigorous, multi-disciplinary curriculum in women's studies and provides services to support present and future success for students. We educate the campus and community about women's lives, histories, and experiences through curricular and co-curricular activities. We encourage engagement in critical dialogue and advocacy for social justice. We empower students and community members by providing access to information and resources.
LCHT and IWSS have partnered to bridge efforts between academe and practitioners in the following ways:
Multidisciplinary Course on Human Trafficking Incorporating Community Scholars
Multidisciplinary theories and practical field applications are the central tenets of this course co-taught by Metropolitan State College of Denver and the Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking. Cross-listed with six departments, theory and practice blend together well in this course, as community scholars help to illustrate the hands-on complexities of addressing this issue both nationally and locally. Community based learning opportunities in the course further draws student involvement in the issue, affording students concrete experience and skills to illustrate and refute theory. Through the course, students can get involved in student activism to complement anti-trafficking initiatives.
Collaborative Feminisms: Academic Activism Impacting Long-Term Survivorship of Human Trafficking
The research to date on human trafficking reveals little about long-term survivorship. Specifically, less is known about the phases that occur once basic human and legal needs are met: financial stability and/or cultural adjustment. For many survivors, college represents a form of freedom sought through education. IWSS and LCHT have developed protocols for college-specific case management protocols gleaned over the last four years. Our collaborative model involves training departments and creating academic response teams for trafficking survivors.
Facilitating Campus-Community Exchanges: A Working Paper Series
Drawing from collective efforts addressing human trafficking in the United States, rigorous academic scholarship and on-the-ground practices have poorly informed one another. This campus-community partnership is in the process of creating a collaborative space where theory and practice inform each other in the form of a working paper series.