Love146 is a U.S.-based

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

non-profit international anti-

child trafficking Trafficking of children, also known as child trafficking, is a form of human trafficking and is defined by the United Nations as the "recruitment, transportation, harbouring, or receipt of a child" for the purpose of slavery, forced labour, and ...

organization.

History

Love146 was founded in 2002, when the group's co-founders, Rob Morris, Lamont Hiebert, Desirea Rodgers, and Caroline Hahm, went on an exploratory trip to

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

to see how they could help combat

. According to Love146, as part of an undercover operation, investigators took several co-founders into a

brothel A brothel, strumpet house, bordello, bawdy house, ranch, house of ill repute, house of ill fame, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activity with prostitutes. For legal or cultural reasons, establis ...

where they witnessed young girls being sold for sex. The girls were given identification numbers pinned to their dresses. One girl in particular stood out. Morris explained that she stared in their direction with a piercing gaze. Her number was 146. The co-founders returned to the US and began Love146. The vision of Love146 is "the end of child trafficking and exploitation – nothing less." Prior to the establishing of Love146, co-founder and president, Rob Morris, worked with

Mercy Ships Mercy Ships is an international charity based non-governmental organization that operates the largest non-governmental hospital ships in the world, providing Christian humanitarian aid, surgical care and surgical education in Africa, community ...

International. Morris has lectured and taught in over 30 countries on issues of

justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

compassion Compassion is a social feeling that motivates people to go out of their way to relieve the physical, mental, or emotional pains of others and themselves. Compassion is sensitivity to the emotional aspects of the suffering of others. When based ...

, and

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

, and has been featured in the

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, the

CNN Freedom Project The CNN Freedom Project is a year-long humanitarian news media campaign launched by CNN and CNN International in 2011 to "end modern-day slavery" and related illegal practices, including human trafficking. It was started on the initiative of CNN ...

, and other outlets. Love146 became an official public charity in March 2004, under the name Justice for Children International. In 2007, the group changed their name to Love146. Love146 was named an "Agent of Change" by '' GQ'' magazine, and earned a

Myspace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

Impact Award for

social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

. Baume & Mercier sent Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist

Carolyn Cole Carolyn Cole (born April 24, 1961) is a staff photographer for the'' Los Angeles Times''. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography in 2004 for her coverage of the siege of Monrovia in 2003, the capital of Liberia. Education Cole gradua ...

to Southeast Asia to take photos in support of Love146. In 2008, Baume & Mercier hosted an exhibition of her photos in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

titled "Into the Light". Heather Fischer, former US government special advisor to the State Department's Trafficking in Persons Office and first special advisor for human trafficking at the White House, started her human rights career at Love146. 28 states have utilized the curriculum of the organization as of 2022.{{Cite web , title=Love (146) Is Back In Town , url=https://www.newhavenindependent.org/article/love146 , access-date=2022-10-02 , website=New Haven Independent , language=en That year, the organization celebrated its 20th anniversary with a "cutting of the ribbon".

References

501(c)(3) organizations Non-profit organizations based in Connecticut