The Exodus Road

18,000 kids are reported missing in Brazil every year. Will you help bring them home? 1-year-old Sofia was one of the 18,000 kids reported missing every year in Brazil, but now she is back home in her mother’s arms. In December of 2023, Sofia’s estranged father abducted her from her mom, taking the young girl north as he traveled across multiple country borders and into dangerous jungles. Every year, hundreds of thousands of migrants from South American countries embark on perilous journeys, often traveling northward through the Darién Gap – a mountainous jungle region spanning the border of Colombia and Panama. His reason for abducting Sofia for the journey may never be known – the father vanished in the jungle, leaving Sofia, an infant, stranded and alone. Officials suspect he died in the harsh terrain. It was there in the jungle where another group of migrant travelers discovered vulnerable Sofia and surrendered her to a Panamanian shelter, where officials began the complicated process of determining where she was from, how she ended up in Panama, and most importantly, who might be looking for her. That is where The Exodus Road was invited to intervene. Working with officials in Brazil, The Exodus Road was asked to help fund the reunification of Sofia with her mother, Veronica, back home in Brazil. Veronica had spent more than six months desperately searching and hoping that her daughter would be returned safely. We were eager to assist, and in May of 2024, our team waited with the expectant mother outside security at the airport in São Paulo. Finally, the moment came when a lawyer walked off the jet bridge and through airport doors, carrying Sofia. Veronica wrapped her daughter in her arms. Sofia was finally home. More than 18,000 children like Sofia are reported missing each year in Brazil. Sofia is home, but there are so many kids like her still lost — kids being exploited or trafficked. Will you help us reunite families and combat human trafficking in Brazil? Give now: theexodusroad.com/sofia

Although human trafficking and human smuggling often overlap, they are not the same crime. What are the main differences between the two? Human trafficking is a crime against a person. Human smuggling is a crime against a country. Human trafficking is nonconsensual and involves force, fraud, or coercion. Human smuggling is a consensual arrangement. Human trafficking does not require movement. Human smuggling always involves movement across country borders. Human smuggling can often escalate into trafficking when the smuggler exploits the person they are transporting for material gain. Understanding the nuances of these two crimes stops the spread of misinformation. When falsehoods about human smuggling are dispelled, advocates for freedom can stand together in clear-minded vigilance against exploitation of all kinds. Learn more about human smuggling’s relationship to trafficking:

Law enforcement partners reached out to our Latin American team: “There are places we can’t investigate without causing suspicion. But we know that kids are being trafficked there. Will you help us?” We went to work.  We discovered a sophisticated network of criminals trafficking kids ranging from 1-16 years old. The smallest children were forced to beg. Many of the middle school-aged kids were trafficked for labor, peddling products and drugs on the streets of an urban Latin American neighborhood. The teenagers were trafficked for s*x, used and abused by both the crime bosses and paying clients.  We knew these kids couldn’t stay there a moment longer.  Hours of careful investigation gave law enforcement all of the information they hoped for. They swept the area, finding the frightened kids huddled in small groups on street corners and in abandoned structures.  It will take a long time to trace each child’s place of origin, to find their parents and determine if it’s safe for them to go home. Some of the kids were far from their home countries. Fortunately, trusted aftercare partners have committed to the long-term process of healing and repatriation for these kids who have suffered myriad kinds of abuse.  Our team will continue to work to find other survivors of exploitation like these, going where others can’t or won’t go until all are free.  Thank you for sending us to free these kids! 

A TechBiz Forense Digital, em parceria com a Cellebrite, tem a satisfação de apoiar a masterclass sobre o enfrentamento ao tráfico de pessoas realizada pela The Exodus Road para a Polícia Civil do Estado de São Paulo.    Conheça o projeto assistindo ao vídeo e leia o artigo completo sobre a iniciativa no site da Secretaria da Segurança Pública do Estado de São Paulo: https://lnkd.in/d6bdHYUc

Incredible news: your support allowed us to participate in freedom for 44 survivors and justice for 30 traffickers in July! Here are the stories you were a part of: • 3 young women were sold for sex at livestreamed parties in Latin America. They're free, their trafficker arrested! https://xdsrd.com/4fnzyes • 2 girls free from brothels in Indian hotels, 4 perpetrators arrested — including a notorious trafficking boss! • 15 girls and 1 young woman are free, 5 traffickers who exploited them for sex arrested in the Philippines. https://xdsrd.com/3RO4KK0 • 4 women, 2 of them just teenagers, were freed from brothels in Thai hotels. 4 traffickers were arrested! • About a dozen women from multiple countries were freed from sex trafficking in Indian brothels, and 15 traffickers were arrested! https://xdsrd.com/4bwoZmn • A young girl in the Philippines was being sexually exploited online. Cellebrite technology helped us find her. She’s safe and healing! • 3 teenage girls found and freed in Latin America, one of them with a baby. Our psychologist is making sure they get trauma therapy. We look forward to another month of disrupting the darkness together!

Today is World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, and we know that awareness is a powerful force in disrupting this $236 billion a year criminal industry. Here some major facts about human trafficking: • 50 million people are currently trapped in modern-day slavery • 71% of people experiencing trafficking are women and girls • 25% of trafficked people are children • Trafficking is the 3rd most lucrative criminal industry in the world • 52% of all forced labor can be found in upper-middle income or high-income countries In the United States, you can report suspected trafficking to the National Human Trafficking Hotline by calling 1-888-373-7888. Share this post to be part of spreading awareness and disrupting the darkness of modern-day slavery on this important global day of advocacy!

Luna (not her real name) was forced to lie about her age to cover up the truth: she was just a kid, and she was being trafficked for sex. This teenage girl is one of many that our police partners have found in Brazil due to our expert training and the equipment we’ve provided in partnership with Cellebrite. Law enforcement officers were able to see beneath the trafficker’s deceit and bring them to justice — freeing Luna and reuniting her with her family. No child should be separated from their family and sold for sex. Will you take a stand for that truth today? Visit https://xdsrd.com/4cZkf9Q

For more than a decade, Venezuela has been a place of profound instability. Political conflict has given rise to economic hardship and daily violence across the country, making life incredibly difficult for residents. That’s why Angelica, Genesis, and Marian (all pseudonyms) left home. They accompanied a recruiter who seemed poised to offer them the stability they longed for. These women were in their early 20s, entering adulthood with few options in their home country. It was easy to jump on a chance to experience independent adulthood. When they arrived in another country far from home, their dreams of independence were shattered. Instead, they were locked inside a house. Food was withheld, doled out in tiny quantities that barely kept them alive. Man after man showed up at their door, buying them for sexual services. Worst of all were the parties. Though the events were private, the content was recorded, adding digital exploitation to the layers of abuse. If Angelica, Genesis, and Marian tried to say no, their trafficker threatened them with death. These young women had escaped the violence of their country — only to experience the most profound violence against their bodies and their selfhood. The Exodus Road’s Latin America team heard about the girls from police partners, who asked for help. But our investigators applied creativity and ingenuity in tactics that allowed them to ethically collect all the evidence police needed. Police arrested the man who had been profiting from selling vulnerable women. And our staff psychologist was ready to provide immediate follow-up care. Angelica, Genesis, and Marian felt overwhelming relief when they were finally free from the house where they’d been held — finally truly independent. After the horrific trauma they had experienced, it would have been understandable and blameless had they chosen to stay silent about the crimes committed by their abuser. But these women were stubbornly, audaciously brave. Through formal interviews with law enforcement, they offered resounding accusations about their trafficker’s actions, giving the court system everything they needed to open a strong case against him. Thank you for continuing to support The Exodus Road so that we can stand in solidarity with survivors like Angelica, Genesis, and Marian!

After his team freed a 16-year-old girl from sex trafficking in Brazil, a police partner told us, “When we started our work, our focus was guns, drugs, and other things that were smuggled. After the training with The Exodus Road, now we look for people.” Our training empowered this officer with Brazil’s Federal Police to look closer at the situations they were encountering on Brazil’s border. Beneath all of the illicit movement of drugs and weapons, they started seeing girls — still just kids — being trafficked for sex. This 16-year-old is one of over 300 survivors of trafficking that we have helped free since we began working in Brazil. Will you help us find the next one? Join us now: theexodusroad.com/sofia

“No one knows how this baby survived. It's a miracle. Sofia is a miracle.” That’s what The Exodus Road’s Rebeca Canal shared with Brazilian news outlet Domingo Espetacular after witnessing 1-year-old Sofia restored to her mother. Sofia had been abducted and taken deep into a dangerous rainforest. “Sofia was found in the Darién jungle, abandoned, with only a suitcase,” Rebeca explains. “She was found by a Haitian man who left her at immigration.” At The Exodus Road, we’re committed to reuniting missing kids with their parents. We stepped in to facilitate the complicated process of bringing Sofia home, into the waiting arms of her mother Veronica. This miracle baby is safe. But we know that other kids are still out there alone — whether through abduction like Sofia, or through human trafficking. We want to bring them home. Will you join us? https://xdsrd.com/4cZkf9Q