Ep. 13: Survive, Thrive, and Move Through Fear

Today’s topic… scares me. It might scare you, too, and I want you to know that some of our conversation today might be troubling. But I encourage you to listen, because it’s important, and you can help solve a big problem today.

We’re talking about a billion-dollar global business, one that is surrounded by controversy, which affects millions of people worldwide, and it’s scary to say, but Florida is one of the nation’s leaders. It’s scary because this business is human trafficking.

Human trafficking can happen to anyone but some people are more vulnerable than others. Today we’re going to hear from Robin Hassler Thompson, Executive Director of the Survive and Thrive Advocacy Center. We’re going to learn what we need to know about this problem, clear the air on some myths and truths, hear about an important way we can all help, and discover how we can be a hometown hero and build a safer community.

Robin Hassler Thompson, M.A., J.D., is the Executive Director of the Survive and Thrive Advocacy Center (STAC), an anti-trafficking non-profit she co-founded in 2015. She co-chairs the Big Bend Coalition Against Human Trafficking and is a member of its Social Services Committee. In 2001 she traveled to Bangladesh on a U.S. State Department mission, which included a visit to a trafficking rescue shelter in Dhaka. This so inspired her that since, she has directed and collaborated in many anti-trafficking projects, trains extensively, and has authored publications and curricula, including a course for the Florida Medical Association. 

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