The global human trafficking industry brings in over one hundred and fifty billion dollars annually. More than 25 million people -- many the most vulnerable among us, including children -- are victims coerced, tricked or forced into indentured servitude. Sex trafficking is an ever-growing business. During the time of COVID, business is booming, but it has become more difficult to uncover trafficking rings. Our isolation has kept us from seeing who might be a victim, or where they are located.
Despite films like Pretty Woman that would persuade us the sex trade can result in a fairy tale ending, it is a life filled with hopelessness and despair, a life our guest Stacy Reed has experienced. Stacy is a survivor, author, poet, and motivational speaker. She has traveled internationally to educate and advocate for victims, and for 20 years has worked with people who experience alcoholism, substance use disorders, prostitution, sex exploitation, domestic violence, mental health, and HIV/AIDS. She has a masters in social work and is currently a PsyD student enrolled at William James College in Newton, MA. She's also Supervisor of Peer Mentorship at RIA House, a non profit on a mission to help end human trafficking and sex exploitation. She believes "No one should be bought or sold for the sexual gratification of another person."
We welcome Stacy, and thank her for generously sharing her story during January, National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.
If you are or know someone who is being sexually exploited, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
