Partnership Aims to Safeguard the Massage Profession from Human Trafficking

The brochure is available in English, Korean, and Mandarin Chinese

The issue of illegal brothels posing as legitimate massage parlors is tied to Polaris Project’s first moments as an organization.  Our founders, Katherine Chon and Derek Ellerman, became passionate about the issue of human trafficking after learning about one of [...]

The Words They Left Behind

Sex trafficking thrives when landlords comply, turn a blind eye, or fail to monitor how their properties are being used.  This was the central message behind the DC Stop Modern Day Slavery group’s online petition on Change.org that launched on Friday March 4, 2011.  More than 300 community members have signed the [...]

Onion Appeal

When I was at Harvard College in the 1980s there was a bit of political correctness.  I recall in my House at Harvard, a 350-student residential college, there were cheeky songs sung by students at a holiday season dinner.

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Being Smart About Abolition

If you talk to people who are passionate about combating human trafficking, they will likely tell you they are “abolitionists,” and that this movement is working towards eradicating modern-day slavery.  If “abolition” is our ultimate goal then I think it is important for us to define what we mean.  What will it take to [...]