Direct Response

We respond to sex and labor trafficking as it happens, and in a way that places the needs of victims and survivors first. As operators of the National Human Trafficking Hotline, we are on the front lines supporting victims, survivors, and their families no matter where they are in their journey. As the home of the Resilience Fund, we support survivors by offering direct cash assistance– no strings attached– to use in whatever they see fit. In doing so, the Resilience Fund gives survivors back control over their own lives and healing process. Polaris also maintains the U.S. National Referral Directory and the Global Modern Slavery Directory, ensuring that partners everywhere have access to the information and resources they need. 

How We Do It

U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline

Since 2007, Polaris has operated the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline, providing 24/7 support and a variety of options for survivors of human trafficking to get connected to help and stay safe. Through a network of nearly 4,000 partner service providers, trained hotline advocates take information of suspected situations of human trafficking from community members and help survivors build plans so they can safely leave their situations or get the help they need to rebuild their lives. The Trafficking Hotline can communicate via phone in more than 200 languages, as well as text, webchat, email, and webform in English and Spanish.

The Polaris Resilience Fund

Far, far too many survivors of human trafficking are just barely hanging on financially. We learned this from the National Survivor Study, which asked nearly 500 survivors how they are doing now that they are out of their trafficking situation. The answer, unfortunately, is that many are living paycheck to paycheck. They are struggling in so many ways that take time and money to process and are still, in very real ways, living in the trap created by their traffickers. To aid survivors in their journey, the Polaris Resilience Fund offers direct cash assistance, no strings attached, to human trafficking survivors to use in whatever they see fit, with the goal of restoring survivors’ control over their own lives.

National Human Trafficking Referral Directory

This online resource consists of anti-trafficking organizations and programs that offer emergency, transitional, or long-term services to victims and survivors of human trafficking as well as those that provide resources and opportunities in the anti-trafficking field.

Global Modern Slavery Directory

The Global Modern Slavery Directory is a publicly-searchable database of over 2,600 organizations and hotlines working on human trafficking and forced labor around the world that connects trafficking victims and survivors with much-needed resources such as emergency services, shelter, psychological support, and legal support in 200 countries.

Need help? Polaris operates the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline.