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Human Trafficking:

How We Fight It

We believe human trafficking is one of the greatest injustices of our time. That's why we fight to PREVENT it.

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Through our work, more than 65,000 people have been intercepted and prevented from being trafficked into a life of potential slavery.

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The Prevalence of Human Trafficking

The reality of human trafficking is hard to wrap our minds around for two reasons:

First, we aren’t exposed enough to the horror and the reality of the lives of slaves. We can’t empathize or understand what they go through because we are often ignorant of it entirely. Second, the scale of trafficking is so extremely large, that it can be easy to mark off as too big of a problem for us to do anything about. The most recent consensus is that more than 50 million people live in slavery around the world today. That is more slaves in the world than ever before. Much of the slavery is consolidated in Asia and Africa. But if the slaves were equally distributed across humanity around the globe, that means approximately 1 in every 160 people would be a slave! 

This is staggering, but this is true. We believe human trafficking is one of the greatest injustices of our time. And we are committed to helping end it.

What Is Human Trafficking?

We define human trafficking as moving someone into slavery, and we define slavery as the illegitimate subjugation of a person’s time and body for personal gain. Evidence of trafficking exists when a person does not have the power to refuse work. Trafficking victims are subjected to the worst forms of exploitation, and they are robbed not only of the fruit of their labor but also of all the rights and freedoms that human beings are endowed with by nature. The inhumanity of the abuse, the violent and destructive nature of the crime, and the sheer volume of the problem lead us to believe that human trafficking is one of the greatest injustices in the world today.
 
Clearly, human trafficking is a stark violation of human rights. It is illegal everywhere. However, there are pockets of the world where people trade in slaves with impunity, where the financial incentives are greater than the risks.
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How Does Trafficking Happen?

Evidence of human trafficking exists when illegitimate means of control are used to move a potential victim toward a situation where he or she will be vulnerable to slavery. These illegitimate means of control include:
  • Deception
  • False promises
  • Lies about the destination
  • False or forced marriage
  • Abduction
  • Threats
  • Drugging
  • Debt bondage (forced labor)
  • Witchcraft
  • Forged or falsified documents
  • Enforced confiscation of identity documents
  • Separation of a minor from a guardian without consent (child trafficking)

We must understand that in many parts of the world, there is a hierarchy of human value. These different systems around the world (e.g., caste systems in Asia) have various ways of determining who is valuable and who is not in society. Selling someone becomes a viable financial opportunity for an individual who has grown up in a culture that doesn’t value that particular type of person. It's also difficult for most of us to comprehend that in many trafficking situations there is a desperation of poverty that makes millions of people more vulnerable to these types of deception.

Understanding Human Trafficking:

The Greatest Injustice

We are a faith-based organization and believe what Scripture says: Every human being is created in the image of God and therefore has intrinsic, infinite, priceless value ... regardless of nationality, financial status, or background. Nothing separates any of us from that infinite value because we’re all created in the image of God. So while we are motivated and compelled by God’s love to fight this horrific injustice of human trafficking, we realize this is NOT a universal sentiment.  

So we are standing in the places where governments are failing their people, where the judicial system is not enforcing laws, and where there is no force of will to stand in the way. That’s where we are working to convince people of value that they don’t necessarily see.

We are committed to making it expensive, risky, and dangerous to be a trafficker and more and more difficult to recruit slaves. We are fighting this injustice at the root—through our unique anti-trafficking strategy we call "transit monitoring."

 

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How do we fight human trafficking?

There are two main anti-trafficking strategies used around the world. The first is prevention through education and awareness, and the second is rescue. The prevention strategy is limited because it is difficult to track impact, since we cannot know for sure whether any particular individual was prevented from being trafficked. On the other hand, the anti-human trafficking strategies that do have a tangible effect (such as rescue and aftercare) fail to prevent, and can never erase, the horrible trauma that trafficking victims face.  Furthermore, the rehabilitation process is extremely difficult. To fight human trafficking, Love Justice sits right in the middle of these two strategies—using our transit monitoring method.

Transit monitoring focuses on identifying and assisting potential victims of trafficking as they're being trafficked but before they reach the destination where they may be in danger of being exploited and enslaved. We “intercept” someone when we have good reason to believe that they are in the process of being trafficked or at high risk of being trafficked. 

This model aims to attack trafficking at the most strategic moment—while it is in the process of occurring but before potential victims have been exploited or enslaved. Transit monitoring is, as far as we know, the world’s only tangible human trafficking prevention model.

 

STEP-BY-STEP INTERCEPTION PROTOCOL:

1

Signs of
Trafficking

Staff stand alert and look for signs of trafficking.

2

Questioning
Potential Victims

When they see signs of trafficking, staff will approach the potential victim and show their ID card. They will then begin questioning according to the questioning protocol listed on the front of our Interception Record Form (IRF).

3

Interview
& Red Flags

If staff uncover a red flag, they will attempt to separate the potential victim from any suspect and question further in a more private space (like a booth if available). All red flags should be recorded on the front of the IRF.

4

Decision to
Intercept

Staff should intercept when there is a high risk of trafficking, which includes each of these elements:
(1) A person who matches a profile targeted by traffickers who is (2) moving into an industry or area known for slavery (3) without the resources to stay safe.

If, in addition to being at high risk of trafficking, there is evidence that the person was moved by an illegitimate means of control (as determined by having at least 10 red flag points), the intercept should be classified as "evidence of trafficking." If staff decide to intercept, they should complete an IRF and contact the potential victim's family.

5

At the
Police Station

If there is evidence of trafficking, we suggest staff attempt to file a case and work with the police to have the suspect arrested.

6

Potential
Victim Care

Each potential victim that we intercept should receive four things: love, awareness about trafficking, options for safe employment, and the opportunity to hear the gospel message (based on staff discretion). This should take place in a private location (shelter, if available).

7

Potential Victim Interview
and Data Collection

If there is evidence of trafficking in an intercept, staff of the same gender should interview the potential victim and complete the Case Information Form (CIF) in a private location (shelter, if available). This collection of data is extremely valuable as we learn more about how traffickers are operating and pursue arrests.

8

Returned
Home

Lastly, staff should coordinate a safe travel option for a potential victim to return home. If the potential victim is a minor, their guardian should come to get them or give permission for someone else to take them safely home. The Victim Discharge Form (VDF) should be completed for each potential victim, documenting these details.

Learn More About Our Approach

Impact-Multiplying Strategies and More:

We've intercepted over 65,000 individuals to prevent them from
being trafficked. And that number is growing every day...

69,308

People intercepted to prevent from being trafficked

$132

Cost to intercept one person and prevent them from being trafficked

58

Active transit monitoring stations

31

Countries where we have piloted transit monitoring

21

Short-term shelters for those who have been intercepted

1,601

Arrests stemming from our anti-trafficking work

36%

Percent of closed cases resulting in convictions

*data updated September 15, 2024

Beyond the Interception

The Power of Data and Technology in the Fight Against Trafficking

One of the most valuable benefits of our strategy is the data we are able to collect. When you do preventative work to fight trafficking, there is no tangible data because it involves mostly awareness and education. Similarly with rescue efforts, those you are saving might have been enslaved for years, and most of the information about how they were recruited by their traffickers is several years old and no longer accurate since trafficking networks adjust and adapt very quickly.

So where we sit—intervening at the moment of transportation—we have the victim who hasn’t been abused yet with FRESH information about how they were recruited, the job they were offered, the amount of money they were promised, how they traveled from their point of origin, support systems that the trafficker used along the way, the phone number of the trafficker, physical descriptions, and more.

All of this information becomes invaluable in our intelligence-led investigations. We funnel all of the collected data points from each interception into a database we’ve created, in order to track down traffickers, pursue arrests, and ultimately dismantle trafficking networks and systems across the globe.

This data is largely missing in the anti-trafficking sphere due to the hidden nature of the crime, so not only does it inform and improve our own work, but we are able to share this information with other anti-trafficking efforts across the globe.

"A case has already been filed against the trafficker, and the police are searching for the two other traffickers involved with this case. Thank you, Love Justice!"

Shalva, 16 years old

"Though I am educated, I was deceived by human traffickers. Love Justice stopped us on a train at the India-Nepal border. They saw that I was scared and realized I was in trouble."

Bina, 17 years old

"My heartfelt thanks are due to Love Justice who rescued me from ending up in a hellish life as a slave in the sex trade."

Mithush, 13 years old

Real Stories from the Field:

What if you could help make these stories of freedom possible?

Watch to learn how you can help end human trafficking. Join the fight to end modern-day slavery today!

Join Project Beautiful

How Can You Help Fight Trafficking?

You can join the fight for justice today and advocate for those who are marginalized, oppressed, and hidden. Join us in the fight to protect their human rights in one of these ways:

  • Join Project Beautiful, our monthly giving community dedicated to ending human trafficking.
  • Give a one-time gift to Love Justice International. $100 can help change the story for someone being trafficked.
  • Fundraise for our work. This can look many different ways—from brand partnerships, to Facebook fundraising, to events, to corporate sponsorships, to much more!
  • Mobilize your church or small group to join the fight.
  • Learn about how you can volunteer as an advocate for Love Justice.
  • Get creative! Contact us with any fundraising ideas, and we can connect you with the resources you may need.
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