May 2020 Updates
Our online safety PSA; presenting at a U.S. Health & Human Services and U.S. Department of Justice listening session; equipping children in Madagascar … and more.
A New Decade
On this day 2 decades ago, human trafficking had yet to be defined as a crime by the United Nations & United States. Because of the momentum of this movement, that changed.
May Updates
It happens to boys, too. Fight for a world where anyone, regardless of gender, can ask for help without stigma … and other news and insights from the field.
“Back to School” Means More for the Children In Our Survivor Care
The education of youth is often interrupted by their exploitation. For children in our Survivor Care, re-engaging with school is like trying to climb a hill while carrying a heavy weight. The hill has typical steps and obstacles that everyone has to learn how to master. Like showing up on time. Like learning how to ask for your own makeup work. The kinds of things that every teenager has to learn how to do. Love146’s role is to make sure that the weight of exploitation and recovery doesn’t ultimately pull students backwards or prevent them from making that climb.
Flying High At Wilderness School
What happens when you bring a group of eight wary young survivors in our long-term services to a Wilderness School for a day of trust-building outdoor activities? They soar.
“If Only I’d Known”
My first experience with this phrase is deeply etched in my mind: A young girl shared that she had met a group of people — people she thought were her friends. When things began to change, she wasn’t aware what was happening until it was too late. She said, “If only I’d known then what I know now.” These “friends” became her traffickers. They identified her vulnerability and need for connection, and they skillfully exploited it.
A Story for Those About to Give Up
Giving up is never the right answer. Reevaluating, yes, reimagining, of course — but never giving up. Yet that was nearly the end result of one Volunteer Team after a year of floundering. What a mistake that would have been. They rebounded with more impact than they had considered possible. Here’s how it all went down.
Brianna’s Story
“I’ve heard of pimps and I knew to be scared of them – but I didn’t realize that the person I thought was protecting me was actually my pimp.”
— Brianna, one of more than 200 youth who have been served by our U.S. Survivor Care program
“I used to think I was invisible. But you see me.”
Our Rapid Responses help youth understand how a perpetrator uses manipulation, tricks, and force to take advantage of them. We talk about how easy it is to be taken advantage of. How everyone has things they need, things they struggle with, and how someone could use these things to build trust for the sole purpose of exploitation. This may be the first time that he or she is told: “It is not OK that someone treated you this way.” It may be the first time they hear: “It is not your fault.” Or that: “You are valuable and important.”
SHOES
A couple of years ago my wife and I were in Vietnam completing the adoption of our youngest daughter. We were there for three weeks. Our daughter was almost four at the time. Because of the losses she had experienced, she wasn’t taking any chances anymore of being abandoned or left behind.
