The Exodus Road is a non-profit organization that specializes in staging rescues from alleged human trafficking, including raids of brothels and other sex work establishments. It states that it sends "mercenaries of hope," volunteer undercover operatives who have developed good relationships with local authorities collect sufficient data at brothels about people being held against their will and then plan raids with the local police to rescue the enslaved.
Contents
- The humble beginnings of the exodus road
- The Exodus Roads Beginnings
- Teams
- ALPHA Team
- BRAVO Team
- CHARLIE Team
- DELTA Team
- Book
- References
Headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, The Exodus Road supports active operatives in India and southeast Asia, primarily in Thailand, and in the United States. As of December 31, 2015, The Exodus Road claims to have directly supported 667 rescues, made 191 arrests, works with a total of 201 operatives, and operates in 4 countries.
The Exodus Road's website states that it is not a faith-based organization, however all of its leadership team are motivated by the Christian faith and that many of their after care facilities are faith-based.
The humble beginnings of the exodus road
The Exodus Road's Beginnings
In 2010, Matt and Laura Parker moved with their family to Thailand to direct a children's home, and in the process Matt began networking with the counter-trafficking NGOs in the area. After building a relationship with the police, he personally offered to start the process of collecting information for the local police to act on and assemble raids. After working two years doing investigative work and developing relationships with local governments and NGOs, The Exodus Road was founded in January 2012.
Teams
A primary way that The Exodus Road fund raises is through the search and rescue team program. Donors are invited to contributed to one or more "teams" to fund operations in specific areas. However, the Exodus Road website acknowledges that it retains the full control of donated funds including the right to allocate them in any way it chooses. The covert operatives specifically investigate sex work establishments and work with local police and are organized into four groups, by the regions they work in.
ALPHA Team
This team's focus is empowering nationals to fight slavery in their own communities, primarily in Thailand, but ultimately throughout southeast Asia. ALPHA works with national social workers on all cases for victim-centered care during and directly following rescue operations. The team is made up of mostly nationals, fostering a close relationship with local governmental partners. ALPHA works both local and high level cases, especially in sex trafficking of minors and labor trafficking.
BRAVO Team
The BRAVO team is exclusively made up of nationals with an experienced lead investigator, additional investigators, and social workers. In close relationships with police, they frequently collect data at brothels for rescue operations. India has extremely high instances of sex trafficking, including an emphasis on virgin sales, so many of the cases of freed slaves are from that industry. Quality transitional care and advocate for survivors with social workers are always provided for the victims after the raid.
CHARLIE Team
CHARLIE is based in the United States, and is operated specifically through the organization's TraffickWatch program, which trains volunteers about observing and collecting tips about alleged trafficking incidents to pass onto the local authorities. The program was started in 2015 in Colorado Springs and is also launching in Phoenix, Arizona. The program has resulted in several tips to local authorities, significant enough to open investigations and has equipped many to be able to identify exploitative situations in their own community. Funding for this team supports administrative, database and travel/training expenses.
DELTA Team
DELTA is The Exodus Road's southeast Asia team, which has more full-time volunteer Western operatives, the majority of whom have a military or police background. This team focuses more on local traffickers and larger crime syndicate cases, effectively collecting and analyzing data on trafficking in the region.
Book
Laura Parker has written a book The Exodus Road: One Wife's Journey Into Sex Trafficking and Rescue in 2014.