January Is Human Trafficking Prevention Month
Human trafficking is one of the most devastating inhumanities in the world today. Globally, it is estimated that there are over 40 million slaves—the largest amount in history.
Every day, vulnerable people are trafficked. People looking for a way out of desperate situations, willing to take hold of any opportunity offered even if it seems too good to be true. The poor are always at risk; however, in the wake of COVID-19, they need our help now more than ever before!
The pandemic has made circumstances even more perilous for those most vulnerable—leaving them extremely susceptible to falling for the tactics and deceit of traffickers.
We are determined to stop human trafficking, but we can't do it alone—we need your help!
Three ways for you to get involved:
- Help raise awareness about the issue, especially during Human Trafficking Prevention Month! We have many resources to help you fundraise or spread the word on social media!
- Join our monthly giving community, Project Beautiful, a group of dedicated people who are passionate about making a difference and saving lives from falling victim to human trafficking. When you join, you will be given access to sign up for exclusive SMS updates providing breaking news about the individuals you are empowering with freedom and hope.
- Give a one-time donation here.
When you get involved, you will be instrumental in the vital effort to prevent as many people as possible from becoming victims of the abuse and exploitation of modern-day slavery. You will be helping to change the story from slavery to freedom, tragedy to triumph.
Our anti-trafficking strategy
Through transit monitoring and interception, we attack trafficking at the most strategic moment: while it is in the process of occurring and BEFORE exploitation and enslavement. Currently, Love Justice has 56 active transit monitoring stations located where trafficking occurs—near important border crossings and transit hubs throughout South Asia and Africa.
When highly trained Love Justice staff notice a sign of trafficking, they stop the suspected trafficker and victim for an interview to determine if trafficking is occurring. If they recognize any suspicious behavior, they continue their questioning, separating the suspected victim and trafficker.
We have developed a questioning protocol that includes a list of visual red flags our team members look for to identify a potential victim as well as a line of questioning designed to determine if trafficking is taking place. Each of our Love Justice transit monitors is trained to identify, question, and assist potential victims.
Several of the red flags they look for include:
- A group of people traveling together who seem to be strangers.
- Someone who appears to be drugged or confused.
- Someone traveling overseas for a new job, but the employer’s phone number is fake or the promised salary is unrealistically high.
- Someone traveling overseas who appears too impoverished to afford an international flight and whose travel was paid for by someone else.
- Someone who has been offered a job that’s “too good to be true.”
If further questioning reveals additional red flags, our team takes action by contacting the victim’s family, questioning the suspected trafficker, and if the situation warrants it, requesting assistance from the police to deal with the trafficker.
Our staff members are diligent to ensure that each individual intercepted returns to a safe environment. They accompany the victim to one of our shelters for protection, aftercare, and education about the dangers of trafficking. Then, they assess if it is safe for the victim to return home.
They also use this time to interview them in order to gather data and criminal intelligence to assist our process of convicting traffickers. When possible, they also guide them through the process of filing legal cases against their traffickers.
Intelligence-led investigations
While transit monitoring and interception are our primary work, our approach to anti-trafficking also includes:
- Data Collection and Analysis: Our staff members are continually collecting and analyzing data in order to better understand trafficking trends and networks. This is crucial in helping to improve our operations, prosecute traffickers, and identify targets for investigations.
- Prosecution and Conviction: Prosecution and conviction of traffickers are the primary goals of our investigations department because we believe they are vital to fighting the industry at its core and saving hundreds of lives from being trafficked in the process.
- Research Development: Love Justice is passionate about taking a proactive approach in the mission to end trafficking through strategic, intelligence-led investigations that PREVENT victims from being enslaved in the horrendous industry of trafficking.
Watch the following video as our network director in India shares the urgency to intervene in the moments between freedom and slavery. "It’s a 10-minute window between freedom and slavery. ... That’s all we have.”
Visit here to meet Aminata*, a 1-month-old baby girl saved from human sacrifice in Sierra Leone. Our transit monitor Tenneh* shares, "I just remember thinking, ‘This little girl’s life is in your hands.’ That was the only thing on my mind at that point in time."
And finally, visit here to learn about Aksha's* story. A story filled with a series of heartbreaking circumstances resulting in her being sold, while pregnant, to a brothel in Delhi, India, over 20 years ago. After sharing the sobering details with one of our staff, Aksha asked, "Why weren’t you there for me 24 years ago? Where were you?"
Our work is only possible because of people like you joining with us to help change the story of innocent lives that are at high risk of being trafficked. When you partner with us, you fuel our ability to put feet on the ground to be there in the moments between freedom and slavery.
*All data and statistics current at the date and time of publishing. Names changed and some specific locations excluded for privacy and security purposes.