"Is there anything you need right now?"

“Is there anything you need right now?” 

“Would you like a snack? Some water? A blanket?”

 “I know this isn’t what you expected.” 

These are just a few of the words spoken by one of our staff members last month as they engaged with a potential victim of human trafficking. She had just been intercepted by law enforcement during a multi-agency human trafficking operation, where the goal is to identify potential victims, offer them resources and support, and hold traffickers accountable. Collaborative responses like this operation are one facet of our community-based services, which provide crisis intervention, advocacy, and holistic care to help survivors stabilize, build resilience, and thrive within their community. 

Dignity bags assembled and donated by a group of volunteers

Leading up to an operation, our team begins prepping months in advance. Internally, we assemble care baskets, organize dignity bags donated by volunteers, coordinate community resources, and create staffing plans based on the anticipated needs of the day. We attend planning meetings with law enforcement and partner organizations to understand what to expect and how we can provide support. Collaborating alongside community partners is critical to ensure that victims of exploitation are identified and given access to survivor-centered services while traffickers are being held accountable. 

When it’s time to step into a room with a potential victim of trafficking, we enter slowly, speaking with warmth and compassion. Rather than standing over her, we sit on the floor beside her chair, creating a posture of humility and safety. Our team acknowledges the strangeness of the situation and clarifies that we’re there to provide support. We explain that we work with individuals who have traded their bodies, or access to their bodies, for something of value and share that when another person controls someone's behavior, takes their earnings, manipulates, coerces, or forces them into commercial sex, that individual is committing a crime and that the person being exploited is a victim. We specify that though some people identify their experiences as human trafficking, others do not, and that's okay. 

Throughout the conversation, we make it clear that they do not have to leave "the life," cooperate with law enforcement, or commit to any next steps to receive care. We hope to remove barriers, meet practical needs, and begin building a relationship that can continue long after the operation ends. For many survivors, especially those in their late teens or early twenties, this may be one of the first times someone has shown them kindness without expecting anything in return. 

Following the operation, our team will reach out within 24 hours to continue the conversation and follow through on the support discussed. Sometimes our communication does not extend past that first meeting. Other times it grows into months, or even years, walking alongside them as they pursue healing on their own timeline.

For us, a successful operation means offering a safe space, resources, voice, choice, and a connection of hope. There is beauty in meeting these women where they are, sitting with them, hearing any needs they feel comfortable sharing, offering a trauma-informed interaction with law enforcement, and laying the groundwork for a supportive connection. We consider it a privilege to meet and walk alongside each survivor for the long journey of restoration. 

Exiting exploitation or leaving a trafficker can seem like an impossible choice to make. And though they may not be ready to leave their situation when we first meet them, they might be one day. And just maybe they remember that someone sat beside them, looked them in the eye, and told them they were worthy of love and care without asking for anything in return.

Sometimes, that memory of hope can become the first step toward healing.