Our Course of Action: Love 146

     For our action, we as a group decided to join the organization Love146. Love146 is a global force of abolitionists against child trafficking. The name of the organization originates from an experience the co-founders experienced when they went undercover to a brothel where children were being sold for sex. Rob Morris, President and co-founder of Love146 tells us the story.

“We found ourselves standing shoulder to shoulder with predators in a small room, looking at little girls through a pane of glass. All of the girls wore red dresses with a number pinned to their dress for identification. They sat, blankly watching cartoons on TV. They were vacant, shells of what a child should be. There was no light in their eyes, no life left. Their light had been taken from them. These children…raped each night… seven, ten, fifteen times every night. They were so young. Thirteen, eleven… it was hard to tell. Sorrow covered their faces with nothingness. Except one girl. One girl who wouldn't watch the cartoons. Her number was 146. She was looking beyond the glass. She was staring out at us with a piercing gaze. There was still fight left in her eyes. There was still life left in this girl... All of these emotions begin to wreck you. Break you. It is agony. It is aching. It is grief. It is sorrow. The reaction is intuitive, instinctive. It is visceral. It releases a wailing cry inside of you. It elicits gut-level indignation. It is unbearable. I remember wanting to break through the glass. To take her away from that place. To scoop up as many of them as I could into my arms. To take all of them away. I wanted to break through the glass to tell her to keep fighting. To not give up. To tell her that we were coming for her. Because we went in as part of an ongoing, undercover investigation on this particular brothel, we were unable to immediately respond. Evidence had to be collected in order to bring about a raid and eventually justice on those running the brothel. It is an immensely difficult problem when an immediate response cannot address an emergency. Some time later, there was a raid on this brothel and children were rescued. But the girl who wore #146 was no longer there. We do not know what happened to her, but we will never forget her. She changed the course of all of our lives.”

Since then, Love 146 has been actively involved in the fight against child trafficking. They operate on one simple principle: That love has the power to protect, defend, restore, and empower. This love is exercised practically by means of four main programs:

1. Survivor Care – providing holistic care for survivors of exploitation and assistance with reintegration.
2. Prevention Education - Teaching local communities how to protect themselves and others from child trafficking.
3. Professional Training – Equipping professionals who interact often with children with tools to aid in protection and restoration.
4. Empowering Movement – Developing and aiding abolitionist groups with education, training, funding, evaluation, and support.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

     Through these channels, Love146 has made an impact in the fight against human trafficking By promoting prevention and providing care post-trauma. They are not directly involved in the rescue of children, but they work in close association with those that do, according to their FAQs page. In signing up to be a part of Love 146, we have access to information regarding  opportunities where we can lend a hand. It is the intention of all three of us to pursue volunteer work in this area. The story and mission of Love146, as well as it's results, are inspiring to be sure. They are a prime example of what can be accomplished when you decide it's time to make a change. But they need our help so that more children can be spared and more survivors can be aided in healing from the trauma. Let's do what we can to end child trafficking. How can we say no, when we have a community of abolitionists ready to stand with us in the members of Love 146.