EPISODE 14: Human Trafficking Special

EPISODE 14

[00:00:20] KK: Hey everybody, welcome to Risky Business with the Coverage Queens. I'm Kathy Kaehler.

[00:00:25] BL: And I'm Bliss Landon.

[00:00:27] KK: Welcome to this episode. How are you?

[00:00:29] BL: I'm fantastic. How are you?

[00:00:31] KK: Great. Greg. Great.

[00:00:32] BL: Lunch was good. Lunch was really good.

[00:00:34] KK: Lunch was delicious.

[00:00:35] BL: Yes, we have a stand. Pretty good.

[00:00:38] KK: Any good lettuce wrapped.

[00:00:39] BL: Yes. No carbs. It's good for us.

[00:00:43] KK: We're about the no carbs, right?

[00:00:45] BL: Absolutely.

[00:00:46] KK: I love carbs. But we must dial those down.

[00:00:48] BL: Yes. Absolutely.

[00:00:50] KK: That was very good. Surprisingly good.

[00:00:51] BL: I know.

[00:00:53] KK: You are a very, very good cook and baker.

[00:00:58] BL: Thank you, Kathy.

[00:01:00] KK: And I love to cook at home. I made hamburgers last night. That sounds silly.

[00:01:07] BL: Yeah, but you got to make them, and they got to taste good.

[00:01:09] KK: And you can do it at home and then you know what is in it and the ingredients and you have control over it. I think the more – And maybe this happened during this silly time that we're in and continue to be in, but I think people were kind of put to task to get into the kitchen.

[00:01:29] BL: Sure. Absolutely.

[00:01:31] KK: And do a little more cooking.

[00:01:31] BL: And cook more than they ever have before in their lives. It's true.

[00:01:34] KK: Yeah. And I think we should promote like a goal of that, because I think a lot of people do eat out and order in and have it dropped off. And when I go out of town, the bill that my children run on. Like are you kidding me? You can’t make a meal?

[00:01:53] BL: The Postmates and the Uber Eats. I know. I know. It’s insane. Yes. Right. I know exactly what you’re talking about.

[00:01:58] KK: So again, kind of figure out how we can talk about teaching kids different– Just staple. Like a staple list of what you should know how to make.

[00:02:09] BL: I love it. Yeah, absolutely.

[00:02:13] KK: Speaking of kids, we were just kind of chatting with our guest who is waiting on line here. But she was telling her kids probably, “Be quiet. We’re starting to do a show.” We still have to parent and do a lot of things as we continue to work and navigate our new businesses and how we do things. But I'm very, very interested in this guest that you are very familiar with, your friends with. You have had a lot of different engagements together that you'll share. But the topic is something that I've read about, I've heard about. But recently traveling, I've been kind of reminded on a PSA coming over in an announcement in the airport. And it's a little disturbing. So without any more time, we want to welcome our guest. Sharon Ngai is joining us today, and right here on risky business. She is the founder of a nonprofit called Justice Speaks.

Sharon, welcome to Risky Business. And I'm so grateful that you're in Bliss know each other so that you can be here and shed some light on this topic that you're so passionate about.

[00:03:34] SG: Ladies, thank you so much for having me on. I'm excited.

[00:03:36] BL: Thank you for coming on. So I met Sharon through my husband. And Sharon and Jonathan are just in a – That's her husband. They're an amazing couple. And they do amazing things for the community. And they have a church or a prayer house, you could call it, like a House of David in Hollywood. And they are advocates for just bringing Hollywood to Christ. I mean, that's their main goal. And I think through that, they also got involved in the human trafficking side of things. And because –What's your connection to Thailand, Sharon? I mean, I'm kind of jumping ahead, but they have a school in Thailand for human trafficking and where they're doing amazing work there. But I don't know how you decided that that's where you were going to base your school out of and start this charity.

[00:04:36] SG: Yeah. Well, actually, my story started in 2007 when out of nowhere I had this dream. And I always share this story because this is really the starting point and the launch point for me to care about this issue called human trafficking. And in my dream, I saw two women who were women, who it was very obvious they were being exploited or they were dressed the part of women who were in prostitution. And they look the part. They even had the smiles on their faces. And we always see that, right? People look at the women, look at the girls on the billboards, and they have the smiles and we just assume that they enjoy what they're doing. They like what they're doing. But in my dream, I remember just zeroing-in right into their hearts. And I saw immediately that they were so broken and they hated what they were doing. And they were so sad and so broken. And I woke up. And I just thought to myself, “Wow! What was that? I don't even know what that was.” It stunned my heart. It ripped my heart.

And it was that week when I turned on the news and they began to talk about this issue called human trafficking. And as I was learning about it, this is back in 2007, I've never heard of this term. I've never heard of human trafficking. No one was really talking about it. And the news that I was receiving, it was mostly about what was going on overseas. And so I think my initial thought, and most people's thoughts are always that it's happening in other places in third world countries. And it really is. It is rampant in many, many nations, but we forget that it's happening here in the United States.

But my story did begin overseas, because I did come to learn that it is happening so much. In Asia, in Thailand, for example, one of the countries that we first landed our feet in, and we started asking questions about, “Where is it happening?” And we found out through friends, mutual friends that they are doing work in Thailand. They invited us in. And it was in 2009 when we first brought our team to Thailand. So since that time, we've been going there every single year, minus COVID-19 year last year. But we've been bringing teams into Thailand since and we've started projects, which Bliss here, you and your husband have been such great friends and supporters of. So we've been helping children who are who are at great risk of being trafficked in these regions where they look for kids.

And so we started children's centers, right? They are in areas where pedophiles are known to look for children. We've also started women's centers in the heart of red light district areas. And we have one running right now. And it's reaching over 60, 70 women in one of these red light district areas. And then we also have partnered with a trade school in one of the rural parts of Thailand, and it is known for trafficking. Basically trafficking and funneling the girls in Thailand down to the sex trade, because it is so poor. And many of these girls in the village areas are basically they’re trafficked. They're asked to go work in the big cities like Bangkok and Pattaya, and their mothers and their fathers basically send them down to work in these areas and –

[00:08:10] KK: And that’s to make money for their families, right? That's how they bring money home.

[00:08:15] SG: Yes. So  the school that you mentioned up there that we've partnered with, we're actually giving hope to many of these teen girls, because at 14 years old, in Thailand, many of these girls are turned out into the sex trade because free education ends at 14 years old for Thai kids. And instead of – They prefer to send the sons to schools, and many of the girls end up working. So this is the age at 14. They're at great risk of being turned out into the sex industry. So we've caught a number of these girls before they're turned out into the sex trade. And we know they're at risk because their moms have worked in the sex trade, their sisters have worked in the sex trade, and is expected of them to work in a sex trade. So that's the high risk category that we focused on. And we have actually given them an alternative to attending this trade school instead as a three-year program where they pick up a trade, whether it's management, hotel management, accounting, different skills that they can pick up. And instead of going to the sex trade, they are actually picking up skills. And we've told their families that you know, this is really a better route for your family in the long run. It may not be the immediate cash that you guys are looking for. But in the long run, this is going to sustain your family way more, and is better for your daughters.

[00:09:40] KK: Sharon, I was I was going to say just on that – With something that is seeming like a ritual, from a sister to a mother to probably her mother, how do you go about a conversation to convince them or to reveal to them that there is a better way? Like what is that process?

[00:10:03] SG: Yeah. It is actually very difficult. You've asked a really good question, because this has been going on for a number of decades. So this system of this perpetual cycle of sending your daughters into sex trade is a very known thing at this time in Thailand. It is not a secret. Maybe 20 years ago, the traffickers came into the village towns and asked for their daughter's, “I'm going to give them a good job,” and the parents didn't know where their daughters were going to go to. And they unknowingly sent them hoping that it was for the best for their daughters and for their families. But now, at this point, many of them know. They know where their daughters are going to go.

And having a daughter in Thai culture is – Actually, they think it's very fortunate for them, because money coming their way. So there's just a lot of – It's very sad. It's hard to understand from our American perspective of what's going on over there, because the demand is driven by poverty. And so the families are so poor. They think they have no other option than to send their daughters to work. And some of these daughters, they’ve been told that this is the best way, or you don't really have anything else to offer except for this, because that's what your mom did. That's what your aunt did. That's what your sister did. So it's a cycle that needs to be broken. And we did have to talk a lot with some of these parents to really persuade them that your daughters are worth so much more. And we need to break the cycle. And it took a lot of convincing. And we did have to give them an offer them a stipend as well for the families just for their immediate need to be satisfied.

[00:11:56] BL: So that so the money that we give or that people give to the charity, to Justice Speaks, it goes to the training of the girls, but it also feeds their family, because they need that in order – Yeah, they need the money. And that kind of also helps to convince them to actually go this route and get out of the human trafficking. Right, Sharon? Yeah.

[00:12:19] SG: Yeah, that's correct. Yes, the sort of money that we send for every young lady for schooling, it covers their tuition, it covers their books, their uniform, whatever needs that they have, including transportation, but a portion of that is also set aside for their parents so that they could buy groceries. And a little bit goes a long way in a country like Thailand. For us, or our assumption is that we need thousands of dollars to be sustained. And we need that living in Los Angeles. But if you live in Thailand, you could buy a meal for just a couple dollars. A couple of dollars can feed a whole family just you know, for a day. So, say, we send them $25 or $30 for a family, it does help them a lot. And it's not a lot of money, but it helps them.

[00:13:15] BL: I remember, Sharon, you were going to visit and I said, “Sharon, what can I get you for the kids or whatever to bring with you?” And she said they needed socks. So we just loaded up on some socks. It’s something that you probably take for granted that you have a drawer full of socks. They don't even have one pair?

[00:13:34] KK: How do you keep the girls safe and protected when they are in the program? Here, you've convinced the family. You've convinced the young girl that this is another avenue. How do you keep them from being pursued?

[00:13:50] SG: Yeah. So a lot of these girls, they understand what the sex trade is since they were eight years old. So like we don't have these conversations with our daughters until maybe they're young teens in America. But in a place like Thailand, when we go talk to the little kids in the classrooms, we have the prevention courses. The class may have 8, 9, 10-year-old girls, and we would ask them very specific questions, “Have you been talked to about sex?” They all raised their hands. And it comes down to the fact that many of them have already been abused, sexually abused, since they were little girls and which just makes them very vulnerable into entering into the sex trade themselves. Same story as American girls as well.

But for the ones over there, we've had the conversations, and they want so bad to go to school. They want to go to school. They don't want to go there. Once they understand what is expected of them, they really don't want to go. I mean, it’s just a matter of they had to satisfy their parents and make them happy. But when we talk to the parents and said, “Please let us send your daughters to the schools.” And these girls, they're so excited to be in class. It's not like we have to convince them of our kids here, like, personally, my kids, like, “School is good. There're so many kids in the world that don't have school, and they love school, and they still appreciate school.” And these are the kind of girls that we're working with. And we have a mentoring program with them. So we keep track of how they're doing in class. And we also work with them on a weekly basis just to make sure they're doing well emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

[00:15:41] BL: That’s awesome.

[00:15:42] KK: Is there a sponsorship to – Like you can actually sponsor a particular girl and her family?

[00:15:50] SG: Yeah, so we do have more of a general sponsorship, because we don't want to release the face or the name of the specific girl. There's just a lot of stigma and shame still attached to being identified as a girl at risk. So we don't want to do that. And also just to protect their privacy, we don't release their specific face and names to the sponsor. So it's more of a general sponsorship that we have people giving $75 a month, and it helps one girl. At 14-years-old, instead of going into the sex trade, they're sent into a trade school. And we're working on our first batch of girls, and they've now completed their second year and entering into their third year. After this year, they will graduate, and many of them already have dreams of going for further schooling, or they don't have anything in their minds about being a girl and prostitution when it was once expected of them. So we're changing lives one at a time. It really is going to change the culture that, their families, the mindsets, and families. Once their mindsets changed, they're not going to be sending their daughters out.

[00:17:05] BL: And I remember, Sharon, I asked you also, because I know you've had friends that were tied to Thailand, but you also believed that it was kind of the epicenter of the world of where Thailand or where human trafficking was really taking place. So then that leads us to the US. It's definitely happening here. And this little beautiful woman here goes out with her posse and they go out to strip clubs and they bring a basket of cookies and whatever. And they and they do the same thing here. But it's a little trickier here, Sharon, you said. It's a little tougher, because you're not dealing with parents.  You're dealing with the John's, the guy that's pimping them out basically, right?

[00:17:49] SG: Yeah. Once I’ve discovered that it's happening right here in our own backyards, I mean, it really hit my heart hearing the statistics. Here in United States, I think a lot of people just believe that, yes, it's happening in Thailand, it's happening in Asia, overseas, in Europe, but not here, not in America. But I'm just going to go over some of these numbers with you, because, I mean, when I learned it, it was really shocking to my heart. But in America, the average age of entry into prostitution for girls is between the age of 12 and 14. So we're also in the same range of age. And this is the average of girls being turned out into prostitution, is that 12 years old, 13 and 14. So this is a very high risk age group here in the United States. And some of the – I mean, it's hard to know, but the top five states in America for human trafficking, number one is California. Number two is Texas. Third state is Florida. Number four is New York. And number five is Ohio. So being in Los Angeles, right here, as we're doing this podcast, our state is at the top of the list for human trafficking in our whole country.

[00:19:15] BL: But now, how does it start here, Sharon? Because, I mean, there is poverty, obviously everywhere in our country, but is it the same situation where the family's poor so they let their daughters go out into prostitution to make money for their families? I don't think it's really the same here, right?

[00:19:35] SG: I think there is an element of poverty that drives it everywhere in the world. But I think in the United States it’s specifically more of a fatherlessness issue, and where girls are looking for love. And so it can happen to anyone, of course. Like it could happen to the white girls. It could happen Asian girls. It could happen to the African American Latino girls. But for the most part, it is happening to children who have been in the foster care system, girls who have been in the welfare, the entire welfare system. Like they're at a really high risk of being – They're very vulnerable to being preyed on by traffickers and pimps.

So a 12, 13, 14 years old, some guy befriends with a young lady, maybe it's online. And that's where our devices, our iPads, our computers come into play. And if there's no parent watching carefully and just helping their children navigate through this entire world of social media and what's going on in their devices today, it's very hard to keep track of who they're befriending who's coming into their lives through their phones. This thing that is supposed to help everybody, but it could be a very, very dangerous item in your child's life. So some of these children who don't have a parent at home, who are single parent families, don't have a dad to watch them, keeping an eye on what's going on, they're vulnerable. So I would say one of these things that we really need to keep track of as parents today is just really having a conversation that this is happening. I think that's a big thing, is that this is happening in America and is happening with children at your age and not waiting for these conversations till they're in high school, because it could be too late by then.

[00:21:40] KK: So since California is the number one state, where are these girls? Where are they? Are they in the larger cities in California? Are they in strip clubs? Are they – Where are they held? Do you know?

[00:21:57] SG: Well, we harbor some – We have the big cities in our state. We have Sacramento. We have San Francisco. We have San Diego. We have Los Angeles. So we have four of the top cities that are have been identified as huge at risk cities for human trafficking. And a lot of this is already happening underground. It's happening online. It's the people that our children are meeting online. It is also, once they meet a certain individual, whether they're being introduced to that person or meeting them online, they get turned out into, like you said, the strip clubs. They're working in the escorts. They're working the streets. So there're a number of places that these girls can be turned out. They could be working in the motels. Like we're just not really seeing it as prevalent as before.

I remember, earlier on when we were doing the outreaches, we were doing not only the strip club outreaches. But we were also on the streets. So right here in Los Angeles, like, there're several streets that are known for girls being pimped out and girls walking what they call the tracks. So the John's would drive up and down the streets and look for the right girl that they want to purchase. As we were doing this outreach, we heard about these statistics about the average age of entry is between 12 and 14. And when we were on the streets, that was exactly what we saw. We met this one girl. And like I said, it isn't just a certain race that is being trafficked. I saw a beautiful blond haired, blue-eyed girl on a street corner and she looked not more than 13 years old. And she was standing there. She was just left there in the corner in this really horrific, just not a nice looking street. It’s not good. It's not a safe place. So you know she's there for that type of business. And someone was pimping her out. And you could see this line of cars just coming by her. And she would pop her head in the window. And I believe she was talking price and the cars will keep driving by because maybe her pimp had a certain price for her to quote because she was so young and so beautiful.

And then there are others that we talked to on the street. And then we talked to some who are African-Americans on the stream and they’re, beautiful, just gorgeous, young ladies who could be a model, basically. And we had conversations with them and just talk to them. She looked like she was probably 17, 18 years old. And we just asked her questions like, “How long have you been on the streets? How long have you been doing this?” And she's like, “Oh, since I was 13.” Another one said since I was 14. And one time we met a girl who is pregnant and she was dressed up, working in the streets and she looked – We said, “How are you? Are you pregnant?” And she said, “Yeah, I'm eight months pregnant.” 8 months pregnant. And she says, “But I have to work. I have no other choice but to work.” And so we just couldn't believe that she had to work. And we also asked her, “How long have you been doing this?” And she said, “Oh, since I was 13.” And so they would talk to us. But as soon as the pimp gets anywhere near, they would just completely stop the conversation and walk the other way.

But while we have their ears for us to talk to you, we would give them a gift bag, resources, and just let them know that we love them, we care about them. God loves them too. And how can we pray for them? And we see under-aged girls on the streets, and we do also make a call. So that's what we do on the streets.

[00:26:01] BL:  So really, for the school-aged girls, because we're talking to parents a lot on this show, we want to tell them to really monitor what they're doing online. They have to look over their shoulder and see what they're doing and who they're talking to and talk about this issue before it becomes an issue.

[00:26:21] SG: Yes. I think starting young. The moment that they have their hands on a device, we start the culture that we're very proactive and caring about what you look at. What are the apps that you're going to download? And I'm not an expert on laptop and device safety, but just even doing the most basic things as parents. Just caring about what they're doing online. And then giving the advice of we're not going to befriend people we don't know.

And predators are very, very patient. You don't know that they're predators immediately. So some of the teams that befriend strangers online, they appear to be very harmless. They're just there. They’re not really doing anything abnormal. But over time, they can spot someone who is vulnerable and someone who would like to make friends with them basically.

[00:27:23] BL: And they’ll give them compliments like, “You're so pretty,” and try to make them feel good.

[00:27:29] KK: Well, you said a key word, vulnerable, is what I see in a lot of young kids today, because they want to trust. They want to feel that everyone is wanting to be friends. We have this social media that we see a new face. We don't know them, but we like their picture, or we follow them. It kind of takes away that guard that I know, I grew up with, I was taught that. You just kind of get street smart.

[00:27:59] BL:  Don't talk to strangers.

[00:28:00] KK: Right. Don't talk to strangers. And you're saying also, predators. Have you dealt with abductions? I mean, because you're saying that some of these kids are kind of in the system with welfare and just kind of dumps them out into that in some cases. But have you dealt with abductions as well, because I think that's also probably happening?

[00:28:22] SG: Well, through the last 10 years, I've met so many women and young ladies with stories, their survival stories of what they've been through, through their trafficking journeys, and every one of them is very different. And so I think when I first came into the scene of trying to be an advocate, regarding human trafficking, I had one idea, was that they were all kidnapped. They were chained to their beds and they're just – Yeah, they were abducted. And then over time, I've met so many young women who didn't fit that picture. But I did. I have met people who were abducted at the same time, but more women who are more on the other end of they were tricked. They were coerced. They were lured-in by someone who befriended them, like a boyfriend. That was more common than hearing the cases of the abductions, and which does happen in America. I know it happens. But I've met more survivors with the story of they met a young man who just, like use that earlier, told them all the things that she needed to hear, all the things she never heard from her father or her mother, “You're beautiful.” “You're gorgeous.” “Wow! Like we could really make something happen between us.” “I think you're amazing.” Like just fed her all the compliments and she was sold. And you would be so surprised how fast that process is, because the pimps today, they're master manipulators and they know exactly what's to lure and hook a heart, a young heart. So they know exactly what to say. It's like they all work the same way.

But I have met young ladies who were abducted, and they were taken. And it took them a number of years before they were found and rescued. And they now have a story of just miraculous rescue. But more stories of the ones that were tricked in by a guy, by a nice guy.

[00:30:30] BL: I got a book. I can't remember the name of it, but it was from one of your events. And I read it. And it was just story after story after story of what had happened to these women. And one, one story was she had a friend that she was friends with at school who had gotten caught up with a couple of guys that were not so great. Invited her to a party, and then these guys drugged her and kidnapped her and put her into trafficking. So it could be something as simple as that, is going to a party. And you have a friend, that's been your friend for a long time, but all of a sudden, the friend has started running around with other people. And so you can get in trouble by association. I mean, that to me was really – That resonated with me, because it's very scary, because she was completely innocent in what she was doing. Completely innocent. So you just have to – For me, I just try to everything I read, I know you do this too, about what food you eat, where you go, who your friends are, what you're doing online. Just if you know about it, talk to your kids about it, right? You just have to have the conversation. And even though it's uncomfortable, and you're not an expert, it's better to discuss it up front and talk about it.

[00:31:44] KK: Yeah. At least they hear it.

[00:31:45] BL: At least they hear it, and hopefully they do the right thing when the decision is made to do something that might not work out so well.

[00:31:53] KK: Right. Well, just be on the radar. So Justice Speaks is your nonprofit. Where can people go to get information? And what is the best kind of donation or partnership that you look for?

[00:32:10] SG: Yeah. So Justice Speaks, we’re online. Our website is very simple. It's just justicespeaks.org. And we have a number of ways where people could help us, whether they're interested in helping these young ladies get off the streets in Thailand of being turned out as girls in prostitution, sending them to schools instead. That's a $75 a month scholarship that many people feel like this is worth changing – This is something so simple I could do that could literally change a person's life. And so we have that. And even if people can't give $75 a month, like whatever they can give is helping, because we're also working with children in Nepal. I didn't mention that earlier, but we also have a center in Nepal. And this is probably one of the most transformational projects that we have ever done working with these children who are so impoverished in the villages of Kathmandu. And from something so small that we started, literally just a year and a half ago, has now blown up to over 600 children [inaudible 00:33:28]. I think this is probably one of the most amazing projects that we've ever done.

And the reason why it is transformational is because we're touching the lives of them physically, emotionally, and also spiritually and going into these villages where they've never even had toothpaste. They've never had toothbrushes. They've never even had a bar soap. And bringing in ways for them to have hygienic products, and then talking to them about safety, because a lot of these kids are trafficked into India sex trade. And that’s a whole different –

[00:34:02] BL: Yes. I’ve heard about that too. Yeah, that's not good either.

[00:34:06] SG: Yeah. So from the villages of Kathmandu in Nepal, they are trafficked into India's notorious sex trade. And that's what we're trying to prevent. And so a little, just a little goes a long way for a place like Nepal.

[00:34:24] KK: So do you have in Nepal and also in Thailand any kind of support or partnership with organizations there, or the government, or the authorities? Is there anything?

[00:34:39] SG: Yes. And that's the only way we could work and function. I mean, I'm here in the United States. And we go back and forth to Thailand in Nepal several times a year minus these COVID times. But it's because we work with our partner organization on the ground. They're a Thai-based organization or a Nepal-based, and that's the only way we can make it happen. And they are connected to government and authorities and police officers, etc. And so we work with people. We've worked with them for over a decade. So we trust them. And we're like family. And several of the women who work in our team came out of the sex trade. So they have a passion and compassion to prevent these kids from entering into a world where they came out of and they love these children and they love the women with all their hearts. And so this is the only way that we can make it happen. I see myself more of an advocate and a spokesperson to bring awareness in America and to funnel the means to see these projects be sustained.

[00:35:43] BL: Justice Speaks is really good, or I think Sharon is one that does it. But she sends out a newsletter every so often. And you see the women that are that are actually working. She might highlight their story. You see the classrooms. And you see where you're helping, even though you can't be there, and it's very far away. You still feel connected to the organization because of how they update you on what's going on. And it's been really great for Chris and I to be involved. It's been wonderful. And I don't feel like we do enough. But I love being a part of something that is so important. So thank you so much, Sharon, for coming on. We really appreciate it.

[00:36:29] KK: You brought awareness to me and everyone who is going to hear this episode. And the more we can keep talking about it, I think the better.

[00:36:42] BL: And please, please, please just get involved. It doesn't take a lot to really change a life. That's pretty, pretty awesome. Yeah.

[00:36:51] SG: Yes. Thank you so much for having me on. And if you don't mind, can I just share a phone number for people here in America? This is the hotline for the National Human Trafficking hotline in America. 888-373-7888. So if you ever see a situation where it, I mean, in your heart you just feel like, “Oh, that doesn't look right. I see an older gentleman with a younger child,” or it just doesn't feel right. Just don't ask yourself too many questions. You could just make a call and someone else can look into the situation. So the number is 888-373-7888. So that's our United States National Human Trafficking hotline.

[00:37:37] KK: Thank you for sharing. Thank you, Sharon, so much for coming on our show today. We appreciate it.

[00:37:44] BL: Thanks, Sharon. I'll talk to you soon.

[00:37:46] SN: Thank you.

[00:37:47] BL: All right.

[00:37:50] KK: That's a heavy topic. And really, really important for us to, one, just share this.

[00:37:56] BL: Absolutely. Yeah. I'm so glad that we were able to get her on here and talk about. It's such an important topic, and I just don't think it's talked about enough. We don't hear about it in the media. I mean, it's never talked about.

[00:38:09] KK: Like I was saying, at one airport, I get an announcement.

[00:38:14] BL: Or do you watch the news, or five o'clock news? Do they mention anything about human trafficking ever? I don't know I've ever seen anything.

[00:38:21] KK: No. No.

[00:38:23] BL:  And it's tragic. And it's scary. And it's terrible. And I love what she's doing and just bringing it out, bringing it to the attention of everyone.

[00:38:32] KK: We talk a lot about technology. We talk about the devices our kids have, and that's connected, because that can be where it's happening. Anyway, wow!

[00:38:44] BL: Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah.

[00:38:47] KK: Well, I hope you enjoyed this episode. Definitely opened my eyes to this and really allows us an opportunity to engage to help. If you want that number again for the national trafficking, child trafficking hotline, is 888-373-7888. And Sharon Ngai is the founder of her nonprofit organization, justicespeaks.org. So you can visit that to get involved, to donate. And like always, if you have any questions about our show, or you have ideas that you want to know more about, please reach out to us. Our email is riskybusiness@coveragequeens.com. And we also have a website that you can come and see us and see other episodes, coveragequeens.com. So hope you have a great day. And thanks for joining us.

[00:39:43] BL: It’s a good one.

[00:39:43] KK: It’s a good one.

[00:39:44] BL: It was a good one. Another one. Bye-bye everyone.

[00:39:46] KK: Bye.

[END]