For years I have feared human trafficking, I knew very little about it, but it still scared me. I do not like parking too far away when going to the store, I lock my car door as soon as I get in and have convinced myself that getting gas is a dangerous task. I read stories about missing people and am shocked that I live in a world where people are being forced into either sex trafficking or labor. 71% of the victims of human trafficking are female. Reading this stat makes me upset, it upsets me that I think about things like what I wear when I am alone in public, if my hairstyle is making it easier for an attacker to take me, and makes me change up my route home so I can’t easily be tracked.
This December I joined the Dressember movement to raise money and awareness for anti-trafficking. I have worn a dress every day this month to serve as a conversation starter and to reclaim and reappropriate the dress as a symbol of freedom and power.
As I have done more research on the topic, I have realized that living in Montana it is statistically unlikely I would be a victim of trafficking. However, it has also come to my attention that Indigenous women are in some cases 10 times more likely to be involved in human trafficking than other races. Being from Montana this is especially alarming since 7% of our population is Indigenous. While I personally may be at lower risk of being involved in this terrible crime, it still scares me that people are being forced into modern-day slavery and wanted to do something to help the more vulnerable members of our population.
I have since done research on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW). There is a stereotype that Indigenous women just going missing, that there is nothing that could be done to stop it. Some of these cases are just dismissed due to accusations of substance abuse, involvement in prostitution and a lack of family pushing for investigations. None of these things justify allowing a missing person to go uninvestigated. If the cases are not dismissed there is a lack of media coverage and the cases are often lost between tribal, county and state law enforcement.
The more I have learned the scarier it gets, I learned that traffickers look for vulnerable youth, people struggling with mental health or substance abuse, people who are homeless, people without good support systems. They are looking for someone who will not be missed, someone whose disappearance will not be questioned. It is upsetting that people are going missing and being forgotten soon afterward. That these people become cold cases or are assumed dead when in reality they are facing a life of slavery, whether sold to a brothel or being forced into labor.
It also is terrifying that this is not a crime of desperation, this is not some way for the traffickers to feed their families, it’s a career. They are deceiving some of the most vulnerable members of our communities, making them feel understood, appreciated and gaining the victims’ trust. Then they are selling the victims for their own personal gain. These people must be stopped.
This crime must end. We cannot allow our communities to suffer as more and more people are being forced into modern slavery, we must fight back and demand justice for these victims.
It has been hard to do this research — it is stuff I wish I didn’t know. Especially during the month of December, a month that is so full of holiday cheer, a part of me wished I wasn’t researching such a dark topic. However, I am inspired by the donations I received throughout the month and am excited that I made well over my goal $500. It has made me realize that I’m so lucky to live in such a generous community and that this December I was able to make a difference because of the people around me. I am overwhelmed by the support Dressember has had here in Great Falls and am so glad I took this month to fight for social justice and freedom for all.
While Dressember may officially be over at midnight, the fight does not stop, we must continue to protect all members of our communities, especially the most vulnerable, and we must never let a missing person go unnoticed or be forgotten.
Donate to the cause at the link: https://dressember2020.funraise.org/fundraiser/hallie-thompson
*I have gotten all of my stats form the Dressember website.