The SkyePod Rethinking How We Fight Human Trafficking
Dec 5, 2025
Victor Boutros, co-founder and CEO of the Human Trafficking Institute and former federal prosecutor, sheds light on the dark reality of human trafficking. He shares his transformative encounter with a trafficked 12-year-old in India and how it shaped his mission. Victor discusses misconceptions surrounding trafficking, emphasizing that coercion, not just movement, defines the crime. He critiques common rescue models, advocating for specialized strategies targeting traffickers and highlights the importance of legal frameworks in the fight against this global issue.
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Mumbai Train Station Rescue Moment
- Victor Boutros recounts meeting a 12-year-old girl trafficked in Mumbai who was drugged and sold into a brothel for $250.
- That encounter crystallized his calling to stop traffickers rather than just offer charity.
Value Of Specialized Prosecution Units
- Specialized anti-trafficking laws and units can build unique skills necessary to prosecute traffickers effectively.
- The Justice Department experiment aimed to test whether focused teams could drive meaningful impact nationwide.
Bipartisan Coalition Fueled Reform
- Anti-trafficking became a rare bipartisan cause, uniting conservative evangelicals and secular feminists.
- That unlikely coalition accelerated legal and political attention to trafficking in the 2000s.