Real Talk: December 1, 2022 -- Why I discourage how I got started

Hey all,

Over the last few months, I've had multiple people ask me how I got started in my work in fighting trafficking, how I "find victims to talk to," etc. While I appreciate their heart for it, I will always stand by this: I will NEVER encourage anyone to get involved in fighting human trafficking the same way I did. I know that sounds strange, but I want to tell you a story:

February 2015:

I met a woman online, whom we'll call Katie. I figured out she was in trafficking, the first person I had ever come across who was trafficked -- a few months before I met Mari -- and it was challenging for me. I knew she deserved better and that she was worthy of being loved and valued, not treated like trash as she was. I wanted to help.

However, she told me that if her trafficker ever found out who I was or what I was doing, he had a national network of connections and would have me killed. I was 17 at the time. I had to make the decision of either, Option A) Walk away, break the trust and hope she had gained in me, and stay safe, or Option B) accept the risk to my life, keep talking to her, and keep doing what I could to help her get out. I chose Option B.

A few weeks later, she was texting me on the phone he had given her. She stopped texting for a few minutes and her trafficker answered my text. She had gone to make dinner and I was texting him. I will never forget that traumatizing conversation, where I had to pose and pretend like I wanted to "buy time" with her to protect her (and me). I had to pretend to want the thing I hated more than anything, but if I didn't, he'd know she was wanting to get free and know I was a risk to him.

Thankfully, he never caught on and to the best of my knowledge, she did get out. But this is the moral of the story:


When someone decides to fight trafficking in the way I have, talking to victims and survivor-warriors online, there is risk involved. There is also trust and hope built with the other person. If someone doesn't accept that risk and walks away, that can leave the person in a worse place than they started, or confirm to them that no one cares and it's not worth bothering to reach out for help again.

I've accepted that risk. I decided at 17 years old, over 8 years ago, that I'm willing to accept the risks involved in showing them the value and worth they have as a person; that they deserve better than the circumstances they're in; that they're worthy of love, respect, and honor. I have had my life threatened on more than one occasion for my activism and I will not back down. I've accepted the risk and have made the decision to push on anyway.

There are many ways to get involved in fighting trafficking: find an organization to volunteer with, whether that's through awareness, fundraising, or even working on extractions. But doing it yourself like I have doesn't offer any protection. I never intended to get involved in fighting in this way. And actually, since I started, I've gotten more involved with organizations so that I do have more protection. That said, I would never say I wouldn't do the same thing again. But it is to say that I will never encourage someone to get involved in the same way I did because I know most people are not prepared to accept the level of risk I have.

Thank you for reading! I have another subject I also want to address, but I'll discuss that in a separate post, as it is on a slightly different topic.