Donations
Where does the money go?
Currently I donate five percent of profits to the Polaris Project: an organization that combats human trafficking and helps provide relief to survivors. They also operate the national human trafficking hotline.
Why I Chose Polaris project
There are many organizations that support the fight against human trafficking. In full transparency, there were many organizations I overlooked at first because of their religious component. In time I came to terms with the fact that religion isn't inherently abusive, and that my experiences were by no means indicative of the totality of religion.
When it came time for the final decision, many of these organizations ended up not being selectedโ but it wasn't the religion that pushed me away in the end, it was that most of their efforts were focussed on women.
After looking through many of these organization's websites, I saw story after story from women. But no men. Not only for my own sense of justice and healing, but also for all my fellow men out thereโ I couldn't in good conscience support an organization that left out a huge portion of the reality. Men are trafficked every day. Many of which are forced to do work that breaks their bodies. I understand that as men we are less likely to admit to any sense of powerlessness. I also undertsand the trap we find ourselves inโ where we are praised for admirable qualities that are being exploited (in this instance: the big, strong, and healthy male performing intense physical labor for food and lodging. Only for his traffickers to tell him he now owes them a debt for the food and shelter, and that they won't give him his passport/ documents back until he works the debt off). He was strong. Why didn't he fight his way out of the situation? This sometimes leads us to believe that it's our own fault. That we should have been able to negotiate or fight ourselves out of it. This self-victimization is a hallmark of traficking and abuse in general. Being a self-protective coping strategy. It's easier to navigate a world where I'm the problem. I can change myself. It's harder to live in a world that's chaotic and evil. I can't change the world. It often leads to a lot of self-shaming. Which makes it hard to share our stories and subsequently heal from our experiences.
The Polaris Project's focus on the total picture of trafficking was what led us to become one of their patrons.