Written by: Hannah W.
To end human trafficking, everyone must play a part. Your community needs informed and caring individuals like you, ready and willing to engage in hard conversations about trafficking. From child safety online, to building your community to help prevent trafficking, there is a role for each one of us in this fight. Here are some practical ways you can help fight trafficking:
See Something, Say Something.
Identifying a trafficking situation can be tricky, but there are signs you can be on the look for. Massive age gaps in partners, answers that seem scripted or rehearsed, signs of abuse/neglect or unusual activity for the time of day/location can all be indicators that a trafficking situation is occurring. The safest and most helpful thing to do is gather as much information as you can discretely and report it to the human trafficking hotline (1-888-373-7888.) It doesn’t seem like much in the moment, but these called in tips can help stop trafficking! In fact, a brothel being run in a Ft Worth Neighborhood was successfully shut down because neighbors noticed some of the above signs and made a call. Calling in a tip costs us nothing and can help save lives.
Stock Your Local Food Pantry
We don’t often think of hunger as a human trafficking factor, but it Is one of the major issues fueling it today! A hungry child is a vulnerable child. From single-parent families to young teens who find themselves on their own, the inability to feed yourself, or those you are responsible for, often leads to trafficking situations. Stocking your local food pantry is a practical way you can fight trafficking in your community and show the at-risk members in your community that you care.
Build Safe Places for Victims to Heal
For a trafficking victim to be safe and fully heal, they often need to be relocated to a secure location that enables them to do so. Though it doesn’t always feel glamorous, one of the most effective ways you can help fight trafficking is by funding a safe house. The reality is, it costs $150 a month for a victim to be relocated and begin the healing processes. By choosing to give monthly, you are standing side by side with a trafficked girl and actively telling her you believe her life is worth more than being used in a brothel. Building safe places for victims to heal is fundamental step in winning the fight against human trafficking.
There are 40 million slaves in the world today, more than any other time in history. Together, each of us playing our part, we believe we can end human trafficking. Will you join us in the fight?
