Human Trafficking True Crime with LORI MORRISON

In this powerful and eye-opening episode of our podcast, we are joined by Lori Morrison—a licensed private investigator, host of The Unlovely Truth podcast, author, and speaker.  She wants to help you become a different kind of P.I. - a Person of Impact. 

Dive deep with us as we discuss the sobering realities of forced labor, the sex trade, and forced marriages, and learn how we can become vigilant guardians in this ongoing battle. Laurie brings her expertise to the table, sharing critical insights and personal stories that will change how you see the world around you.

Don't miss this crucial conversation that not only educates but also empowers each one of us to make a difference. Awareness is our weapon, and knowledge is our shield. Tune in and join the fight against the darkness of human trafficking.

Key Moments in This Episode:
00:00:17 - Understanding and Preventing Human Trafficking
00:13:40 - Protecting Innocents and Recognizing Evil
00:24:58 - Child Trafficking and Awareness
00:33:47 - Ending Child Trafficking Through Awareness

Important Links:
- Laurie Morrison's Books: https://theunlovelytruth.com/books/
- The Exodus Road: https://theexodusroad.com/
- Resources for Reporting Trafficking: National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or text "HELP" to 233733.

Connect with Lori:
✔Website https://www.theunlovelytruth.com/
✔LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/theunlovelytruthpodcast/
✔Facebook https://www.facebook.com/theUnlovelyTruth
✔Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theunlovelytruthpodcast/

In this powerful and eye-opening episode of our podcast, we are joined by Lori Morrison—a licensed private investigator, host of The Unlovely Truth podcast, author, and speaker.  She wants to help you become a different kind of P.I. - a Person of Impact. 

Dive deep with us as we discuss the sobering realities of forced labor, the sex trade, and forced marriages, and learn how we can become vigilant guardians in this ongoing battle. Laurie brings her expertise to the table, sharing critical insights and personal stories that will change how you see the world around you.

Don't miss this crucial conversation that not only educates but also empowers each one of us to make a difference. Awareness is our weapon, and knowledge is our shield. Tune in and join the fight against the darkness of human trafficking.

Key Moments in This Episode:
00:00:17 - Understanding and Preventing Human Trafficking
00:13:40 - Protecting Innocents and Recognizing Evil
00:24:58 - Child Trafficking and Awareness
00:33:47 - Ending Child Trafficking Through Awareness

Important Links:
- Laurie Morrison's Books: https://theunlovelytruth.com/books/
- The Exodus Road: https://theexodusroad.com/
- Resources for Reporting Trafficking: National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or text "HELP" to 233733.

Connect with Laurie M

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Transcript

00:17 - Ruth Hovsepian (Host)
Welcome to Out of the Darkness with Ruth Hovsepian. I am so glad that you are here today because I have a great guest, a friend of mine that I have met over the last year and gotten to know, Lori Morrison, is here. She is, and I love this. She is a licensed private investigator I'm so proud to say I have a friend that is a PI and she is, on top of that, she's an author, a speaker, a podcaster. She has three amazing books that you can order and get for yourself, and you can find it on Amazon. The information will also be in the show notes. But all of that to say welcome, Lori, and welcome to my corner of the world. 

01:04 - Lori Morrison (Guest)
I'm so excited to be here and excited to talk about this with you Well the subject that we are going to be covering. 

01:11 - Ruth Hovsepian (Host)
We're going to have a conversation about human trafficking and this has been, you know, out and about, and we're hearing more and more about this recently for different reasons. We're not getting into political discussions, but really to make you aware of what human trafficking is. And I got some stats actually Lori from the Exodus Road and what they are reporting is this 43% of human trafficking is used for forced labor, 13% for sex trade and 44% this one got me, I never thought about this one Forced marriages, and out of this is 54% women and 46% men. That was another statistic that kind of shocked me, that that larger percentage of men are also being human trafficked. So it's $150 billion criminal industry. 

02:23 - Lori Morrison (Guest)
Yep More than all the professional sports combined. 

02:29 - Ruth Hovsepian (Host)
It's shocking, isn't it? 

02:31 - Lori Morrison (Guest)
That it is, but you picked a really great source for your information your statistics. Exodus Road does excellent work and I think it's really important that you pick those particular statistics because they do bring up some things that we don't think about very often. When we think about human trafficking, I think a lot of times what immediately pops to mind is sex trafficking, and we think about it being women, almost exclusively women, but it is men as well, although I think they tend to be in the labor trafficking a little more. But I think we also think that these unfortunate women are being brought in from overseas and we don't realize so many trafficking victims are US citizens, are Canadian citizens. It's not a third world problem being brought to our door exclusively, it's our people. 

03:32 - Ruth Hovsepian (Host)
You know. It's interesting because, you know, for years I think many people thought about human trafficking as something that did not touch us here in North America. We are clueless to what is happening to a sector, a very large section of our populations here in North America. Now this is going on around the world and I believe that the poorer they are, like the socioeconomic situation is, you know, at a level where they are not aware and cannot prevent it, it's even worse. 

04:21 - Lori Morrison (Guest)
And they don't have the options that those of us that have more resources do. That's one thing people really need to understand is some people just they don't have options and so when they see an opportunity that maybe seems too good to be true, they're going to risk it anyway because they just they don't have any other recourse. 

04:48 - Ruth Hovsepian (Host)
Well, I also got some information here. The question I was looking up really was how does child trafficking happen, and I think this is something that we are sometimes uneducated about. Therefore, we don't know how to prevent it or look out for it. So some of the ways that I found is grooming. Now we hear this a lot, right, because of the political cultural situation that we are in now, but grooming has been happening for a long time. It's not the 21st century, you know makeup, it's something that's been happening. But sometimes traffickers use emotional manipulation to trick children into thinking that they are friends or mentors and they gain a child's trust, earn their loyalty and convince the child to leave their family. 

05:47 - Lori Morrison (Guest)
Oh, 100%, and I think that that is picking up more and more as we live our lives more and more online, because it's so much easier to present yourself as something that you're not online as opposed to being in person, and you can just reach a wider pool of potential victims. 

06:12 - Ruth Hovsepian (Host)
Yeah, parents have to be aware. 

06:15 - Lori Morrison (Guest)
Oh, very much so. And I think too, speaking directly to parents, you know I raised daughters and it's rough. It happens to our sons as well, so don't think that it doesn't. But a lot of times we look at what I would say are the more obvious dangers. You know, don't talk to strangers. But then you sit there in church and the pastor says hey, turn around and find somebody you don't know and say hi to them. We're sending kind of mixed messages. 

06:47 - Ruth Hovsepian (Host)
I struggle without myself. Yes, I'm with you there. 

06:53 - Lori Morrison (Guest)
But we have to realize that a lot of these traffickers are just right in our midst. You know, they're not all in some seedy motel where we would obviously say, oh, that's a dangerous spot. I have studied cases where victims were approached at church and the reason traffickers and really any kind of predator is going to do that is because that's a place where your guard is down. That's a place where you think you can trust people. And, believe me, these people are professionals, they hone their craft, they practice. That's part of what grooming is about. They wanna see they're not just kind of priming up their victim, they're sussing them out who is receptive to me stepping over a boundary and who will enforce that boundary? Okay, well, if that child or that young person will enforce that boundary, they might not make as easy a target as I'm looking for. 

07:59 - Ruth Hovsepian (Host)
Yeah, and I see that in young people. I mean, my kids are older, we have older children, but I remember when my kids were teenagers and I was the home where I liked having kids come over to my place, just it was a way for me to know who the friends were and manage that area of my children's life in a way that they had the freedom to be with friends and yet were in a protective kind of a circle. And I saw many teenagers come into my home over the years and my oldest is 32, my youngest is gonna be 27 soon and I saw young people that broke my heart. They did not have people looking out for them in the way you and I are talking about and I saw how vulnerable and susceptible they were to people complimenting them, promising them things and falling into that trap of opening themselves up to these dangers. And we need to, as a community, be aware, not just for our children. 

09:23
And the church is the prime example, especially with larger churches. I mean, if you have a church of 60, 70, 100 people, you start to get to know people at a different level than when you're a church of hundreds and thousands, and we have those in North America. How do we help each other, lori, as a professional who sees all kinds of things, how do we educate? First of all, I know you are talking about church security and prevention of things within the church. What would be your advice to? Let's start at the top church leaders. As church leaders, what do we look out for and how can we make sure we're not a breeding ground? The church hasn't become a breeding ground? 

10:21 - Lori Morrison (Guest)
I love that you use that exact phrase, because there's a fascinating book by Dr Anna Salter and she went into prisons and interviewed and her particular genre was sex offenders. But she asked them do you have a particular victim type or a particular place that you'd like to look for your victims? And they said, oh yeah, church people, which surprises everybody when I tell them that. But their reasoning was A we can be a little naive and so it's kind of easy to fool us sometimes. And B even if we suspect anything, all we wanna do is forgive them. 

11:05
And so I think when we're talking to church leaders and they can be lay leaders as well as staff, pastoral staff or executive staff, whatever your church has I think we have to be willing to say not only can it happen here, but it probably is happening here, at least to the extent that if it's not happening within your group, there are people within your group where it's happening to them in some other setting. And I think that safety and security goes beyond just making sure the physical building is a safe place. I think we have a moral responsibility to our congregation to minister to them in all areas of their lives, and so just having these conversations and being able to say, okay, if that can happen here and maybe even is happening here, how do we spot it? How do we stop it? And I think having conversations like you and I are having right now is one of the best places to start. 

12:12 - Ruth Hovsepian (Host)
Yeah, we need to be aware what happened to the days where the neighborhood people knew your children and we knew each other's children and I think there was validity in that right, because if we saw someone being spoken to or interacting with someone and we didn't know who they were, we commented, we said we had a relationship with the parents. So I think let's stick to the sticking to say the church environment. How can I sitting in the church pew or church chair, depending on the style of your church. 

12:57
what can I be looking for? What should I know what I look for? Because of my, my past. So I think I have, you know, little spidey antennas, you know, like those things that go up just because I've seen a lot, I've experienced a lot. So I think my observations of people are different. I have a I'm, I'm. I have a I, I've been called out on this, but I, I'm, I either like someone or I don't. I'm a black and white kind of person and there's a feeling of someone I get the moment I meet them. So let's talk about the average person who, as you said, maybe not have hasn't experienced the world as some of us have. 

13:54 - Lori Morrison (Guest)
Well, and I think it's important, what you just described about yourself. I think it is an incredible gift. So if anybody is downplaying, you know, don't look at it as I like this person or don't like that person. I like what I see this person doing. You know, we tend to trust titles over character, and I also like to say when someone yeah, when someone tells you who they are, they believe them by what they're doing. 

14:25
Believe them. You know our, our tendencies, our personalities and even our pathologies will leak out. We can't constantly hide them all the time. So when you have, you know, your spidey sense that you talked about, when the back of the, the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, pay attention to that. I think we often discount that, those stirrings in our gut, because to me that those are manifestations of the Holy Spirit, not to, you know, try to get super, super charismatic or anything. But you know, discernment is a gift of the Holy Spirit and it sounds very, it sounds very clear to me that you have that. I have that. 

15:09
One time I won't even call her a friend of my daughters, but an acquaintance of my daughters walked up our driveway to our house. I'd never met this girl and I looked at my husband and I said she will cause trouble. He just looked at me like what are you talking about? I said I am just telling you and sure enough, she did in a big way. God gives us those insights in order to protect ourselves and remember gifts of the Holy Spirit are always meant for the edification of the church and the building up and protection of the body, and so we get those little nudges so that we can protect other people. 

15:49
So I think it's so important that we don't downplay them, we don't hide them. You know, we're certainly not strident with them, because we're not always right. We can mistake our own feelings and say, oh God told me that. But when you see something, I hate to see something, say something. When you feel something, see something, are made aware of something, you have to bring it to the attention of appropriate people. And sometimes those people don't always want to listen, especially if it is a person that other people tend to see as being very trustworthy, because people who will harm other people. They want to be trusted. Otherwise it's very difficult for them to accomplish what they want to accomplish. 

16:37 - Ruth Hovsepian (Host)
And, and you know, honestly, Lori, I would rather be wrong and for warning someone than to look back and say, Ruth, you should have, why didn't you? Because we are responsible, for you know, in that way, for one another, for those who are innocent, for those that don't see evil, the way we may see evil, and I think it comes down to that. You know, let's call apples apples, right, it's evil, it is so if, if we are not attuned to the evil around us, right, how do we protect those innocents in our, in our midst? And I think you know there are adults who are innocent for, for various reasons, right, They've lived a sheltered life, they may not have, you know, life experiences. And then, of course, the precious children who are innocent, and our teenagers, who are so vulnerable, so vulnerable right now. Right, Because our culture has created a predatory environment. Right, At different levels for different things. And really we, we need to be alert to these. 

18:02
And you know, I also have a lot of my how to put this. I also I'm going to put the responsibility where the responsibility also lies in as parents. Stop being friends with your children and start being there as a parent. They have enough friends. This is what I've told my children to this day. I love my children to death. And behind their backs I will say my children are my best friends. But but there's a difference between me being a parent. Even even as grown adults with their own families, I'm still their parent. I want to look out for them. 

18:51 - Lori Morrison (Guest)
And having said I was just going to say, you've just really made me think of something that I think is so crucial. We are our children's protectors, amen. And I think a lot of times we unwittingly sacrifice their best interests in order to please no-transcript adult Culture. As far as you know manners and things go, stop telling your children oh you, go up there and give brother Jim a hug. If your child feels uncomfortable with that, it may be for a reason that you know nothing about. Yeah, you cannot teach them that they have to subvert their own Feelings of safety in their own person to please an adult. 

19:45 - Ruth Hovsepian (Host)
Listen, I was that child. You know, growing up I am, I am of European and you know, asia minor background, so Armenian and Greek culture. Growing up we call everyone aunt and uncle, which is fine. And again, I was raised in a very Almost like a bubble when I was a child and you know, people were looking out for each other. 

20:11
But there came a point in my life for other reasons, because I had been introduced to pornography at the age of 11, 12 years old. So that was my issue right. So when people wanted to hug me I Didn't want to hug because at that tender age, when you don't know what is happening, you associate that physical contact with sexuality. Yes, and I didn't want it. Therefore, when my so I've, I've changed, I'm very I easily hug. You know I've grown, I've matured. But to say I understood that right. So when my kids were young, I had I have three, I had a couple that did not like the huggy, touchy, feely, with total strangers, and I never forced my children to do it because I understood 100% what it meant to be uncomfortable and doing it. 

21:16 - Lori Morrison (Guest)
I wanted to give my children the power to say no and I want to give parents out there a little bit of a different Perspective that I learned from a guest on my own podcast. He's a pastor, his father had been a pastor who, when this man was an adult, found out that his father had molested some of his own siblings children in the church. And this ties into grooming as well. What you have to understand is those types of predators. They're not just grooming the victims, they're grooming the parents. Yeah, which parents will force that child, the husband they don't want to. When you're doing those things, you're teaching predators that you're not very self-aware of what's going on and so you're just, you're giving them almost an open invitation. 

22:14
Yep, think of it that way and I hope, I hope that scares the socks off of you. 

22:20 - Ruth Hovsepian (Host)
I hope so too. I had a guest last season and she's she's a therapist and and you know she works with different types in different types of situations. She herself never allowed her children to do sleepovers. Totally get it. I totally get it now, my children I had. The funny thing is I did the sleepovers more often than not because I wanted my children to be safe. The one time I allowed One of my children to go to a friend's house that I didn't know very well, a Situation happened. It was an innocent situation. The two girls were doing something again, social media Long story. We nipped it in the bud. It was fine, nothing had happened. I want to reassure everyone. Nothing happened. But that's how it starts. You know, those little innocent things in in our situation. It it was fine. It really was just two girls having, you know, being teenagers. But so much can happen. It can happen in family union, in your own, brother's home, sister's home, parents home. Don't be innocent. I mean don't be, don't be blind to the possibilities. 

23:49 - Lori Morrison (Guest)
That brings up something else. That is is so uncomfortable, but people have to understand that this happens. I have spoken with more than one trafficking victim who was trafficked by a family member and Most of us we can't even wrap our minds around that and both of these women also. That family member took them to church. They presented a very faith-friendly front and so you cannot just assume and I don't want people to be Fearful and mistrustful of everybody they see, just aware, I just want you to be aware. But if you see something that seems you know again, it stirs up that that little. I don't think this is quite right. Don't just dismiss it because you say, but that's that person's Uncle, brother, grandfather, mother or whatever. Don't dismiss it because you say, well, that so-and-so is it deacon in the church, because this trafficker was a deacon in their church. And you, you mentioned labor trafficking as well. We do focus a lot on the sex trafficking and it is a huge problem, but labor trafficking is a problem. 

25:04
I have read stories of Young men who were kidnapped to work fishing vessels and at the end of the season they're not sent home, they're tossed overboard. 

25:17
I have heard stories of young people who were brought into supposedly religious-oriented good works that were really only benefiting a business owner who was fronting their business as a religious organization, a group that was bringing people over from very impoverished African nation to be part of a boys' choir and they would get education, they would get access to medical care that they couldn't get, but they were being worked 15 hours a day, they were not getting the education they'd been promised and it was all under the guise of a supposed pastor who was doing this. 

26:06
There are restaurants, and they're usually very trendy, little neighborhood-centric kind of establishments, and the people that work there are just happy to be there and they're leaving little tracks around. Oh, we have such a wonderfully supportive and uplifting community. Let me tell you more about it. And a lot of times none of them are getting paid. It's their volunteer I hate to say requirement, because then it's really not volunteering anymore but that's what it boils down to for this religious group that they're a part of, and I'm just going to go out and say it if you've got a religious group that's doing that, you're a cult. 

26:53
Not going to mince words, but that's one thing we can do. When you're aware of establishments like that, don't patronize those establishments, I don't care how good their food is. Don't support them. Look into these groups like if you, oh, this choir is going to put on this big thing. Find out how much of those kids working, because not only are they being taken advantage of spiritually, more than likely they're breaking federal laws in how they are using these children and young people. So a lot of it is just opening our eyes. 

27:35
Doing a little bit of research, I mean, good heavens, you can find most of this on the internet with just a simple Google search. And the kids that you know have they changed? Are they withdrawn? Are they putting less emphasis on things that used to be important to them? And not to say that religion if somebody's spending more time and more effort with their religious, whether it's studies or just participation that's not bad or wrong, but it's a red flag that needs to be checked out. And, as case scenario, you find out that this child is just, is devout, they're hungry to learn and it's all good, and the people they're learning from are not taking advantage of them, and those children don't know how to evaluate those situations. 

28:30 - Ruth Hovsepian (Host)
It's up to us to step in and do that research and find those things out and rescue them if they need rescued and if you want to, if you to be able to see a change in a child, you have to know the child. 

28:44 - Lori Morrison (Guest)
Yes. 

28:47 - Ruth Hovsepian (Host)
So you know, going back to what we said earlier, as parents, let's be parents, get to know your children, be aware of what your children are doing, where they are going, who they're hanging out to, what their likes are, what their dislikes are. And I, I need, I have to wrap my brain around when I hear parents say, oh no, I respect their privacy too much to do this. Oh no, no, no, not me, I'm sorry. I respect my children as humans. I respect them, for you know where they are. But when they were young no, sorry, if I had to look through something, I did I wanted to know what was happening to my children. 

29:37
And, yes, some of us are fortunate that our children talk with us and tell us, and you know, they share with us, sometimes too much sharing. But you know what I mean, Lori. I mean you know they're every. Every child is different. But what I'm trying to really say in all seriousness is get to know your children. There is no privacy in a family, you know. You need to know what your children are up to and what they're doing and, and most importantly, so that you can know why they've changed or why suddenly they're not eating or why they don't want to go to school or why they feel they have a tummy ache or so many you know. Red flags will go up if you know your child. 

30:27 - Lori Morrison (Guest)
And our child can certainly have their private thoughts. They are not entitled to their private actions. Yes, and I would also say, if you're a friend of my child, you are not entitled to private actions. If you are doing something that I mean, I'm not going to spy on you. You know hidden cameras and all that, but anything you put out online that anybody can find, that is all just open game. So you know, get online, see what your children are posting, see what their friends are posting see who see who's following, who you know as a private investigator, that is honestly. 

31:13
One of our best tools is just the information people put out there for anyone to see Give me 30 minutes. 

31:23 - Ruth Hovsepian (Host)
I can come back with pages of histories about someone. Yes, what they like what they do and where they've been, and yeah. 

31:32 - Lori Morrison (Guest)
And you know, if you have an extreme situation where you really are concerned about your child's safety, there are tools that are not available to the general public, that are available to licensed private investigators. You know. Avail yourself of a reputable investigators services. You know you only get to raise your children once and we're going to make mistakes. We all do. I did, but use the tools that are available to you because I'll guarantee you, the children, or rather the people out there that are praying on our children, are using every tool they can possibly think of and you know nobody, whether it's a young girl or young boy, is saying you know what? I think I would like to become a trafficking victim today. I think sex work would be something that would just be awesome. 

32:34
That's not how that starts. 

32:36
What happens is a lot of times and they call them Romeo pimps, boyfriend pimps they will come in. 

32:47
They will find a vulnerable teen or child who is looking for someone who is in their corner, someone who is showing them affection and affirmation and love, and so the victim wanders into it wanting the exact same thing you and I want. That's what we've got to remember. It starts with a desire for the very thing that all of us want. And then, once that predator has them in their grips, it's hey, baby, we really need some money and I know how we can get it real quick if you'll do this, that and the other thing. And by then they've twisted your child's thinking so much that, even though your child knows in the back of their head it's wrong, doesn't feel comfortable doing it, it's being presented in a way that seems to make sense to them. We've got to understand these kids don't suddenly just become these evil people that are doing bad things and committing sins and all that. They've been trapped into a lifestyle they did not see coming and they now do not know how to get themselves out of. 

34:08 - Ruth Hovsepian (Host)
We need to be aware is what we are saying and, lori, I want to thank you so much for being on here. This, this subject, can we can, we can talk about this and gives other examples and, you know, make you aware. But I want to thank you, lori, for being on today and if you're listening to this and you want more information, contact us, contact Lori, contact me, contact someone that will have this information. You can. You know, each one of us can take apart and ending child trafficking by how, by educating ourselves on the signs, knowing how to report suspected trafficking cases and being willing to help victims escape their situations. So, if this is a subject that you are, you know, interested in because you've seen something or something has happened to you or you suspect something is happening, contact the necessary people and, my friend, share this episode. This is something that we should all be aware of. This is just the tip of the iceberg and I wish you well. I thank you all for being here today.