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The Exodus Road

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The Exodus Road (TER) is a non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization that works to combat human trafficking through prevention, intervention, and aftercare programs.[1]

History

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Founding

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In 2010, co-founders Matt and Laura Parker moved their family from Colorado to Thailand to direct a children's home, where they were exposed to the issue of human trafficking and began networking with counter-trafficking NGOs and local law enforcement involved in intervention work. After building a relationship with authorities, Matt offered to collect information for the local police, posing as a customer in a brothel, in hopes to assemble enough information to justify police-led raids.[2] Following the success of these undercover operations, the Parkers founded The Exodus Road as a registered nonprofit organization in 2012.

Governance

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The Exodus Road is governed by an International Advisory Board composed of leaders in the anti-human trafficking field from the United States, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.[3] In each country, there is also a board of directors.

As of November 2021, members of the organization's United States Board of Directors include:

  • Steve Leigh, Microsoft Director and the organization's board chair[4]
  • Nate Griffin, humanitarian photographer[4] and current board treasurer[4]
  • Edwin Desamour, Director of the Lighthouse Sports Complex in north Philadelphia[5]
  • Craig Morgan,[6] American country music artist and United States Army veteran[7]
  • Soula Parassidis, an international opera singer and anti-trafficking advocate of Greek-Canadian descent[4]
  • Laura Parker, co-founder and CEO of The Exodus Road[4]
  • Sarah B. Ray, founder of Neema Development[4]
  • Hollie Smith, advocate[8]
  • Alece Ronzino, founder and CEO of Rest Easy Nashville[9]

CEO

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For the first nine years following the organization's inception, Matt Parker served as chief executive officer and Laura Parker acted as the chief communications officer and president. In October 2021, The Exodus Road announced in a press release that Matt opted to step down from CEO to spend his energy on the front-line work, instead working as the chief strategy consultant for the nonprofit's Global Program Department. Their Board of Directors unanimously voted to appoint Laura in his place.[10]

Christian faith

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While Matt and Laura Parker are strongly motivated by their Christian faith and some of their partners are faith-based, TER’s 501(c)(3) registration status is without religious affiliation.

According to their website, 65% of their staff are foreign nationals, including social workers, support staff, and investigators.[3]

Programs

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The Exodus Road is currently headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado and supports active operatives in Thailand, India, Latin America, The Philippines, and in the United States. As of May 2023, the organization's website states that they have helped free 2,045 people, aided in the arrest of 1,143 traffickers and perpetrators, helped 1,670 people with aftercare, and trained 2,844 people.[11] The organization explained how they arrive at these numbers in an article published on their website.[12]

TraffickWatch Academy: United States

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TraffickWatch Academy is an initiative of The Exodus Road that features a digital training platform designed to equip law enforcement, leaders, and citizens in the fight against human trafficking.[13] In September 2021, The Exodus Road launched TraffickWatch Academy: United States for free, with the goal of educating users on the components of labor trafficking and sex trafficking in the United States.[14] The multimedia modules share survivor stories based on case files from the nonprofit’s operations and provides practical steps for viewers to personally combat trafficking in their communities.

TraffickWatch Academy: Brazil

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In partnership with the government of Amazonas, TER developed a specialized, in-depth version of TraffickWatch Academy to provide thousands of civil police with counter-trafficking training in Brazil.[15]

Intervention

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The Exodus Road's intervention programs have been in operation since 2012 and focus on training local investigators to pose as clients in brothels. These undercover operatives identify victims and build case files that are then delivered to law enforcement. With this information, TER plans raids in partnership with local law enforcement to arrest the alleged traffickers.[16]

DELTA Team

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The Exodus Road primarily supports local law enforcement in evidence gathering for cases of human trafficking. Working with teams of nationals, the organization deploys trained and highly vetted volunteers known as DELTA Team to help with identifying current victims, gathering intelligence, building evidence packages for police, and supporting operations.[17]

David Zach, lead vocalist and guitarist of the Christian rock band Remedy Drive, has been on several deployments with the organization's DELTA Team.[18]

Renée Brinkerhoff, race car driver and founder of 501(c) organization Valkyrie Gives, has also participated in undercover operations with The Exodus Road.[19]

The Exodus Road also has a DELTA Silver team, a cyber investigations team made up of volunteer cyber analytics experts. They gather evidence of suspected trafficking to deliver to law enforcement.[20]

Aftercare

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Beyond Rescue, the organization's aftercare program, serves survivors utilizing a trauma-informed approach. In collaboration with TER's NGO partners, they tailor services for those in greatest need in their areas of operation.[21]

Freedom Home in Thailand

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As part of Beyond Rescue, The Exodus Road opened Freedom Home, a safe house and mentorship program that opened in Fall 2021 and in Thailand. Specifically, this safe house functions as immediate shelter for adult female survivors of sex trafficking and sexual exploitation and any of their dependents. Freedom Home provides trauma-informed therapy, life skills classes, counseling, medical care, community internships, and job skills training.[22]

The Exodus Road received a $60,000 grant to support their Freedom Home project in Thailand from the UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Human Trafficking (UNVTF), managed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). UNODC announced that The Exodus Road's Beyond Rescue project was selected for their fifth call for proposals under sub-grant program two of its small grants program. In total, 10 NGO projects that provide emergency aid to human trafficking survivors were selected for award, totaling approximately USD 0.6 million in grants.[23]

Partnerships and funding

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Cellebrite is a significant partner of The Exodus Road, having provided training and strategic resources for their investigative teams. The organization has used Cellebrite UFED devices to legally collect information on open cases. Cellebrite Training also donated training seats for their CCO and CCPA training classes, which TER will use this to train law enforcement partners in digital forensics investigation methods and techniques.[24]

Federal Police in Brazil collaborated with The Exodus Road to launch an anti-human trafficking campaign in December 2022. The goal of the campaign was to educate and inform the public about what human trafficking looks like and how they can assist police in finding survivors and stopping traffickers.[25]

The Exodus Road provides the results of financial audits and Form 990 annually to uphold financial integrity, receiving two third-party endorsements in transparency, including a Guidestar Platinum Seal of Transparency.[26] Their Charity Navigator Encompass Rating includes a 100 out of 100 Finance and Accountability score.[27]

In addition, TER has corporate sponsorships with businesses such as Accelerated Wealth, N2Gives, MDRT Foundation, 5DayDeal, 24HourRace, Curtis Carlson Family Foundation, and Child Aid International. They are also one of the official partners at End It Movement.[28]

Criticism and accusations

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In 2017, The Exodus Road received a complaint of a hostile work environment, after an incident of a sexualized nature at a work event.[29] The Exodus Road engaged an outside law firm, Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie, which conducted investigations. The investigations did reveal inappropriate behavior, including drunkenness and nudity at work-related events,[30] and the organization implemented the recommendations from the law firm, which included termination of certain individuals other disciplinary actions.[31] The summative statement from the investigation has been published publicly by the legal firm.[32]

The Exodus Road has also been criticized for being religiously influenced to use trafficking as a pretext to intervene against sex workers and remove their sources of income.[33] The organization has on several occasions clarified the difference between fighting human trafficking and sex work, stating that they are looking for those who are in sex work due to “force, abduction, fraud, or coercion,” or those who are underage (which legally qualifies them as human trafficking victims).[34] Specifically, TER functions under the United Nations' definition of human trafficking: "recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of people through force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them for profit."[35]

The organization has also been criticized for their use of military jargon, such as describing volunteers as "covert operatives" to carry out their mission.[36]

Critics of organizations like The Exodus Road allege that such organizations have invited television crews and supporters to watch and film its raids of brothels for the "shock value" and to raise funds.[37] However, according to the organization's brand guidelines on their website, they state that they do not use raid imagery of survivors in their content.[38]

Book

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Laura Parker wrote the book, The Exodus Road: One Wife's Journey Into Sex Trafficking and Rescue, published in 2014.[39]

References

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  1. ^ "Our Solution". The Exodus Road.
  2. ^ "Ordinary: The Story of The Exodus Road". The Exodus Road.
  3. ^ a b "A Global Team Working for Freedom". The Exodus Road. Retrieved 29 Nov 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Spillane, Mackenzie (23 Nov 2021). "International Opera Singer Soula Parassidis Joins The Exodus Road's Board". EIN Presswire. Retrieved 29 Nov 2021.
  5. ^ Spillane, Mackenzie (22 Nov 2021). "Activist Edwin Desamour Takes His Passion for Youth into the Fight Against Human Trafficking with The Exodus Road". EIN Presswire. Retrieved 29 Nov 2021.
  6. ^ Spillane, Mackenzie (29 Nov 2021). "Country Music Artist Craig Morgan Calls on Followers to Donate $5 to Fight Human Trafficking on Giving Tuesday". EIN Presswire. Retrieved 29 Nov 2021.
  7. ^ "Country artist Craig Morgan partners with Colorado Springs-based nonprofit The Exodus Road for Giving Tuesday". Colorado Springs Gazette. 29 Nov 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  8. ^ "Advocate Hollie Smith joins the Exodus Road's U.S. Board of Directors". 25 April 2023.
  9. ^ "Nonprofit Leader Alece Ronzino Joins the Exodus Road's U.S. Board of Directors". 24 May 2023.
  10. ^ Steve Leigh (5 October 2021). "Important Announcement Regarding The Exodus Road's Executive Leadership" (PDF). The Exodus Road. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  11. ^ https://theexodusroad.com/ [bare URL]
  12. ^ Parker, Laura (16 October 2017). "Our Numbers Explained". The Exodus Road. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  13. ^ "TraffickWatch Academy". The Exodus Road.
  14. ^ "The Exodus Road Launches TraffickWatch Academy: U.S. on September 21". EIN Presswire. 16 September 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  15. ^ "ONG internacional capacitam policiais civis no combate ao tráfico de pessoas". Amazonas Secretariat of Public Security. 29 July 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  16. ^ Matt Parker; Laura Parker (2014). "What It Takes to Free a Sex Slave". Relevant Magazine. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  17. ^ Parker, Laura. "Delta Team". The Exodus Road. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  18. ^ Longs, Herb (28 January 2021). "Exclusive: Remedy Drive's David Zach Talks Candidly About Human Trafficking & Injustice". The Christian Beat. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  19. ^ Lilienthal, Mercedes (2 August 2020). "Driving Across the Globe to Fight Child Trafficking". The New York Times.
  20. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions".
  21. ^ "Beyond Rescue". The Exodus Road.
  22. ^ Spillane, Mackenzie (17 Dec 2021). "UN Awards Grant to The Exodus Road for Supporting Survivors of Human Trafficking". EINPresswire. Retrieved 17 Dec 2021.
  23. ^ "UN Trust Fund for Victims of Human Trafficking Announces 10 NGO Projects Selected for Comprehensive Support to Victims of Human Trafficking under Sub-Grant Programme 2 of the 5th Grant Cycle". United Nations : Office on Drugs and Crime. Retrieved 2021-11-19.
  24. ^ Gambill, Mark (30 July 2021). "Cellebrite And The Exodus Road Team Up To Fight Human Trafficking". Cellebrite. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  25. ^ "Brazil's Anti-Human Trafficking Effort Gets a Hand from the Exodus Road". 23 December 2022.
  26. ^ "Financials". The Exodus Road.
  27. ^ "The Exodus Road Inc". Charity Navigator. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  28. ^ Parker, Laura. "Partners". The Exodus Road. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  29. ^ https://theexodusroad.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/General-summary-of-2017-and-2018-investigative-reports.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  30. ^ Nussbaum Speir Gleason PLLC (26 February 2021). "Summary of 2017 and 2018 investigative reports for The Exodus Road" (PDF). The Exodus Road. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  31. ^ Matt Parker; Laura Parker (2 March 2020). "The Exodus Road's Statement Regarding Accusations from an Open Letter on 2/24/2021" (PDF). The Exodus Road. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  32. ^ Nussbaum Speir Gleason PLLC (26 February 2021). "Summary of 2017 and 2018 investigative reports for The Exodus Road" (PDF). The Exodus Road. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  33. ^ Smith, Alissa (May 8, 2018). "Sex workers get caught in the crossfire of human trafficking intervention and religion". Colorado Springs Independent. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  34. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". The Exodus Road.
  35. ^ "Human Trafficking". United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. 6 May 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  36. ^ Silverman, Robert (6 May 2016). "Ex-Pro Athlete Joins Misguided Sex Worker "Rescue" Effort". Voactiv. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  37. ^ Jackman, Tom (September 23, 2016). "Hunting for sex-traffickers abroad — by posing as johns". The Washington Post. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  38. ^ "Brand Assets".
  39. ^ Laura Parker (5 August 2013). The Exodus Road: One Wife's Journey Into Sex Trafficking and Rescue: Mrs. Laura Parker: 9780615864358: Amazon.com: Books. Freedom Press. ISBN 978-0615864358.
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