How Can You Help Fight Human Trafficking | People Stories #365

▶ Fresh AskReddit Stories: People who help fight human trafficking: what are some tips you have for spotting illegal activity, and reporting it? 🔥 2nd channel with exclusive Reddit stories!

[andiward]

The worst part is when the victims' families are at risk and so the victims won't leave. It's truly heartbreaking.

[poeter]

My mom received training when she worked at a hotel. Watch for younger girls with random older guys, specially when there are clothing discrepancies (pimp with nice clothes but girl had cheap revealing clothes)

[augusthoglund]

Looking back, I’m beginning to suspect I met human traffickers once. I remember once I was going out to eat at a casual place with friends after church one Sunday, and two middle-aged guys talk with us at our table. They made small talk and we talked a bit about about movies. One of the guys complimented me on looking like someone from the Dead Poets Society. One of my friends thought that was funny because I look preppy and cookie-cutter Anglo-American. I was also in my mid teens.

Some days later one of my friends’ older sister asks my friends and I about the same guys in the same restaurant. Apparently they told her about an acting opportunity on the other side of the country (USA).

I’m pretty sure reputable film producers don’t do casting by talking up teenagers in casual restaurants.

[bej]

The average number of times a survivor goes back to their trafficker after escape/rescue is seven. Survivors are at a higher risk for returning the more vulnerable they are. Funding resources for survivors is essential to help them have enough support to move forward.

[LMSPetRescue]

The stranger calling you sister, dad, mom thing is so true!! I had a guy who was following me all throughout campus and into town (I didn’t have a car at the time) and I was starting to get scared as he wasn’t on his phone, instead he was just staring me down and even jay walked to follow directly behind me and as he started to get incredibly close I walked up to two random women on the street and said just a random name and talked to them like I knew them my entire life, they looked confused then saw the man behind me and immediately flocked onto either side of me and continued talking as we walked towards a local restaurant that was still open. He got spooked and left and I explained the entire situation, they were super nice about it and said he started angrily glaring when I approached them and they figured something bad was happening. Super sweet girls and they waited with my while a friend drove to come pick me up. Probably saved my life!! If you’re ever in my situation I recommend pretending you know someone around you and engage in conversation, even if they don’t play along at least someone will have noticed you and probably seen your attacker

[asanyr]

Casual reminder to believe and support survivors, and not speak for them when they can speak for themselves.

[GlidingZephyr]

I encountered this, once. I was in an airport waiting for a flight back to my home city, and there was this one extremely distraught young woman making a scene while she was seemingly speaking with someone over the phone, in a boarding lobby. An airport police officer brought her away to speak with her, but one person didn't seem to make anything of it: Another young woman who only stared directly ahead of her and never said anything to anyone, even to airport employees.

By the time I arrived at my own airport, this other young woman was waiting at the same bus stop I was, outside of a terminal. A nice Mercedes SUV with custom wheel rims picked her up, and she still never said a word or even gestured to the occupants when she stepped in.

I discreetly typed the plate number into my phone, memorized it and called the police before I went back to my parked car. I'm by no means an expert, and I still don't know how this turned out, but my guess was that the other young woman at the last airport was acting as a decoy to make sure no one noticed the other.

[meligarrett]

Familial trafficking is a thing. If you suspect something contact CPS (child protective services).

[darakin]

Unfortunately, i have 2 stories that sorta fit this. Prepare yourselves.

Im a guy and i know 2 girls that have been abused by family members, one of them is a friend who i will call A. A was a good friend and i went to youth group with her (church) one day though she came out and told me how her older brother abused her, and i told my mom. Police were involved and he was removed from the house, party cause he had lung cancer.
The second is N, N i met more recently after going to a smash tournament. I was in the discord when she suddenly had a mental breakdown and i helped her. Unfortunately all of it happened awhile ago and out of country, so not only no proof, but no legal authority. I kinda act as her therapist and she said i saved her from committing suicide that day, but i wish i could have put those worthless scum of a family in jail.
May not be trafficking for the first one, but disgusting all the same. I was under 18 upon learning their trauma, and, as you probably guessed, so were they, they were very much minors.

[reyton]

I don’t see how u could dislike this .

[goldenpenguin]

I read a lot of the cannabis ones as "cannibals" so imagine my confusion.

[LoudAngryJerk]

"He asked me if I could call his mom and ask her if she could take him back, and he would be a good boy from now on"
I *screamed*
I was sitting in my car and I screamed.
That's heartbreaking

[deandrecook]

As a trucker some companies have a class on how to recognize human trafficking

[__insertusernamehere__]

I also heard that if you’re at a hotel and hear someone saying that they want a room near the stairs, they could possibly be sex traffickers because it’s easy to slip out

[CH-vmdh]

I have two things to say about this;
1. apparently i was scouted to be trafficked as a teen? I remember this shady person online trying to Get me to move to England for a modeling job, with no pictures of previous models or any known business info... #letsnotmeetagain

2. with that last story saying to play along... theres is the downside of being called a groomer or kidnapper with that, If you think the situation calls for it then do it, but be careful. Too many bad people around setting traps like that too.

[laneatkinson]

I was literally wondering about this earlier today. Thank you for uploading this, this information is SO important!!

[Badartist]

I will say in relation to the first one. I heard a heart breaking story of a single father on a holiday with his daughter. Just a two nights so they could travel to some amusement park and it was a long drive. Booked online (and that was where the problems started). Online he wanted a room with two beds but the only hotel only had a room with a double bed, so checked with the daughter, she was ok with it. There was no mention about ID so he didn't take any for her (and she was too young for a drivers licence etc).

It got real awkward real quick.

You could tell he was upset (he was interviewed on the news) but understood the caution. He was angry that the reason given was "no ID" for her when he was told he didn't need ID for the minor on the website. It was even the case that other people at the hotel were pointing out that they looked liked the "spitting image of each other" etc.

I really think these things are important but, as that guy pointed out, if it was company policy for all minors to have ID and they were all checked then they would have a far better effect. Of course I think there is a real important conversation about how big companies turn blind eyes as they make money. Ie the Big 4 banks in Australia and all the links they have to international crime (through customers and turning blind eyes) including child exploration, terrorism, trafficking, drugs etc. And if they just investigated suspicious transactions more then it would make a huge difference... but lose them money.

To a far lesser societal concern, but I think that if companies like Apple, Google etc with the cards the scammers wanted were forced to put stops on the cards from being used beyond the state borders for 24 hours and a week outside the country of purchase, it wouldn't bother anyone who wasn't a scammer. And if it forced scammers to have locals cash it out then transfer the money it is easier to but the companies get 2% or whatever of the money. Which, ironically, is about the same amount the scammer gets.

[_JustAnotherKid__]

Pull an Eren from AOT and attack those “animals disguised as humans.”

[hugosinclair]

been a mercenary here in the Philippines for over a year, i came across some awful situations like this, had to put a poor kid that was slowly dying out of his misery because he couldn't be saved, it was terrible

[tungarafrog]

Lol, my brain skipped over the fight part and thought this was how to help human traffickers