REXBURG, Idaho — Your 13-year-old daughter loves to post on Instagram. She has endless followers, many she doesn’t know. A 44-year-old man posing as a 16-year-old begins interacting with her online, liking her posts, saying flattering things. It’s just two kids flirting online, right? Your daughter vanishes shortly later. You might never see her again. You ask yourself, “What could I have done to prevent this?”
This horrific situation is the reality Operation Underground Railroad C.E.O Tim Ballard paints for the audience at a Saturday afternoon screening of “It’s Happening Here.” Over 150 people attended three screenings at the Paramount 5 in Rexburg.
“It’s Happening Right Here,” a new documentary produced by Operation Underground Railroad, is an eye-opening look into the horrors of human trafficking. The film highlights how sexual predators use social media to target children all over the globe.
Sex trafficking is a $150 billion a year industry. The FBI reports roughly 500,000 sexual predators use social media to target children each day. The Huffington Post reports an estimated 1.2 million children are sex trafficked each year.
“None of this is okay. I had to do something.”
OPERation underground railroad founder tim ballard
Ballard, who served 12 years as a special agent for the Department of Homeland Security, says he was frustrated with the lack of strategy used to apprehend offenders and rescue victims.
“Human Trafficking is a plague and evil” said Ballard. “None of this is okay. I had to do something.”
O.U.R , founded in October 2013, works closely with local law enforcement to apprehend predators.
O.U.R provides law enforcement the resources, tools and training to arrest offenders in sting operations around the world. As of 2020, O.U.R had rescued around 3,000 victims.
“They (the victims) run toward us, arms outstretched with joy.” Ballard said. “They’ve finally been liberated.”
What you can do to help combat human trafficking
Ballard said during a Q&A session after the film ended that it’s important that we monitor our children’s screen time and who they are interacting with online.
“I don’t believe in preventing my child from having a smartphone” Ballard said. “But I believe in teaching them to be safe and smart. You need to have these conversations with your children”.
Ballard emphasized knowing who your child’s friends are and what websites they are visiting. Knowing who is a part of their lives and what sort of things they are being influenced by can help them stay away from dangerous situations.
“I understand, as kids get older, they want to feel a sense of independence from their parents,” Ballard empathized. “There is a way to be non-invasive and still watch out for their well-being. It’s important to have these conversations with your children as they get older, especially as new social media apps are made each year.”
For more information about Operation Underground Railroad, visit https://ourrescue.org/.
For information about online safety for children, visit https://www.missingkids.org/netsmartz/home. There you can find kid friendly, educational, videos and activities about things like cyber bullying, online enticement and more.
“It’s Happening Right Here “ is playing nationwide at select theaters
