What is human trafficking?
When we hear the words “human trafficking,” it’s easy to believe that it’s a crime that only happens overseas – but the truth is, human trafficking happens right here at home, in the neighborhoods and communities we know and love. Human trafficking happens when someone is forced to work or to have sex, and it does not discriminate based on age, gender, socioeconomic status, race, or neighborhood.
Most often, victims of trafficking aren’t trafficked by strangers; they are trafficked by someone they know: a family member or a romantic partner – someone who sees their vulnerabilities and uses those vulnerabilities to abuse and exploit them.
How We Help
The Community Coalition Against Human Trafficking (CCAHT) is the only counter-trafficking organization in East Tennessee that unites and equips our community to end human trafficking while providing survivors with comprehensive, trauma-informed aftercare services, including case management, safe shelter, food and clothing, transportation, therapeutic services, community resources, and more.
Based in Knoxville, the CCAHT serves 33 counties of East Tennessee, serving as the single point of contact Tennessee Counter-Trafficking Alliance (TCTA) partner for the East Tennessee region.
Our Values
Each day, we choose to love the survivors we serve relentlessly and unconditionally, building long-term relationships that reach beyond direct service provision. Our love means inclusion, equality, respect, safety, hope, and friendship.
We respect and honor the resilience, courage, and perseverance of the survivors we serve, and we understand that in order to best serve them, we must provide them with individualized, holistic, end-to-end services.
We are helpers; not heroes. We are here to serve, not to judge. We listen before we speak, supporting our clients on their journeys toward restoration, supporting them as allies – not as instructors or mentors. We understand that we still have much to learn, and that we will learn most effectively with open ears, open hearts, and open minds turned toward the clients we serve, the community we love, and the partners that help make this work possible.
We could not do this work if it weren’t for the force of nonprofit organizations, law enforcement agencies, volunteers, interns, board members, faith groups, community groups, and incredible individuals of Knoxville and East Tennessee that provide ongoing support. When it comes to strengthening the movement to end human trafficking and growing our capacity to serve survivors in our community, our ability to do these things comes directly from the support of our community – and that’s powerful.
Human trafficking is a complex crime. By partnering with more than 40 nonprofits, law enforcement agencies, and governmental agencies throughout Tennessee, we seek to foster a collaborative and creative response to human trafficking.
Our aftercare services are not a one-month, six-month, or one-year program. While we have an established aftercare plan in place, we also recognize that our purpose is to provide individualized services for our clients through each unique healing journey, regardless of timing, detours, or challenges.