See Something, Say Something

In honor of the feast of St. Josephine Bakhita—patron saint of human trafficking—and the "International Day of Prayer for Victims of Human Trafficking," this episode of The Energy Detox takes a break from the usual conversations about leadership and the energy industry to boost your awareness of (and encourage you to take action on) an issue that trumps most of the relatively comfortable topics corporations weave into their Corporate Sustainability Reports.

  • Did you know that ~25 million people around the world are being trafficked at any given time?

  • Are you aware of how close to home human trafficking activities are to you?

  • In what ways are you unwittingly contributing to the problem of human trafficking?

  • How many modern-day slaves are supporting your current lifestyle (calculate your number at Slavery Footprint)

  • What are some of the ways you can support the fight against human trafficking?

help make sure what is being said about sex trafficking is being heard:

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Transcript

(AI training in progress; please excuse any errors)

If you see something, say something, that phrase, which was born about 20 years ago on the heels of 911 is something you have undoubtedly heard many times, especially while traveling through airports or train stations or when you've been in some large crowd at a concert or other big gathering, which could be a bigger target for potential terrorists. And while terrorism was the impetus for that phrase, the reality is that that phrase, or some iteration of that phrase has spread far and wide. It's used in everyday language. It's used by many companies who encourage employees to call the compliance hotline or the whistleblower hotline if they see something that is potentially unethical or fraudulent. Or course, if they see something or hear about something that might be a threat to the health and well being of employees, they are encouraged to take action to report it. And, again, that is something that applies in our everyday lives, right. In fact, just this past weekend, on Sunday afternoon, after some several hours of going to out to eat and going to a museum with my family and my wife, four young children, we get back to the car and parking lot, which was mostly empty. And as we were trying to struggling to get everybody buckled in and settled down and quieted down, we encouraged my wife to just take a step out of the minivan for a second and enjoy the quiet of the outside world and the crispness of the Pittsburgh air as we got everybody buckled in and settled down and encouraged him to stop screaming for a couple moments. As all that happened, the one other person who was nearby in the parking lot, who had gotten into a car was actually headed for the exit and decided to loop around, pass in front of my wife. And as she slowed down and stopped, she mouthed the words to my wife, are you, okay? And my wife, immediately sensing that, you know, this person thought that there's something wrong with my wife, because she's standing outside of the minivan, you know, maybe looking either distressed or tired or aggravated, or like she had a headache or, or just that piece or whatever, you know, this lady thought that my wife was in trouble. And of course, my wife said, no, no, no, thank you. I am okay. So sweet or something of that nature. And as my wife got in the car, you know, we obviously laughed about the situation a little bit that, again, this woman thought my wife was in dire straits. And no, no, no, it's actually just just my children that drove me out of the car for for a couple seconds to take a breath of fresh air for for a split moment before subjecting herself again to the kids in the ride home. But as we laughed about it, of course, we appreciated what that lady did. She took the time after seeing something that didn't seem right to her to loop around and to check and make sure my wife was okay. And obviously, again, we have great gratitude for what that woman did. And it was a great reminder for us and how important it is to say something to do something to take action when you see something that doesn't seem quite right. And so with that anecdote in mind, we're going to deviate a little bit on today's episode of the energy detox. And we're going to avoid the normal conversations about the energy industry and ESG and the energy transition and conscious leadership and all of the various fun and sarcasm that often flows to the energy detox. And instead, we're going to build off this idea of saying something and taking action when you see something, particularly as it relates to human trafficking. And the reason that we're doing that today is not just because of this weekend's anecdote with my wife and my family. But we're doing that today, because today is also the feast of St. Joseph Makita, who is the patron saint of human trafficking. And in conjunction with that feast day, it is also the International Day of Prayer for victims of human trafficking. So we're going to take all these various things, again, as an excuse to do something a little bit different today. And that is to simply raise awareness of the problem that human trafficking is not just around the world, but also here in the United States. Also, we're wherever neck of the woods you happen to be in. Now, again, globally, you might have some sense of human trafficking and, and the modern day slavery that unfortunately exists. And the numbers are staggering when you look at it from a global standpoint, right. 25 million people are estimated to be in some phase of human trafficking right now.

04:19

Some estimates have modern day slaves at 40 million people. And again, you can go online and you can estimate how many slaves are used to impact your life to drive your lifestyle. I took that exercise here this morning, and it revealed that 92 slaves are apparently supporting my family's lifestyle, again, a staggering number. But Well, again, it's easy to be desensitized and to know that some of these things go on and supply chains that ultimately flow to our our phones and our computers. And again, everything else in modern life. That desensitization can distract us from the fact that right here in America, human trafficking is Real is a real problem, right here in Pittsburgh. Again, it's a real problem. Some of that is driven just by logistics. And the fact that again, we have highways running through our state, we have certainly no shortage of train lines and rivers and all kinds of things that are coming together here in Pittsburgh. But unfortunately, when things come together, so to do these victims of human trafficking, another thing that fuels human trafficking here in western Pennsylvania, as well as other parts of the country is the opioid opioid epidemic. And the problems with that when people get desperate, and they're on drugs, and, you know, they're, they're promised X, Y, or Z. And so they find themselves again, in human trafficking, whether that's from a labor standpoint, or when it comes, unfortunately, too many women and children from a sex trafficking standpoint, and regardless of what that trafficking looks like, it is a problem. So again, today's episode is merely to raise your awareness of what that problem is. And if you don't listen any further, great. Take a moment right now to go ahead and Google for whatever community you're in, what resources are out there, what people are out there trying to fight against human trafficking, or what people are trying to help support victims who have escaped human trafficking, but have not escaped all of the trauma that comes with it. So again, I encourage you today to not just take action, when you sense that something might be off. But again, to take action to help support things, whether that's financially, whether it's simply through prayer today, whether it's through boosting awareness for friends and family that this is a very real problem. The other thing you could do, and again, you can go on any number of websites and go on the national trafficking hotline website. And you can see a list of things that you can be on guard for, it only takes a couple minutes to just glance at the list. And you can look at certain patterns that you might see whether you see somebody at a at a gas station or convenience store on the side of the road or the rest stop. And again, these might not be places that you frequent, often, but when you are there and you do see something, do you have the means and the wherewithal and the confidence to take action. And again, that's what I'm encouraging today for you. If you see something to say something, and before that, arm yourself with awareness of what some of those triggers might be, what some of the signs that somebody might be in trouble. Maybe it is a middle aged woman who's standing outside of a minivan, and you might not know what's going on inside the minivan that it's actually just filled with very loud children who are yelling, and she just wants to escape. Maybe there is something dire going on. And she actually has a moment to truly escape from a real situation. And that might be that one moment that one split second, to offer that person help to say, are you okay? And if that woman gives you a subtle nod? No, I'm not okay, yes, I do need help. In return, you now have the ability to jump into action, to do something to make a quick phone call to alert the authorities, and to use your judgment to help out in the best way possible. So again, be aware, be conscious of these things, so that you have the ability to help out and the most effective way possible. And again, wrapping things up, you know, and in honor of St. Josephine Makita, who again, is the patron saint of human sex trafficking, Josephine was child grew up in Sudan, and at the age of, I think, eight or nine, maybe she was kidnapped. So she had lived a normal existence up until that point, and this was sometime around 1880. And she was kidnapped. She was sold into slavery, she was bought and sold several times, in fact, and ultimately, she wound up in Italy, where Long story short, she gained freedom. And once she became a free woman, she decided to become a nun. And she lived out the rest of her 45 years of existence as a Catholic nun and ultimately was canonized and she is today again, Saint of human trafficking. And while again, Her Story Ends Well the reality is that for many people who escaped human trafficking, I mean, that's that's obviously the goal is to to escape human trafficking. But for many people who have left the figurative chains, if you will, they are still dealing with trauma and continue to deal with trauma. So again, today, don't just pray for the victims of human trafficking, don't just pray for an end to it. Don't just take action against it or whatever you wish to do. But also focus on those people who are helping to bring people back back into the fold back in society back

09:18

into an opportunity to live a full, healthy, happy rest of their lives. And there are many organizations that are out there doing that, right. And again, I'm not going to list them all out. Certainly, you know, if you happen to be a part of the energy industry, you might be familiar with red and based in Houston. Here in Pittsburgh, you have the Pittsburgh action against rate par, they do a lot of work. There's some other newer ones that are popping up here in Pittsburgh, there's a new refuge, new shelter that's gonna be opening up in the spring. If you're looking to support it's a refuge for women, I believe is the name of it. There's another one here close by to me called Living in liberty. And again, wherever you are in the United States or around the world, a simple Google search can reveal plenty of opportunities to support the individuals who are supporting the people who have escaped human trafficking. And in addition to that, again, you can take the the poll that I did earlier today that revealed how many slaves were supporting my lifestyle, you can do things like that, if for no other reason to be aware, so that when you do have an opportunity to choose, you make the choice that lessens the impact of modern day slavery, human trafficking on you. And so that you avoid unwittingly supporting human trafficking. Unwittingly supporting slavery and willingly supporting things that I would imagine are at odds with, what your values are and what your goals are. So with that, again, do your own research, take a minute, hopefully, by now you've stopped listening to me. And again, you've, you've gone and searched and verified that, yeah, there's no shortage of support systems and organizations and individuals who are out there trying to make a difference. And again, you might not have the means financially to make a difference, you might not feel like you have the time. But we all have the ability to, when you see something, when you feel like something is off, to say something, to take action, to point people in a direction to invite them away from that situation and move them to a safe place, like a shelter, like a refuge where they can go. Because for all the talk that's out there of fighting, human trafficking, whether again, that's from a labor standpoint, whether it's from a sex standpoint, the reality is that the number of resources that are out there pale in comparison to the number of people that are impacted by this around the world and here in the United States. So do what you can do as small as it might be to make an impact. And so with that, again, I appreciate you tuning in to this different version of the energy detox today. But, again, a far more important message today about being aware of the things that truly impact individuals and that aren't just talking points. They're not just line items and an 80 Page ESG report or sustainability report that companies point out, they really point to the fact that whether you're talking about supply chains that fuel many companies, whether you're talking about the sex trafficking that, again, may very well be in your backyard, these things are real, these things impact people, these things are happening now, not 30 years from now, not 50 years from now, they're happening now. And if you as an individual, or as a corporation, have the ability to take action to do something and to not just say something, then I encourage you to do so. And with that again, thank you. I hope you have a safe and enjoyable rest of the day rest of the week. And take care

Leadership, Management, Coaching, Energy, Envronment, ESG, SustainabilityJoe SinnottLeadership, CoachingComment