{"id":187527,"date":"2018-08-28T12:11:16","date_gmt":"2018-08-28T17:11:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=187527"},"modified":"2018-08-27T16:12:56","modified_gmt":"2018-08-27T21:12:56","slug":"pro-life-pregnancy-centers-trafficking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/pro-life-pregnancy-centers-trafficking\/","title":{"rendered":"Pro-life pregnancy centers are fighting to help trafficking victims"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Pregnancy Help News<\/a>)\u00a0Last week, pregnancy help centers were handed a new educational tool in the unceasing fight to eradicate human trafficking and restore dignity to victims around the world.<\/p>\n

Heartbeat International<\/a>\u2014a global network of over 2,600 affiliated pregnancy help centers\u2014launched the first-ever online course designed to help pregnancy centers assist victims of human trafficking on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The course, How to Identify and Assist Victims of Human Trafficking<\/a>, is available through Heartbeat International Academy, an online educational platform which currently serves over 4,500 active students from pregnancy help\u00a0centers around the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cPregnancy help centers are vital first responders to this modern slavery,\u201d said Betty McDowell, LAS, senior director of ministry services for Heartbeat International. \u201cDrawing on expert research and stories from pregnancy centers with hands-on experience, this course equips centers to appropriately respond to this dangerous and dehumanizing practice, and to affirm the lives and dignity of victims in need.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ: If Planned Parenthood cared about women, it would report forced abortions and trafficking<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

With the help of human trafficking experts Laura Lederer and Cindy Collins, Heartbeat International developed its new course to better equip pregnancy help centers to understand what human trafficking is, how to identify its victims, and how to respond appropriately.<\/p>\n

The training uses case studies, relating material to everyday applications in pregnancy help\u00a0centers and helping staff understand how they may encounter trafficking in their day-to-day work.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile there are other trainings available, Heartbeat International’s training is the first one tailored for pregnancy resource centers and pregnancy helping organizations,\u201d said Laura Lederer, president of Global Centurion<\/a>,\u00a0a non-profit organization fighting human trafficking. \u201cIt uses actual case studies from PRCs in the U.S. where trafficking victims have been identified and assisted, and tailors the training for PRCs. This is important work that saves two lives: the life of the mother (who is saved from trafficking) and her child.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though typically known for their efforts to help women choose life when faced with an unplanned pregnancy, pregnancy help centers serve clients from a wide array of life circumstances that require specialized care and support.<\/p>\n

Often that means helping clients navigate a host of issues that go beyond a positive (or negative) pregnancy test.<\/p>\n

Human trafficking is one such issue, as approximately 71 percent of survivors report becoming pregnant at least once during the time they were trafficked, according to Lederer\u2019s research.<\/p>\n