Written by Anna Glider, Founder & Executive Director, Anchor Project
People often ask me why I am passionate about the issue of human trafficking. I find it difficult to convey it in just a few words. For as long as I can remember I have always been a human rights advocate. I believe in dignity and value of every human life and in fighting for those who don’t have a voice.
26 years ago, is when I first encountered human trafficking while on a work assignment in an Asian Country. Thinking that this heinous crime can’t possibly reach the Unites States, my country, a country that accepted my family and I as immigrants in 1992 while escaping a communist regime. No sensible person believes that slavery can happen in the 21st century far less on our shores. We couldn’t have been more wrong…
When people hear the words “human trafficking” they often think of a scene from the movie “Taken” women drugged, kidnapped, and forced into prostitution. While situations like this do exist (and must be stopped), the issue is even more extensive than we would like to think.
Victims of human trafficking can be found in schools, their bodies sold by their boyfriend or girlfriend so that they can earn money or drugs. They can be in a restaurant, working long hours for little to no pay under the threat of deportation. They can be in a cult coerced into thinking this is the best place for them.
They can be in their own homes trafficked by their family. The clothes that we wear and the produce we ingest can be made by adults and children that are forced to work long hours in unsafe conditions. What does Super Bowl have to do with trafficking? Well, when it arrives every year, it has the potential to become one of the single largest sex trafficking incidents of the year in the U.S. as victims are brought in to service the influx of people.
We should be deeply concerned about human trafficking, it is a crime against humanity, it intertwines with many other social justice issues. It is connected to gender and racial inequality because at its root is the belief that one human life is worth less than another. It is connected to fair pay and immigration because victims can be trapped due to lack of income, debt bondage, or the threat of deportation. It is connected to domestic violence because too often the perpetrators are spouses, parents, or other family members. As we fight human trafficking, we also fight for human dignity in all walks of life, no matter the age, race, gender, religion or socioeconomic status.
And even with all of this I was not discouraged. Instead, I was inspired to take a stand and fight to end the cycle of human trafficking in Virginia.
It inspired me to open a not for profit organization, the Anchor Project. Anchor project is focused on systematical gaps that we currently have in Commonwealth of Virginia.
Our states trademark “Virginia is for Lovers’ needs to fulfill the obligation of its name and stay a beautiful state without a crime of modern day slavery.
Our goal at the Anchor Project is to Prevent and Protect our vulnerable citizens from this hidden crime from happening on the first place. We need to be proactive in prevention. We need to act not react. We need to mandate the necessary training for first responders, school districts and social welfare system.
To provide them the ability to identity and address human trafficking. Proper statistics data is also necessary in Virginia, we are working on locating a college that will take on this much needed research. Businesses need to offer yearly training on human trafficking. Hotel Policy and the fact that no one is holding the owners of hotels responsible for the mandated training in place is a big issue and should be taken seriously.
So here I am, set out on a mission to help change our states response to trafficking.
Our people matter, Our children matter, Our nations future matters.
If you would like further information or to support my mission, please visit: AnchorProject.org
People often ask me why I am passionate about the issue of human trafficking. I find it difficult to convey it in just a few words. For as long as I can remember I have always been a human rights advocate. I believe in dignity and value of every human life and in fighting for those who don’t have a voice.
26 years ago, is when I first encountered human trafficking while on a work assignment in an Asian Country. Thinking that this heinous crime can’t possibly reach the Unites States, my country, a country that accepted my family and I as immigrants in 1992 while escaping a communist regime. No sensible person believes that slavery can happen in the 21st century far less on our shores. We couldn’t have been more wrong…
When people hear the words “human trafficking” they often think of a scene from the movie “Taken” women drugged, kidnapped, and forced into prostitution. While situations like this do exist (and must be stopped), the issue is even more extensive than we would like to think.
Victims of human trafficking can be found in schools, their bodies sold by their boyfriend or girlfriend so that they can earn money or drugs. They can be in a restaurant, working long hours for little to no pay under the threat of deportation. They can be in a cult coerced into thinking this is the best place for them.
They can be in their own homes trafficked by their family. The clothes that we wear and the produce we ingest can be made by adults and children that are forced to work long hours in unsafe conditions. What does Super Bowl have to do with trafficking? Well, when it arrives every year, it has the potential to become one of the single largest sex trafficking incidents of the year in the U.S. as victims are brought in to service the influx of people.
We should be deeply concerned about human trafficking, it is a crime against humanity, it intertwines with many other social justice issues. It is connected to gender and racial inequality because at its root is the belief that one human life is worth less than another. It is connected to fair pay and immigration because victims can be trapped due to lack of income, debt bondage, or the threat of deportation. It is connected to domestic violence because too often the perpetrators are spouses, parents, or other family members. As we fight human trafficking, we also fight for human dignity in all walks of life, no matter the age, race, gender, religion or socioeconomic status.
And even with all of this I was not discouraged. Instead, I was inspired to take a stand and fight to end the cycle of human trafficking in Virginia.
It inspired me to open a not for profit organization, the Anchor Project. Anchor project is focused on systematical gaps that we currently have in Commonwealth of Virginia.
Our states trademark “Virginia is for Lovers’ needs to fulfill the obligation of its name and stay a beautiful state without a crime of modern day slavery.
Our goal at the Anchor Project is to Prevent and Protect our vulnerable citizens from this hidden crime from happening on the first place. We need to be proactive in prevention. We need to act not react. We need to mandate the necessary training for first responders, school districts and social welfare system.
To provide them the ability to identity and address human trafficking. Proper statistics data is also necessary in Virginia, we are working on locating a college that will take on this much needed research. Businesses need to offer yearly training on human trafficking. Hotel Policy and the fact that no one is holding the owners of hotels responsible for the mandated training in place is a big issue and should be taken seriously.
So here I am, set out on a mission to help change our states response to trafficking.
Our people matter, Our children matter, Our nations future matters.
If you would like further information or to support my mission, please visit: AnchorProject.org
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The opinions reflected in this article are not necessarily the opinions of LET
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