The Exodus Road

It's the anniversary of our first successful operation!🎉 With this milestone comes a time of reflection. 12 years ago (on August 12, 2012) The Exodus Road was able to take part in freeing Sarah, a 16-year-old girl being sold in a commercial s*x district in Thailand. Since that time, we've freed over 2,600 survivors and arrested more than 1,300 perpetrators! That impact is only made possible through the support of you, our community! Your steadfast commitment to showing up to this fight has empowered us to bring hope to more than 2,600 survivors, and we're so grateful to be celebrating our 12th anniversary with you. Here's a brief message from our Chief Investigative Officer and Co-founder, Matt Parker, as we celebrate together today!

Fighting human trafficking normally isn't fun. Let’s change that! Do you run, bike, read, bake, pray, swim, or engage in any other habit you love? With Freedom Summit, pair that passion with your commitment to fighting human trafficking! We’re welcoming every member of our community to create a personalized challenge unique to you for the month of September. Maybe you’ll run 50 miles to represent the 50 million people caught in trafficking. Maybe you’ll read one book for every week of the month. Whatever it is, we invite you to use it as a vehicle to spread awareness about trafficking and fundraise for the fight. Ready to fight for freedom your way? Sign up today! https://lnkd.in/gQ2p-c8v

Fighting human trafficking normally isn't fun. Let’s change that! Do you run, bike, read, bake, pray, swim, or engage in any other habit you love? With Freedom Summit, pair that passion with your commitment to fighting human trafficking! We’re welcoming every member of our community to create a personalized challenge unique to you for the month of September. Maybe you’ll run 50 miles to represent the 50 million people caught in trafficking. Maybe you’ll read one book for every week of the month. Whatever it is, we invite you to use it as a vehicle to spread awareness about trafficking and fundraise for the fight. Ready to fight for freedom your way? Sign up today! https://lnkd.in/gQ2p-c8v

We're less than one month away from The 2nd Annual Ambassadors for Hope Charity Golf Tournament! This charity tournament is an opportunity for you to enjoy a day on Colorado Springs’ premier golf course while directly helping efforts to investigate and prevent human trafficking in Colorado Springs and beyond.  So mark your calendars for September 16th, grab your clubs, and let's make a difference together! For more event information, see below:

Lush tourist resorts. An unassuming restaurant. The ordinary rooms of a parent’s house. These are some of the places where more than 25 women and girls were being trafficked in one country in Asia, undisclosed for security purposes. Over the span of a few weeks, The Exodus Road’s U.S. and Asia teams collaborated to follow leads on multiple different kinds of human trafficking exploitation. Some of the girls and women they sought to find were being trafficked through traditional means in a busy red-light district. Others were being advertised for escort services, sent to meet clients at the site of their choosing. And some were just children, living with parents who exploited them through livestreams sold to foreigners. With law enforcement partners, our investigators and advocates intervened in a series of operations executed in quick succession. Across multiple operations, they found and recovered more than 25 girls and young women. Every one of these survivors had endured abuse that left them in need of long-term, lasting care — heartbreakingly, some had been trafficked by family members, and others were trafficked by teenagers who had once been exploited themselves. All of the survivors have been placed with trusted aftercare partners who can offer them that care. In total, six perpetrators were arrested. Those who are 18 and older are facing trial for trafficking. Those who are still just teenagers themselves will be going through the juvenile justice system and restorative rehabilitation. Progress for freedom at this extensive level is only possible because of the role you play in supporting our teams around the world. Thank you!

Earlier this year, we were able to reunite a teenage girl with her family after a trafficker preyed on her mental health struggles. When depression and anxiety erode your sense of worthiness, it can be impossible to feel that you deserve protection. The thought process can sound like: “it doesn’t matter what happens to me. My life, my body, are worthless anyway.” That kind of mindset may have made Alana (not her real name) look extra vulnerable to the predatory man who found her. He successfully led her far from her home in Brazil, trapping her in an abandoned house in Paraguay. In the darkness of that old building so far from her family, reality seemed to confirm what Alana had always suspected: she was worthless, only there to be used. But her parents refused to accept that. Because Alana’s parents reached out to law enforcement and The Exodus Road’s teams were able to step in and help, this teenager is now safely home. The moment her parents embraced her was a powerful reminder: every child deserves safety. Will you help us support law enforcement as they continue searching for girls like Alana? Get involved:

Music has provided the soundtrack to our counter-trafficking work for many years through the songs of Remedy Drive. Our team is thrilled to join them at Soulfest 2024! If you want to enjoy good music while learning how to do good, we hope you'll join us August 15-17 in Greenfield, MA. If you attend, please stop by our booth to say hello — we'd love to meet you! thesoulfest.com

Although human trafficking and human smuggling often overlap, they are not the same crime. What are the main differences between the two? Human trafficking is a crime against a person. Human smuggling is a crime against a country. Human trafficking is nonconsensual and involves force, fraud, or coercion. Human smuggling is a consensual arrangement. Human trafficking does not require movement. Human smuggling always involves movement across country borders. Human smuggling can often escalate into trafficking when the smuggler exploits the person they are transporting for material gain. Understanding the nuances of these two crimes stops the spread of misinformation. When falsehoods about human smuggling are dispelled, advocates for freedom can stand together in clear-minded vigilance against exploitation of all kinds. Learn more about human smuggling’s relationship to trafficking:

Law enforcement partners reached out to our Latin American team: “There are places we can’t investigate without causing suspicion. But we know that kids are being trafficked there. Will you help us?” We went to work.  We discovered a sophisticated network of criminals trafficking kids ranging from 1-16 years old. The smallest children were forced to beg. Many of the middle school-aged kids were trafficked for labor, peddling products and drugs on the streets of an urban Latin American neighborhood. The teenagers were trafficked for s*x, used and abused by both the crime bosses and paying clients.  We knew these kids couldn’t stay there a moment longer.  Hours of careful investigation gave law enforcement all of the information they hoped for. They swept the area, finding the frightened kids huddled in small groups on street corners and in abandoned structures.  It will take a long time to trace each child’s place of origin, to find their parents and determine if it’s safe for them to go home. Some of the kids were far from their home countries. Fortunately, trusted aftercare partners have committed to the long-term process of healing and repatriation for these kids who have suffered myriad kinds of abuse.  Our team will continue to work to find other survivors of exploitation like these, going where others can’t or won’t go until all are free.  Thank you for sending us to free these kids! 

A TechBiz Forense Digital, em parceria com a Cellebrite, tem a satisfação de apoiar a masterclass sobre o enfrentamento ao tráfico de pessoas realizada pela The Exodus Road para a Polícia Civil do Estado de São Paulo.    Conheça o projeto assistindo ao vídeo e leia o artigo completo sobre a iniciativa no site da Secretaria da Segurança Pública do Estado de São Paulo: https://lnkd.in/d6bdHYUc