There are millions of children in the world who have been abandoned by their parents, been forced to leave home because of extreme poverty, or suffered the loss of their parents due to disease or war. Without parental guidance, provision, or love, these children's lives can be wrecked on the street, and they are vulnerable to many forms of exploitation, including the potential of being trafficked.

Human traffickers prey on the weaknesses and adverse circumstances of their victims. Their intentions are often masked behind a warm and friendly smile offering a lucrative job to someone in desperate need of providing basic necessities for their family. 

A female trafficking victim named Dhanvi* was recently intercepted by Love Justice staff in Southwest Asia. In the process, our investigations team was successful at securing the arrest of one of her three traffickers at the airport as he was attempting to flee the country.

The fight to stop human trafficking is a crucial battle that requires dedicated individuals joining together and taking a stand against this horrific crime of injustice. We recently sat down with our chief investigations and security officer, Jeff Blom, and asked him to share a little about his role with Love Justice, along with the conviction that drives him to be a part of helping protect those most vulnerable to human trafficking.

Our main strategy to fight human trafficking is through prevention and education; we strive to intercept potential victims before they are exploited and abused.

According to the U.S. State Department, 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year, of which 80% are women. We would like you to meet a few of the women who are standing up and fighting back to help stop human trafficking and save lives from the devastating exploitation and abuse of this horrific industry. 

In December of 2013, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed July 30 as "World Day Against Trafficking in Persons." According to the Global Report on Trafficking in Persons prepared by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, every country in the world is affected by human trafficking—either as a country of origin, transit, or destination for victims. In addition, children make up almost one-third of all human trafficking victims worldwide, with women and girls comprising 71% of all victims.

Recently, our team in Benin received an anonymous call about six minor girls located at the border who seemed scared and were accompanied by a suspicious-looking adult male. 

Most of us are fully aware of what human trafficking is. We know it exists in all corners of the globe, trapping innocent lives in a reality of unimaginable abuse and exploitation. In spite of our awareness, however, it's such an immense global issue, that most of us don’t know what to do about it or how to even begin to combat it. We feel overwhelmed and incapacitated, so it's just easier to ignore the issue and look the other way. However, at Love Justice, we have witnessed time and time again how one person can make a tremendous difference in this fight.

May has been an exciting month as we have witnessed people from all over the globe join us in our Mayday message and add their voice in the fight to end human trafficking. Recently, members of our Love Justice staff in Thousand Oaks, California, held Run for Freedom, a 5K event designed to raise awareness and engage the community in our Mayday mission to prevent 1,000 more lives from experiencing exploitation and abuse this month.