Fighting Human Trafficking: Safeguarding Our Children against Criminal Predators

As tens of millions of children begin another school year across the United States, and as we celebrate another cherished national holiday, Labor Day, September 3rd, Luna Global Networks wishes all Americans a safe and blessed time with their families and loved ones, and all communities across our great country a more peaceful and secured environment.

On Labor Day, we celebrate the successes of all working Americans who have built this country to greatness since the birth of our nation. We have fought for fairness, equality, justice, safer workplaces, and higher wages that have supported generations of families and a better future for their children. We must continue to protect our workers, entrepreneurs and businesses, and innovative industries to continue America’s prosperity and maintain our global moral standing for future generations.

And while we honor hard working Americans, we also must protect our most precious human capital, our children.

Given the somber reality that a myriad of dangers and violence often lurk around the corner, including the perverse criminality associated with human trafficking, we must be ever vigilant to safeguard the welfare of our children against the evil lure of gangs and traffickers who target our children for sexual exploitation and other forced labors.

Children are trafficked into or out of the United States from all corners of the world. While still largely an underreported crime, it is believed that every year thousands of American children in our country are commercially sexually exploited including runaways, many between the ages of 13 and 17. Children 12 and younger also suffer commercial sexual abuse at the hands of criminal traffickers.

Across the country, many children and young adults will continue to be coerced, exploited, kidnapped, and forced into servitude every day by predatory pimps, gang leaders, and criminal syndicates who will target and lure them on the Internet and social media (e.g., leveraging messaging apps), at schools, malls, fast food restaurants, or other places of opportunity to profit from such heinous acts and horrific crimes. 

Many traffickers will offer spending money, food, jewelry, new clothes, attention, and a false sense of friendship, love, and trust to cultivate a relationship and quickly entice, trap, and force a child to a life of prostitution.

We must unite and work together against these criminal threats and eliminate all forms of modern day slavery, human trafficking, and child sexual exploitation.

Luna Global Networks will join forces with other committed partners and doers to help communities to “know the signs” employed by traffickers, and to build coalitions that can support our law enforcement agencies at the Federal, state, and local levels with actionable intelligence and information to identify and disrupt trafficking networks, and bring victims home and into safer, secure environments.

 No child is immune to becoming a victim of human trafficking and child sexual exploitation, irrespective of race, socioeconomic status, gender, age or location. No person should ever have a price tag attached to their heart and soul nor be restricted, abused, and violated against their physical integrity and free will.

Our children should enjoy their youth, grow up to realize their fullest potential and dreams, and learn to be responsible citizens and tomorrow’s leaders.

As many around the world paid tribute this week to a great American Patriot and courageous hero, U.S. Senator John McCain, we honor his service to our great country and determined leadership, and applaud his commitment to our military, freedom, democratic values and ideals, and the universal principles enshrined in our Constitution. 

We also commend Senator McCain, his beloved wife Cindy and family, and the McCain Institute, for their unwavering commitment on fighting modern slavery and countering human trafficking. Earlier this year, Senator McCain made the following statement in recognition of National Slavery and Human Trafficking Awareness Month:

[W]e must reaffirm our commitment to eliminating all forms of modern day slavery and human trafficking. These are horrific crimes that undermine the most basic human rights, and target the most vulnerable and at-risk individuals in our society.

I’m also proud of my wife Cindy’s longstanding effort to help victims of human trafficking and drive change both in Arizona and around the world.

We have a long way to go to end this tragedy and restore the freedom of those exploited through these crimes. . . .[I]t is our duty to not only raise awareness, but to stop the victimization of all men, women and children.

On this Labor Day, as our children start another new year in school, Luna Global Networks reinforces Senator McCain’s inspiring words. We look forward to joining other champions committed to a world free of modern slavery, eliminating trafficking from our communities, and advancing the noble ideals and principle that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. 

Reporting Human Trafficking: Useful Information and Numbers

National Human Trafficking Hotline

toll-free hotline at 1-888-373-7888

https://humantraffickinghotline.org/

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS): Blue Campaign

1-866-347-2423

https://www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign

ICE HSI Child Exploitation Investigations Unit

1-866-DHS-2ICE

https://www.ice.gov/predator

?Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/civil-rights/human-trafficking

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

1-800-843-5678

https://www.missingkids.com/home