Human Trafficking Just Got Caught By a Yellow Light
Human trafficking, the very sound of the word can bring many to concern, however, it is on the radar of Social Media. With the creation of an SMS-based program that instantly connects people to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) hotline victims can now get quicker assistance. People with knowledge of the situation can text “Be Free” in which they would get a quick response to deal with their needs.
With the help of Polaris Project, Thorn:Digital Defenders of Children, communication API service Twilio and Salesforce Foundation discreet text messages can now potentially save the lives of thousands if not Millions of people involved in Human trafficking. Human Trafficking has an estimated profit of 32$ billion a year, it is the world’s’ third largest criminal industry and with some new insight we maybe able to see it slowly become less brutal.
“Based on our experience working directly with survivors of human trafficking, we know that many of them regularly communicate via text,” Sarah Jakiel, deputy director of Polaris Project, told Mashable.
“Victims are heavily controlled by their exploiters — what they wear, where they go, how much they work, what they eat — but they may be able to send a quick, discreet text message.”
We can all be a victim of Human Trafficking but if we work together given how we communicate we can all potentially prevent future victims of Human trafficking and it starts by being aware of what you can do.
Source: Mashable
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