After spending a night in a squad car, observing Portland police officers assigned to the sex trafficking division, I became more acutely aware of the plight of sex slaves, especially those below 18 years old. Because of this experience, I feel compelled to present my own perspective on this blight in our community.

Compassion Connect executive director shares his thoughts on a local business in his neighborhood.   The Pitiful Princess is a strip club that screams in our faces, as neighbors, that women are items to be taunted and flaunted in the 21st century.  What if we didn't settle for status quo in Portland, OR in 2012?

For Dr. Cyndi Romine of “Called to Rescue”, life’s calling was a life-changing event within the misty jade contours and waterways of Asia.  Read how that fateful event changed her life and set her on a course to dynamically fight Human Trafficking here in the U.S. and around the world.  Life’s calling may sound like a whisper or a shout.  As we respond with action, we too can make a significant difference.

At age 13, Shelly ran away for the first time. After returning home, her mother attempted to enforce more stringent rules, but Shelly’s rebellion was already out of her control. When she was 14, she met a man, many years her senior, who began to pay her a great deal of attention – telling her how pretty she was and buying her new clothes. One day she left home and met him around the corner… the beginning of a nearly two-year descent into the world of human trafficking.

At age 13, Shelly ran away for the first time. When she was 14, she met a man, many years her senior, who began to pay her a great deal of attention. She says he taught her “everything.” One afternoon, while he lounged in Montavilla Park, he sent her out to 82^nd Ave. to perform her first act as a prostitute….