Human Trafficking Awareness

Freedom is Not a Privilege, Freedom Is a Right

According to the U.S. Department of State, 27.6 million people are victims of human trafficking each year. This is a horrid number of individuals, no different than you or me, who are just trying to go about their lives when they suddenly find themselves trapped. Human trafficking occurs through numerous different methods, ranging from direct force to coercion to fraudulent job opportunities. Some will find themselves forced to do various labor-intensive jobs under threat of being harmed or reported to officials. Others will find themselves held hostage to perform sexual transactions under threat of harm or death. Human trafficking is a very real threat to everyone’s right to freedom, which is why we here at Will Find Hope want to raise awareness of this terrible shadow hanging over our country.

Above all else, what we want to achieve through this blog is to give our followers the necessary resources so that they can be better prepared and informed on this matter. If at any point you or someone you know may be involved in human trafficking, the best option you have is to reach out to the authorities. Never directly confront the supposed trafficker. While yes, this is to protect your own safety, any heroics you may achieve by directly stepping in may save the individual you know, but it may put many others at risk. You can’t possibly know how many others are affected by a human trafficker. And by stepping in directly, you risk the traffickers becoming alerted and making it even harder to find evidence of their crimes or evidence leading to other victims. So, your best options are to contact local authorities if there is a clear and present danger. Otherwise, contacting the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or texting HELP to 233733 are your next best options. Sometimes this latter choice may even be necessary if there’s a situation in which your tip may involve a local law enforcement official.

 When in doubt, know that it is always welcome and encouraged to leave an anonymous tip through the call or text line mentioned above. Keep in mind that some instances of human trafficking may not be prevalent from the beginning. Oftentimes, many occurrences begin as an employment opportunity that slowly appears increasingly inconsistent. Payments are done strictly through cash, no paper trails with any documents, breaches of good conduct in the workplace, and inappropriate interactions between bosses or fellow employees. As soon as you experience or hear about even the beginnings of any of these occurrences, reach out and contact either of those numbers. Or again, contact your local authorities first if you feel a more immediate response is required. Even just sharing concerns allows for the potential risk to be documented, and steps are made to ensure you or your loved one remains safe.

 The world today is unpredictable, and so many of us are trying to enjoy our right to freedom while still making a living. Scams and methods of coercion are expanding increasingly, especially in the job markets. Will Find Hope implores all our readers to be safe, aware, and keep resources like this saved on your phone or readily available just in case. If any of you have any experiences or points of interest on this matter that you would be comfortable sharing, please comment below. Let’s all work together to keep each other safe and do our best to bring an end to this injustice.