Sexual Abuse

For many of us living in the United States, the idea of human trafficking happening in our corner of the world seems hard to believe. Sadly though, this issue is just as pervasive here in the U.S., as in places like South East Asia and Eastern Europe. Human trafficking touches every part of the globe, from small villages in Africa, to major cities like Bangkok or London, and upper middle class cities in America. We may have watched Liam Neeson in the movie, Taken, busting down doors to rescue his daughter who was captured and about to be sold into the sex trade, and wish we could channel that heroism and go fight some bad guys. Well, I’m sure for most of us

As is the case for most adults, I’ve found no shortage of social events and situations where I find myself faced with the inevitable, standard question, “So what do you do?” It’s unlikely that people expect to find themselves discussing the illegal exploitation of minors over chips and dip, but there’s really no way for me to sugar coat reality because fighting against that exploitation is what I do. Statistics on human trafficking are pretty shocking, divided into both labor trafficking and sex trafficking. The U.S. Government defines sex trafficking as “when a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age” (National Institute