Awareness Isn’t Enough

We have all seen the commercials of animals living in horrific situations abandoned and rejected, starving and chained. For just $19 a month, 63 cents a day you can “save an animal and not stand by while they suffer.” I love animals, I am against any cruelty and people should be held accountable.

Help me understand though, why we can feel good about throwing 63 cents a day toward that cause, but judge and turn a blind eye to the atrocities of human trafficking. Help me understand why our hearts are not broken by what is happening all around us, to our friends, neighbors, family members being sexually exploited because we choose not to see them suffering in silence while being terrorized to keep the secrets. Help me understand why we should also not stand by while victims of human trafficking suffer. This is not my attempt at rhetoric, this is reality. This harsh reality is so ingrained that most survivors do not fully realize that they indeed are victims of trafficking.  Over and over in conversations I have had with survivors it is determined that they were first sexually exploited by the age of 3.  That begins the trajectory of vulnerability.  When life begins that way, it is “normal,” and the manipulation and psychological warfare becomes paralyzing.  I read a recent study that stated 72% of sexual victimizations are from an immediate family member or close family friend.  22% of sexual victimizations occur from a person of authority (coach, doctor, clergy, law enforcement – to name a few) where trust should be safe.  So, when you are exploited and exposed to such selfish destruction at an early age, or anytime someone can leverage your vulnerability, it becomes normalized and hard to believe that trafficking is occurring.

We need to see survivors. Know their stories. Yes, we need to become aware of what human trafficking is! Awareness is not enough.  I have a firm belief that once you become aware, especially anything that stirs your heart, you must choose what you will do to be a part of the solution. We cannot just throw 63 cents at a cause and feel like we have done our part. We need real change. That starts with awareness, yes, but it also must include actively supporting survivors and advocates who are fighting every day for the truth to be told. Awareness must include action that hold traffickers accountable. It must include a pathway for survivors to receive justice, until they live free.

*****

“Awareness isn’t enough—and why truth-telling matters. Volunteering with an anti-trafficking nonprofit, my motivation was simple: a deep love for people. As I learned more about the ways trafficking was destroying lives, I felt a responsibility to offer my time, talent, and treasure to raise awareness and educate my community. I organized film screenings and presentations in coffee shops. I partnered with local businesses and nonprofits to host events and gather resources.  At the time, I thought I understood trafficking.

I didn’t.

A few years later—after watching documentaries, reading countless books, and listening to dozens of survivor stories—I had my first true lightbulb moment.  Memories I had buried flooded my mind. The desperate situations I had lived through suddenly made sense. Patterns emerged. Dots connected.

That’s when I realized something that changed everything:

I had been a victim of human trafficking.

Before that revelation, I would have described my experiences as molestation, rape, and domestic violence. But once I understood that the common factor was another person profiting from my exploitation, the indicators became unmistakable.

Medical records. Court documents. Years of evidence.  It was trafficking.”

Sandy Storm, Survivor

@sandystormspeaks

*****

“Awareness alone has never saved anyone.

As a survivor, I’ve learned this the hard way. Awareness didn’t interrupt my exploitation. Awareness didn’t create safety. Awareness didn’t hold offenders accountable. Action does.

We’ve gotten very good at hashtags, colors, and campaigns. But too often, awareness becomes the finish line instead of the starting point.

If awareness mattered on its own, trafficking wouldn’t still be happening in our communities, our hotels, our neighborhoods, and our systems.

See us.

Not as broken. Not as damaged. Not as our worst moments.

See the strength it took to survive what should have destroyed us.

What happened to us shaped us, but it does not define us.

Our pain is not weakness. It is proof of endurance.

We are more than our trauma. And that truth matters.

You may forget the numbers, but you will remember a survivor’s story.”            Jessica Kay, Survivor

www.iamjessicakay.com