Get Educated: Human Trafficking
For the past couple of weeks a huge topic of conversation has been Human Trafficking and more importantly Child Sex Trafficking. It is a hard topic to discuss as we cannot imagine the type of torture and toxicity a child would have to endure… For this to be one child’s reality we truly feel that we have failed as parents, let alone thousands of children.
As hard as this topic is to talk about, unfortunately the only way we can stop the cycle and make a difference is to be loud & be educated. We ask that everyone take 10 minutes out of their day to educate themselves on what is happening in the world, and more importantly their own city. Together we can make a difference and stop cycles that are rapidly growing.
Statistics say that a minor is sexually abused in the U.S. every 3 minutes. More than 1 million children are exploited each year in the U.S. commercial sex trade. The average age a teen enters the sex trade in the US is 13 years old. Children as young as 6 months old have been rescued from sexual abuse & trafficking. Globally, sex trafficking generates an estimates $99 billion each year. Close to $10 billion annually in the US. 77% of trafficking victims are exploited within their own country. Human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world. With 30 million slaves in the world, 10 million of those are children. American is the number 1 producer and consumer of child pornography, meaning that there are more people enslaved today than any other time in the history of the world— even when slavery was legal.
Since Covid restrictions and stay at home orders, child trafficking has increased tremendously. Children are online 80% of their day and home alone while their parent/guardian is at work. This leads to vulnerability and predators love this. Not only are they reaching out to your child via social media platforms but in some cases even on a gaming stream. Predators are known to bait children into thinking they are someone else similar to “catfishing” and having the child send over explicit information, such as addresses, explicit photos, and or luring them into meeting up with them after school. This is very well happening in your city, and as an adults on social media we can say we have all had predators send messages or explicit and unwanted photos. We can only imagine if this was a pre-teen opening up these messages.
With all of this overwhelming information, we know this— it has to stop! After educating myself and others, I still felt helpless knowing this was happening and there was nothing I could do first hand. I was wrong... What we can focus on now is to make a change, and to be so loud even the predators can hear us. Not one more child!
We made up a list of things you can do today to be loud, and stop the cycle from happening again and again. Join us and others in fighting against trafficking!
Raise Awareness
July 30th is World Human Trafficking Awareness Day— Join us to Race Against Trafficking
We ask that you get loud on social media, and pledge $5 for every mile you run. Tag 5 friends to join this run with you. We are running for freedom and for change. Run for these kids that can’t. Donate your earnings to any 501c3 Organization Below. @CasaBellaFoundation @ChildRescueCoalition @OurRescue
Check Your Child’s Social Media
It’s time to get involved and check your child’s dm’s for any activity of predators posing as friends, luring for addresses, nudes, and information. Report any suspicious profiles, put your child’s profile on private, and have access. Discuss the rules of social media, and be open to hearing them out making sure they feel comfortable in talking about how / if this has happened to them before.
Teach Safety measures to Your Kids
Keep up with the latest luring techniques for women & children. Discuss how things are not always as they seem. Predators can be luring you in by distracting you with a zip tie on your car, a perfume sales man, or could even be a family or friend. Simply play out scenarios with your child so they know what to do in a sticky situation. As parents, we hope that our kids would never have to go through something like this, but the best thing we can do is to give our kids the tools to prepare for the worst case scenario. They are never too young to learn this.
Speak UP!
Even when it’s hard, even when you can lose your job… remember you can save thousands of lives. You hold the power and you ARE the hero. Let’s arrest these predators. The only way is to Speak Up! We’ve all had unsolicited messages on social media but when it’s time to report them, talk about it, and put them where they belong. It’s time to SPEAK UP and make a change!
Donate
is a nonprofit organization that rescues children from sexual abuse by building technology for law enforcement, free of charge, to track arrest and prosecute child predators.
In the past 6 years OUR has rescued 3,800 victims and assists in the arrest of more than 2,100 traffickers around the world. The partners we are empowering have collectively helped rescue the lives of more than 10,000 survivors who were enslaves, exploited or at risk. They exist solely to rescue children from sex trafficking.
Casa Bella Foundation helps intercity communities by providing basic necessities and activities for their children. This allows parents to focus on their career, keeping food on the table, getting back on their feet, and not have to turn to trafficking of any sort. We focus on education, safety, and believe every child should have a fair chance at life.
- Casa Bella Foundation
