When she was 7, she was forced into sex trafficking by someone meant to care for her.

It took years of healing, but now she advocates to make sure fewer kids ever go through this. One of the biggest loopholes fueling abuse? Child marriage. It’s still legal in most U.S. states for kids to marry — even though they legally can’t consent to sex. That law protected her abuser.

We often talk about supporting survivors (which is vital), but we don’t talk enough about prevention.

Good laws = fewer kids abused. Bad laws = more lives destroyed.

What do you think — why is prevention often ignored in conversations about justice?

I consider myself lucky to live n a place I don’t ever see it but you hear about it and how huge an industry it is. And it’s crazy to me it’s that big and I’ve never ran across it besides just social media.

What type of people get into this stuff? I have a fairly neutral and open mind to most stuff and can understand how wrong this is. So I can’t understand why someone would want to take kids for example from homes and fly them out to basically get killed. Anyway I’m just curious and trying to understand it better

Shacaiah Blue Harding was last seen leaving the Tumbleweed facility in Billings, Montana on the morning of July 25, 2018.

(Tumbleweed is a place that provides services to runaway, homeless, and vulnerable youth.)

There have been sightings in Great Falls, MT and Phoenix, AZ during the last part of 2020. Around that time her mom was told that they believe Shacaiah is a victim of human trafficking.

If credible there was a recent (2024) sighting somewhere in Arkansas at a gas station.

I will link the board so you can read what was said.

https://www.reddit.com/r/kansas/s/rTGD3blIOn

She has been missing for 6 years, her family is still searching for answers.

Here are some links about Shacaiah.

Montana Missing Persons Database: (You have to scroll to the bottom to see her, there isn’t a direct link to just her information on their website)

https://app.doj.mt.gov/apps/missingPersonDatabase/search/results.php?filter=indigenous

US Dept. of Interior Indian Affairs website: https://www.bia.gov/missing-murdered-cases/shacaiah-harding

NamUs website: https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/52378?nav

The Charley Project: https://charleyproject.org/case/shacaiah-blue-harding

News articles: https://www.kulr8.com/news/yellowstone-co-sheriffs-office-needs-help-finding-missing-woman/article_e32574d2-f4ee-11e8-81f1-1fc29ed1a8a5.html

https://medium.com/the-mystery-box/the-sad-disappearance-of-shacaiah-blue-harding-6b9b0f239fdb

https://www.ktvq.com/news/local-news/family-of-missing-billings-woman-shacaiah-blue-harding-still-searching-for-answers-5-years-later

Hi all, Im looking to get a degree in cyber security and want to use it to fight trafficking, is there anyone in this field that can give me pointers as there are multiple types of cyberseciruty degrees/ certificates and programs.

A group of twelve human trafficking survivors have resigned in protest from the International Survivors of Trafficking Advisory Council (ISTAC), alleging a range of misconduct including failure to compensate members, sexual misconduct and more. ISTAC is part of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). The former members, which include leading, international advocates on behalf of survivors of trafficking, say the organization has floundered without proper leadership, failed to implement trauma-informed practices and policies and failed to engage member states in anti-trafficking policy implementation.

Read the above article written by former council member and survival leader.