HEROESSurvivors

Who: Stacy Schaffer

What: Executive Director of 31:8 Project

Why: In 2006, Stacy Schaffer was an undergraduate at the University of Mary. A professor offered extra credit to any student who attended a talk from a speaker on sex trafficking. The talk compelled her to quit her job and go on a mission trip to Guatemala where she met Anna. Anna was an eight-year-old girl who was sold into slavery at a brothel. After receiving a tip, her group was able to intervene and help Anna out of the situation. Fast forward to 2015, when Stacy launched 31:8 Project. “31:8 Project really comes from Anna’s story because when we deal with human trafficking, we see a lot of negative things happening, and we don’t always see a lot of successes, and Anna’s story is a success story,” says Stacy. “And the name comes from Proverbs 31:8, speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves.”

31:8 Project not only intervenes in instances of human trafficking, but they also work to educate the public to prevent further crimes. They also run a survivor mentorship program that connects a survivor of human trafficking to a mentor who helps them accomplish, at the minimum, three life goals. “The small successes keep me going, like when we’re able to help someone get a job or their GED or maybe they were able to go to the store for the first time by themselves because they couldn’t do that before because of the trauma they experienced. We have to remember the success stories because there’s a lot of negativity in this field,” says Stacy.

There are several things the general public can do to avoid falling victim themselves or to help keep others from becoming a modern-day slave. It is important to be smart on social media both as user and when educating your children. “There was a study that recently came out that said parents spend an average of 43 minutes in a child’s lifetime talking to them about social media,” says Stacy. “When we think about how human trafficking is occurring, three out of four cases are recruited online, so we really need to shift what we’re spending time talking to children about.”

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