A few days ago my fiancee did something truly great. My eyes may or may not be tearing up as I think about it and how proud I am of her. Without doubt, she found a front for human trafficking, called the Human Trafficking Hotline, and put Polaris Project on the hunt. On the one hand, I'm thinking to myself, "With all my talking about how we need to keep our eyes open, why couldn't I have found this place myself?" On the other hand, it's not about me at all. It's about awareness leading to action. It is because she knows me and has talked with me about human trafficking for countless hours, and therefore has grown immensely aware of trafficking, that my fiancee was able to realize that a certain massage parlor in Vermont is not really a legitimate massage parlor. Awareness does lead to greater action.
I've decided that I have qualms about using names and real information of a place that hasn't yet been busted. A whole series of "what if" questions are running through my head. The major questions being, "What if the place happens to read my article, and they decide to pack up and move and continue enslaving elsewhere?" and, "What if some jerk-face reads this article and decides to go see what it's like being serviced by a slave at slave-rates?" No, thank you. As much as I would like to point out the good work that my fiancee did and show you how sketchy the place is, which hopefully would also inspire and help you to keep your eyes open for possible cases of trafficking, the conservatively reflective side of me figures it best to leave all the information in the hands of professional investigators. The professionals can investigate the shady location, the sketchy website and the very suspicious reviews.
Still, I can tell you, and tell you proudly, that indeed ordinary people like you and me can be greatly involved in ending trafficking. There are bills and petitions we can sign, there are changes we can make in our own life, and if we keep our eyes open, we can help Polaris Project and other organizations do the dirty work of putting an end to human trafficking. Your community is not free of slavery, if only because there are people living in your community who hold attitudes that might open doors for traffickers, and it is up to you to change that. I am proud of my fiancee for performing such a great deed, and I'm sure there are many ways that I can be proud of all of you, too.
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