On this episode of Until All Are Free, Preston sits down with Drew and James, two volunteer investigators with The Exodus Road. The two recount their recent travels to Pakistan, where they assisted a separate nonprofit organization in securing the release of a family from debt bondage in Pakistan's brick-making industry.
Debt bondage is inherently complex, like many of the topics discussed in Until All Are Free. Many individuals ensnared in Pakistan's debt-bondage schemes are suffering from generational enslavement where the possibility of freedom from debt is unrealistic. In the landscape of human rights organizations addressing debt bondage worldwide, conversations often arise about the best tactics for intervention efforts to dismantle systems of exploitation that prop up this mechanism of trafficking. This episode is intended as an educational source about the nature of human trafficking in this region of the world. As an organization, The Exodus Road does not participate in transactional exchanges with traffickers to secure the freedom of a survivor of human trafficking.
Joining Preston on this episode of Until All Are Free is Daniel*, the Asia Regional Director at The Exodus Road. Daniel has investigated more than 1,000 locations in Asia for human trafficking. He'll share with us about what that's like and about the immense sacrifices law enforcement and our national staff make to do this work.
Before transitioning to the international space, Daniel worked as a lawyer in Colorado where he focused on child abuse and neglect cases in Jefferson County. Today, Daniel oversees The Exodus Road's international programs in India, the Philippines, and Thailand.
*Pseudonym used to ensure safety.
Oftentimes, the stories that we share focus on one single individual. One story. One Case.
Episode 27 is a little different in that regard. We're bringing you a glimpse into the exploitation of the Rohingya Muslim people group of present-day Myanmar.
In 2015, The Exodus Road had a unique opportunity to assist in a case that garnered international attention, thrusting the Rohingya's plight into the spotlight again. Responding to the request of law enforcement and another nonprofit organization in Thailand, The Exodus Road was able to provide cyber-forensic technology developed by Cellebrite that would eventually work to crack open a case resulting in the arrest of more than 100 and the successful rescue of hundreds more from a large trafficking ring in SE Asia.
Joining us to recount the story on this episode is The Exodus Road Co-founder, Matt Parker.
Episode Sources
Digital data helped take down a Thai General in the country’s largest human trafficking case
The Survivors of the Rohingya Genocide
Thailand: Mass Graves of Rohingya Found in Trafficking Camp
Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity and Ethnic Cleansing of Rohingya in Burma
Documentation of Atrocities in Northern Rakhine State
Muslims of the Land of Arakan - A Rohingya Song
In this episode of Until All Are Free, Preston is joined by Joel Karum of Ezekiel Rain.
Joel is the co-founder of the Thai nonprofit Ezekiel Rain, and he’s also on the board of The Exodus Road Thailand. Through over a decade of working with Ezekiel Rain, Joel Karum has become a leading expert in building resilient communities to prevent exploitation in Thailand. The organization emphasizes models that center around building strong families, including combating pornography’s role in perpetuating cultural and individual harm.
Joel has also been a friend of The Exodus Road since its inception, and the podcast proved to be inspiring and enlightening!
In this episode of Until All Are Free, Preston is joined by Amber Van Schooneveld to discuss what ethical storytelling looks like for nonprofits.
Amber Van Schooneveld is the Senior Marketing Director at The Exodus Road. She has an extensive background in nonprofit marketing and storytelling, having worked as Managing Editor (among other roles) with Compassion International for nearly 13 years. Amber leads the Marketing Department in the process of identifying stories from our countries of operation in order to share updates and celebrations with our community.
Preston and Amber chat about what it means to commit to ethical storytelling at The Exodus Road and why we have chosen to not use real imagery of survivors from raids in our communications. They also discuss a few specific cases and the opportunities that they presented to our team at our U.S. office. All of this and more!
UPDATE EPISODE : In EP 11 of Until All Are Free, we introduced you to the story of Maria, a young Kenyan woman who was exploited in a labor trafficking scheme that saw her separated from her family and living in Saudi Arabia.
The big news is that Maria is now back home with her family in Kenya and employed as an elementary school teacher as a result of The Exodus Road's Survivor Fund! This episode features more exclusive audio from Maria and also looks back on the circumstances of her story as told in EP 11.
"Making trafficking dangerous." It's a phrase that we often use to describe our work at The Exodus Road, and it refers to the way that the process of investigation, intervention, arrest, and prosecution discourages traffickers by making the crime riskier.
The guests on this episode of Until All Are Free are doing just that. Preston had the honor of hearing from Gabriela Aquino, Chief of Investigation of Organized Crime with the Brazilian Federal Police, as well as Cintia Meirelles de Azevedo, the Brazilian Liaison for The Exodus Road.
Gabriela is a lead presenter in TraffickWatch Academy, a training platform developed by The Exodus Road and deployed amongst law enforcement in Brazil. The curriculum of TraffickWatch Academy is actively helping to train law enforcement to see and respond to the crime of human trafficking throughout the country and is already having tangible effects as several successful rescue operations have occurred as a result of the training.
Learn more about TraffickWatch Academy by visiting: theexodusroad.com/traffickwatch
EP 22 in two acts: First, Preston introduces you to Karn, Country Director of The Exodus Road's operations in Thailand. Karn shares stories from his teams' experience in the fight against human trafficking on social media in 2021 –– including investigations that have begun on Twitter and Facebook and led to successful rescue and arrest operations.
Then we bring the conversation back to the United States and talk with The Exodus Road CEO and Founder, Laura Parker, to hear about one practical step that everyone can take to help protect those vulnerable to human trafficking in our families, neighborhood, community, and world.
On this episode of Until All Are Free we are thrilled to welcome Devisara Hannah Badi and Sarah Davison-Tracy, the authors of No Longer Untouchable: A Story of Human Trafficking, Heroism, and Hope.
No Longer Untouchable brings you into the appalling reality of modern-day slavery in Nepal as Devisara Hannah Badi and her sisters tell their stories. They have each overcome unimaginable odds to survive, and today they are bravely fighting to bring freedom, hope, and love into the darkest corners of the world.
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PURCHASE THE BOOK : No Longer Untouchable: A Story of Human Trafficking, Heroism, and Hope is available for purchase on Amazon.com.
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Sarah Davison-Tracy is an impassioned human rights advocate, author, speaker, and founder of Seeds of Exchange (SeedsofExchange.org) and Rooted and Beloved (RootedandBeloved.org). Connect with Sarah on her website, SarahDavisonTracy.com.
Devisara Hannah Badi is CEO of Himalayan Entrepreneur Resources (HER), an empowerment initiative in Nepal that provides health, safety, and autonomy to marginalized women so they can live free from sexual exploitation and abuse.
Recorded on-site with heroes of the anti-human trafficking movement, this episode of Until All Are Free features first-person interviews with survivors of human trafficking as well as the founder of Fundación Renacer, Luz Stela Cardenas Ovalle.
Fundación Renacer contributes to the eradication of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Boys, Girls and Adolescents (ESCNNA), through support programs and comprehensive care for victims, prevention, research, training, and advice to organizations and communities, from the perspective of protection, defense, and restitution of children's rights.
Emily Kennedy is a Co-Founder and Advisor to Marinus Analytics, an artificial intelligence company focused on protecting the vulnerable and ending systemic exploitation by serving those who work on the frontlines of public safety by developing technology that disrupts human trafficking, child abuse, and cyber fraud.
Emily previously served as President of Marinus and has been recognized and celebrated as a Forbes 30 Under 30, a Toyota Mother of Invention, and one of Entrepreneur’s Most Powerful Women.
Joining us on this episode of Until All Are Free, Preston had the honor of talking with Emily about the development of Marinus’ flagship ai-powered platform, TrafficJam, which saved law enforcement an estimated 70,000 investigative hours in 2020 alone. We also talked about her journey with the issue of human trafficking, the podcast that she hosts (The Empower Podcast), and what healthy nonprofit leadership can look like amidst the demands of our modern world.
On this episode of Until All Are Free we welcome Andrew, Lacey, and Jordan – the band members who make up City of Sound. City of Sound is a 100% independent rock band based out of Los Angeles, CA.
We talked about their origin as a band, the messiness of nonprofit work, the temptation to only share neatly packaged stories, and how Andrew's experience in one red light district in Thailand still influences the music that they produce today.
Follow City of Sound on Instagram or on their website, http://cityofsoundmusic.com/.
Recorded on site with Arturo* – The Exodus Road's Country Director in Latin America – this episode explores the challenges and joys of the work of intervention through the experiences of a front-lines operative.
To learn more about The Exodus Road's work in prevention, intervention, and aftercare visit theexodusroad.com.
Until All Are Free is a podcast produced by The Exodus Road, a nonprofit dedicated to the strategic fight against human trafficking. The podcast is hosted and produced by Preston Goff. Music heard on the outro of this episode was produced and generously donated by City of Sound.
*Name changed to protect identity.
This episode Preston is joined by DELTA* operative and TER board member, Nate Griffin. Nate is an Executive Producer working within the film industry. His company, Grateful Inconvenience Inc., most recently produced the television series, Connected: A Search for Unity. The series features Monty Moran, former CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill, as he travels across the U.S. and Canada talking with people about their unique perspectives on life, culture, the environment, politics, immigration and social media.
You can follow Nate's work on Instagram at @kanakanate.
*The Exodus Road primarily supports police in evidence gathering for cases of human trafficking. Working with teams of nationals, we deploy trained and highly vetted Western operatives to help with identifying current victims, gathering intelligence, building evidence packages for police, and supporting operations. We call this team DELTA Team.
While the process and work is challenging and daunting, it is also highly effective. Evidence is gathered, cases are delivered, rescues and arrests are empowered on the front lines.
The BR-116 is the second-longest highway in all of Brazil. At nearly 2,800 miles or 4,500 KM long, it winds its way through bustling metropolis cities like Rio de Janeiro and scarcely populated towns throughout the country. While the road contains much beauty, it also holds dark secrets.
On this episode of Until All Are Free, we are joined by Matt Roper, a British journalist and the author of Highway to Hell: The Road where Childhoods Are Stolen.
Matt shares his experiences alongside trafficking victims and at-risk youth in Brazil, as well as the dark nature of the extraordinarily long road that serves as a gateway for the sexual exploitation of thousands of Brazil's youngest.
What are the truths about human trafficking in the United States? What legal protection, or lack thereof, exists for survivors of human trafficking in each of the 50 states?
In this episode, we are joined by Jamie Beck, the President, and Managing Attorney at Free to Thrive. Free to Thrive empowers survivors of human trafficking to be free from exploitation and to thrive by providing them with holistic and trauma-informed, legal and support services in collaboration with our service partners, and by increasing access to justice for all survivors.
Learn more about Jamie and the work of Free to Thrive by visiting freetothrive.org.
In the fight against human trafficking, there are many great men and women advocating for the most vulnerable. At The Exodus Road we believe that when we fight human trafficking together, survivors win.
Ben Cooley is the co-founder and CEO of Hope For Justice, a nonprofit that exists to bring an end to modern slavery by preventing exploitation, rescuing victims, restoring lives, and reforming society.
Ben is known for his encouragement and resolve in the midst of a dark issue, and we're honored to welcome him on this episode of Until All Are Free.
To learn more about the work of Hope For Justice around the world, visit hopeforjustice.org.