This SHOULD Make You Uncomfortable

There's a PDF on the front page of the Polaris website containing statistics on victims and survivors of human trafficking. I'd encourage looking into this:

https://polarisproject.org/myths-facts-and-statistics/

Some of the most at risk groups include: minors in foster care or child welfare systems and those who have recently migrated or relocated. The top three exploiter types in 2021 were employers, familial relationships to victims, and intimate partners of victims. Be vigilant and stay informed.

One of our big focuses on the philanthropy end of Auryu is anti-human trafficking efforts. When you work with charities and label yourself ‘philanthropic,’ it’s important to try to understand the problem, the process, and the victims/beneficiaries of donations. Human trafficking is difficult because it’s disturbing to read about and happens right under our noses every day and everywhere we go. 

I spent a good amount of my time today reading about victims and the stories they shared about their experiences. It should make us uncomfortable to read about their stories and to learn about what happens to those who are trafficked. It should make people feel sick, outraged, and scared. Those feelings create a drive for change. I don’t think the stories of survivors should be censored to make readers more comfortable. 

Anyways, I read stories of survivors and more specifically how it all got started for them. The major theme in all of these stories was false promises. These women were promised a job, a place to live, and stability by people they trusted and ended up being trafficked instead. 

I took a semester-long class on human trafficking in high school and learned a lot about it. Very rarely (pretty much never) are victims and survivors of human trafficking plucked randomly from sidewalks or parking lots. Most of the time, the victim knows the perpetrator and that victim also comes from a complicated or troubled situation. They look for vulnerable people who are known to run away from home or disappear for days or weeks on end; in other words, people who can disappear without raising alarm bells are easy to target because by the time anyone says anything, they’ll be long gone. 

This should make everyone uncomfortable. It happens in broad daylight right in front of our eyes every single day. While ending human trafficking full stop tomorrow (and in this context I mean literally tomorrow as in Saturday) is completely unachievable, the next best thing is to make sure survivors have adequate resources, support, and education to navigate life post-trauma. There are a number of safe-houses and recovery programs available in the US and especially in Houston, so it’s important to make sure that those non-profits have the resources they need to help as many individuals as possible, which is why they’re one of Auryu’s major recipients of donations.