04 Nov How to Fight Human Trafficking During Regular Everyday Life
Once you know, you can’t unknow. The majority of Americans are now aware that human trafficking is rampant in America. Not just in border states or major metro areas, not only on Super Bowl Sunday or during the World Series—labor and sex trafficking is happening right now in every city and every state. This reality can be overwhelming. I’ve been in conversations where people have physically put their hands over their ears when learning about it for the first time, not out of apathy but from a sense of helplessness, of despair. I don’t want this terrible thing to be happening, and there’s nothing I can do about it, so I’m going to pretend it’s not.
But there are ways to fight human trafficking during everyday life, just as there is hope for survivors who have enormous, innate potential that has been withheld by their exploiters. The unaware must be made aware and the aware must engage.
Trafficking exists to meet demand, so we need to end demand wherever we see it. At an awareness party I hosted, someone asked a survivor in Empowered Network’s program who the buyers are. She said, “It’s your cousin. Your next door neighbors. People who look and dress and talk like you.” Take a hard look at your habits, music lyrics, and influences. What have you been okay with happening at bachelor parties because you assumed consent? Is it really funny that your son went to a strip club on his 21st birthday when that is a known exploitation pipeline?
If you’re a man, be an ally. If you’re a woman, encourage the men in your life to hold their peers to a higher standard. When crude, rape-culture comments are waved off as “locker room talk,” it normalizes the idea of women as play toys and property. You don’t have to be confrontational if that’s not your style. Something as simple as, “That’s a bit much,” or, “Whoa there, no thank you to that,” is better than nothing. Silence is tacit approval.
Be a whistleblower. If you know the common signs of human trafficking and you’re out in the world on planes and trains, traveling in different cities, eating at restaurants, you will absolutely have cause to call the National Trafficking Hotline during your lifetime. Don’t think but what I’m wrong—you’re not prosecuting a case, you’re simply raising your hand with a concern. Because, really, what if you’re right. It’s out there, prevalent even, we just need to start seeing it. Here are some flags:
- Employees living with their employer or “shared employee housing.”
- Group transportation to and from work. For example, a nail salon or restaurant where a van pulls up at the start of the day and 8 people get out even though demand isn’t at its peak yet, work all day, then get in the van to go home. That doesn’t make any sense: no business owner would want more staff than needed if they were paying fair wages.
- Employer blocks you from speaking to an individual directly or alone.
- An employee’s answers appear to be scripted and rehearsed.
- Only one person at the establishment is allowed to handle money.
- A massage parlor with windows drawn and mostly/only men coming in and out.
- A person presents signs of physical abuse and/or has a total lack of agency.
- Someone who is clearly a minor being escorted to a hotel room in a non-paternal way by a much older male.
- Someone being grabbed and pulled or roughhoused to physically move.
Spread the word. Host an awareness event. Share this post. If you work in an industry that intersects with trafficking victims (such as emergency medical care, law enforcement, hospitality, or transportation), encourage your employer to educate staff and report suspicious happenings. I recommend checking out offerings led by people with lived experience and am happy to point you in the right direction!
My last suggestion is this: help survivors who have made it out, stay out (which also keeps their kids from getting sucked in). Learn about the programs assisting survivors in your community and support them with your time and resources. If you’re interested in joining the anti-trafficking community, reach out to Empowered Network. We welcome anyone who’s decided to take their hands off their ears and become a part of the solution.
Want to learn more about the victims of human trafficking and help break the cycle of exploitation? Get in Touch with Empowered Network or donate now.