“It can be hidden in plain sight.”
As Dr. Halleh Seddighzadeh discussed earlier today at the annual Sustainable Brands conference in Detroit, human trafficking is far more widespread than popularly believed.
“Picture your neighbor. Picture your employee. That’s what a victim looks like,” she said, countering some of the cinematic stereotypes surrounding this issue.
For several years, Seddighzadeh has worked as a counter-trafficking advisor and trauma specialist to combat the rampant problem of sex trafficking. And, as the founder of the Asylee Refugee Migrant Assistance Network (ARMAN), she has a rare insight into this devastating problem, something she was able to share with the attendees of this year’s sustainability conference during a powerful presentation.
“Essentially, sex trafficking is present and has been documented in every sector in this room,” Seddighzadeh said boldly to the audience of business leaders — calling the enterprise a massive “shadow economy,” which the internet’s dark web and cryptocurrency have assisted in recent years.
“The tip of the iceberg has yet to be discovered,” she claimed.
The solution to this seems to be corporate awareness and training. Once we realize that sex trafficking isn’t siloed to what you see in the movies, she argued, we can ensure that that the private sector becomes a force for good.
You can learn more about what can be done to prevent sex trafficking by going to ARMAN’s website here.
