As you may know, January is the month where we focus on International Human Trafficking Awareness, and January 11th is selected for International Human Trafficking Awareness Day. Senator Cris Dush works with many international and state renown organizations that have been fighting Human Trafficking for years. His recently enacted legislation, Pennsylvania Act 39, depicts his desire to improve victim support and provide the legislation necessary for law enforcement and social services to better assist those who have been trafficked. Furthermore, Senator Dush’s background in law enforcement has allowed him to effectively fight those who are responsible for trafficking innocent children throughout the years. Act 39, signed into law by Governor Shapiro in December 2023, allows victims to now receive social services without having to identify (for whatever reason) their traffickers, protecting victims and helping them to receive assistance and move away from this deadly environment.
In recognition of this important month, Senator Dush will be presenting short synopses of interviews he recently completed with not only victims of Human Trafficking, but also benchmark organizations that are currently fighting Human Trafficking in Pennsylvania and around the world.
Below is his schedule of interviews for January 2024:
Today, Senator Dush will be interviewing:
David Cox
COO of ZOE International
https://gozoe.org/
Serves as the Chief Operating Officer for ZOE International, a multi-national organization that has over 20 years of success in rescuing and restoring children and youth who have been trafficked. Provides support and operational oversite for the growth and expansion of prevention, rescue and restoration of youth and children in the five nations we serve. Based in the Los Angeles office to provide leadership to our corporate headquarters.
Officer Cox is a reserve police officer with the Los Angeles Police Department. He works on the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit and the Vice and Human Trafficking Task Force. ZOE provides on-site advocacy services with LAPD for human trafficking stings along with victim identification and connecting appropriate follow-up services. ZOE works in four nations other than the United States supporting international teams in Thailand, Australia, Mexico, and Japan with efforts related to prevention, rescue, and restoration of child trafficking victims.
For more information, the complete interviews can be viewed here.