Equip Yourself to Recognize and Respond to Human Trafficking

Be the One Who Knows: Equip Yourself to Recognize and Respond to Human Trafficking

Women At Risk, International (WAR, Int’l) invites you to attend our upcoming Civilian First Responder (CFR) Training Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday, October 25, 2025. This essential, one-day training is designed to equip everyday individuals with the tools to identify, understand, and respond to human trafficking within their communities.
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Why Attend the CFR Training Conference?

Human trafficking is a pervasive crime, often hidden in plain sight. Traffickers prey on the vulnerable, manipulating their needs and circumstances for exploitation. At WAR, Int’l, we believe that awareness is the first step to action. This conference will help participants “see the unseen,” understand the complex nature of trafficking, and learn how to be a voice of protection and restoration.

By attending, you become part of a broader movement to prevent exploitation and support survivors in meaningful, life-changing ways.
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Conference Highlights

● Date & Time: Saturday, October 25, 2025, from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST

● Location: WAR, Int’l Headquarters – 2790 44th St SW, Wyoming, MI 49519

● Registration Fee: $35 (includes lunch and training materials)

● Registration Deadline: October 22, 2025

● Register Here
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What to Expect

The day is carefully structured to maximize both learning and impact. Sessions will be led by Rebecca McDonald, founder and president of WAR, Int’l, along with law enforcement professionals, survivor leaders, and other subject- matter experts.

Session One | This opening session introduces the current reality of trafficking in the United States. Participants will learn why it is critical for all civilians to understand what trafficking looks like and how it functions in our communities. The session includes a survivor testimony that brings this issue into sharp, personal focus.

Session Two | This session will examine the 22 lures commonly used by predators and 21 trafficking flashpoints. Participants will also explore demographic patterns specific to Western Michigan and review Homeland Security’s guidelines for civilian responders. Stories shared in this session include interviews with law enforcement, Homeland Security, and survivor accounts, including a case in which a single phone call led to a woman’s rescue.

Lunch Break | A catered lunch is included with registration.

Breakout Sessions | Attendees will choose from various focused breakout sessions led by professionals who work directly in anti-trafficking efforts.

Session Three | This session focuses on practical application—what to do when trafficking is suspected, how to have safe and appropriate conversations with children, and how to serve as a trustworthy advocate for the vulnerable. It concludes with participant-submitted questions collected throughout the day.

Q&A Panel | The conference concludes with a live Q&A session featuring a panel of speakers, survivors, and subject- matter experts. Questions gathered throughout the day will be addressed, allowing for deeper insight and direct engagement with the presenters.

TAKE ACTION

Attending the CFR Training Conference is more than an educational opportunity—it is a tangible step toward protecting the vulnerable and preventing exploitation. You will leave not only informed but also empowered to respond with confidence, compassion, and clarity.

If you cannot attend in person, consider exploring our Digital Civilian First Responder Program to access training on your own schedule.

Together, we can stand as a circle of protection around those at risk. Join us as we bring awareness, prevention, and hope to our communities.

Register today: CFR Training Conference – October 2025

Myths that Perpetuate Trafficking | Part Two

Myths that Perpetuate Trafficking (and Facts that Break Chains)

Part Two in a three-part series

Today, at least 50 million people are enslaved by the evil that is human trafficking. Though it is frequently punishable by law, the horrific realities are often hidden behind closed doors. To make matters worse, the shadowy nature of human trafficking contributes to many misunderstandings which allow the industry to thrive. In the spirit of National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, here are a few myths that confuse and hinder the efforts to combat human trafficking in our own communities, nationally, and across the globe.

It is of note that this is not an exhaustive list.

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Myth: The United States does not have a trafficking problem.

Fact: The United States ranks among the top ten countries with the highest estimated numbers of victims of modern slavery. Trafficking is a global issue, and the United States is the third highest trafficking destination in the world. Richer countries do not necessarily correlate with higher demand, but wealthier clients make trafficking more profitable for traffickers. In addition to Women At Risk, International’s (WAR, Int’l’s) efforts to combat trafficking overseas, we are increasingly involved in fighting trafficking and rescuing victims in the United States.

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Myth: Traffickers only have physical control over their victims.

Fact: Many, if not all, victims are mentally and emotionally manipulated and controlled by their traffickers in addition to being physically restraints. The unfortunate reality is that traffickers put sufficient effort into convincing their victims that they either deserve the treatment they are getting and/or that no one will believe them if they speak up. These mental barriers can be incredibly difficult to break, and recovering from this mental trauma, alongside the physical, is an important part of the recovery process.

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Myth: The person being trafficked will leap at the opportunity to ask for help.

Fact: People who have been trafficked or sexually abused are usually in shock, and people in shock generally do not have a rational response to a situation where they are able to ask for help, particularly if it is unexpected. In addition, the perception traffickers cultivate that they know everything about their victims can forestall an attempt to ask for help even if the trafficker is not present. A hallmark of the mental and emotional manipulation traffickers often exert over their victims is convincing them that they are invisible and/or that no one will believe them. This is why it is the onlooker’s responsibility to look for signs that all may not be well and to report suspicious circumstances to an organization that fights trafficking, such as WAR, Int’l or the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

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Myth: Traffickers live on the edges of society.

Fact: Over ninety percent of trafficking victims are trafficked by members of their community or people they believe they know. Kidnapping is rare. Traffickers often seek to ingratiate themselves into a community to minimize the suspicion they might otherwise raise or so that they can fall back on a history of good behavior if they are questioned.

Join us in facing the reality and breaking the chains of modern slavery!

Attend a Civilian First Responder Training Conference to learn how you can rise up against trafficking.

Host a pop-up boutique to educate your community and support survivors on their healing journeys.

Read Part One in the series here.

International Women’s Day

March 8, 2025

Why We Celebrate

This year, the United Nations’ designation of March 8th as International Women’s Day is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary. The spirit of the celebration has existed as a movement and as a celebration of women’s advancements across fields for significantly longer, however. The designation of a day in late February or early March to honor women and promote women’s suffrage dates to the early twentieth century. Celebrating International Women’s Day is not just a reason to reflect on past achievements, however, but to look forward to taking steps toward equality in the future.

Theme

Each year since 1996, the United Nations has selected a theme for International Women’s Day to help promote gender equality, to spur communities to action, and to aid a variety of efforts to help women around the world. The theme for 2025 is “Accelerate Action,” a nod to data from the World Economic forum that estimates it will take until 2158, or about five generations, for the world to achieve economic gender parity. Therefore, this year is focused on raising awareness of the persistent economic gap and advocating for concrete steps to reduce the current timeline.

Women At Risk, International

Women at Risk, International is dedicated to uplifting, celebrating, and protecting women in tangible ways today and every day. We support safe houses and vocational training centers around the world and run a vocational training center right here in the United States at our headquarters in West Michigan. These safe houses and training centers give women a place to recover or seek protection and an opportunity to learn skills that allow them to earn a fair wage and earn their living with dignity, a right that ought to be inherent but has often been denied to them. Our safehouses seek to provide holistic solutions including mental and emotional support as we help rescued and at-risk women move toward living the lives they would have if not for dastardly interference.

Celebrate through Supporting Women

This International Women’s Day, celebrate the women in your life by supporting and uplifting the women who need it most. You can partner in the work of Women At Risk, International by shopping either in person or online from our boutique, which is stocked with goods made by at-risk and rescued women. To take your participation a step further, volunteer to host a pop-up boutique, where we ship product to you and you sell it yourself from your home or church. The impact of these sales cannot be overstated: $300 of these sales are sufficient to support a woman in a safehouse for an entire month!

By supporting the work of the artisans at our United States Training Center, you are an encouragement to Women At Risk, International and to the women we serve, “jumping into the trenches with us and lifting lives to dignity,” in the words of our founder. This International Women’s Day, commit to investing in women and creating a tangible impact in the lives of those most vulnerable.

Invitation to support women~

~ Shop to empower women here.

~ Host a pop-up boutique here.

Safer Internet Day

February 11, 2025

In the European Union – and increasingly around the world – the second Tuesday of February is celebrated as Safer Internet Day. This year, it falls on today, February 11. We are marking today because of the increased impact that the internet has had on trafficking and anti-trafficking efforts in recent decades. Increased accessibility to pornography, anonymous purchasing, and lack of evidence trails have all contributed to the increase in traffickers’ use of the internet to do their business.

There are two major factors that make fighting the use of the internet in trafficking more difficult to fight than other venues traffickers use for business. First, the anonymity of the internet not only gives traffickers a sense of security that they will not be caught, but it makes it much easier for them to impersonate a friend or acquaintance of their target. In addition, one of the biggest concerns for those who fight online trafficking is the high rate of evolution of apps and ways to connect. If a communication app or set of advertisements is flagged and taken down, it can be replaced in just hours. Teaching your children and those in your circles how to be safe on the internet is a constantly evolving process and requires flexibility and resilience.

It is important to note that “internet trafficking” by no means takes place solely in an online limbo. The real, physical violence and trauma to trafficking victims who were groomed or blackmailed via the internet is not diminished by the fact that their process of entrapment – often grooming or blackmail – began online. Concerns about children’s internet safety are growing in universality. In the United States, for instance, there have been attempts in recent years to protect children via legislation at the federal level. The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) was first introduced in 2022 and passed the Senate. It did not achieve a needed majority in the House of Representatives. As a result, there is more work to be done.

Like other trafficking risks, solving the problem of unsafe internet is an issue that needs to be fought on a communal level. Although it can be difficult to talk to children about internet safety, restrictions are necessary to keep them safe from an internet that is not. “I’m a good kid,” they may protest, “don’t you trust me?” It may be helpful to emphasize that of course you trust them, but you do not trust the predators lurking online – and neither should they. Ensuring that your community, your children, and the children in your circles are as informed as possible is one of the most important things you individually can do in order to build the necessary circles of protection. Take time to set up parental controls, establish a culture of openness with online activities, and be a non-judgmental listening ear for your children when they come to you with questions or concerns.There is no better time to begin than today.

CALL TO ACTION~
~Attend Women At Risk, International’s (WAR, Int’l) Civilian First Responder Training Conference, learn more here.
~Attend or host one of WAR, Int’l’s S.T.A.N.D. Classes, learn more here.

Year in Review | 2024

By Becky McDonald, Founder & President
-January 2025

2024 IN REVIEW

Dear WARriors:

The “dirty little secret” of 150 years of government and ministry abroad is a gigantic welfare system where dependency hostility is real. We’ve fed fish to the starving but never taught them to fish! You CANNOT rescue someone, pat them on the head and say, “Nasty little life there…go do something nice.” Over 90% of Cambodians rescued and sent home without job training get RESOLD. You MUST empower work with dignity, or they’re re-scammed. We passionately help rebuild lives a day at a time at their own pace. If you’re starving, I’ll feed you a fish. BUT, may I PLEASE teach you to fish, make fishing poles, and sell your fish and fishing poles?

WAR is passionate about the 200+ projects and programs we partner with. One of our favorite questions is, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Whether they are 2, 12, or 52 years old…we want them to DREAM and make that dream come true! One woman recoiled saying, “I’ve learned never to dream!” I said, “Start now!” This year that turned into GOATS! Yep! Inside the WAR program world, G.O.A.T. actually stands for GIVING OPPORTUNITIES AND TRAINING, which is about animal husbandry of goats and chickens. Much of our time this year was spent in Zambia, experiencing a famine and the worst drought in history. Walking by 2 freezers in our buildings there, I decided on the spot to buy goats…85 to start! If we couldn’t grow corn, we’d eat meat! The WAR family rallied. Our Zambian staff are dreaming of having 2 million goats! Seriously!

Goats aside…A quick look at “work with dignity” is a dazzling array of skill training that we’ve done!

• Sewing, Knitting, Weaving ~ In former British colonies sewing is a real income, making 10 times a daily labor man’s job if a woman is industrious…WHILE she watches her kiddos at home.

• Agricultural Training ~ Along with the animal husbandry, we train women (and men watch and learn) how to grow gardens, do drip irrigation and make their own food to eat AND sell.

• Jewelry Making ~ Shoppers KNOW our high-end jewelry, real stones, pearls…beautiful gifts. Shopping for these literally jumps you in the trenches with us, lifting lives to work with dignity.

• Bakeries, Coffee Shops, Culinary Training ~ From Asian bakeries that supply royal families to coffee shops and 5-star hotel culinary training…we help men and women to dream this dream.

• Scarves and Clothes ~ From Pakistan to India to Thailand, we have the most incredible silk, embroidered, pashmina, cashmere, cotton and more scarves for every taste.

• Spa Products ~ Begun to help a tiny American girl, sold by her father to politicians, we launched a full line of spa products made by rescued and at-risk Americans.

• Micro-Businesses ~ From a Ugandan nuts and bolts kiosk, to produce grown and sold by widows, selling door to door, woman to woman, to sales of every kind…our women are flourishing in their own businesses.

• Education ~ From teaching Braille, to culinary schools, to doctors, lawyers, engineers, art, teachers, cosmetology, physical therapy, counseling…you name it…if a survivor dreams it, we make DREAMS a reality.

• Toys ~ My favorites are the kids toys from a croaking frog (for real), to finger puppets (I have 1 of each), to owl backpacks, to amazing baby llama fur, to tiny miniatures, and so much more!

These are just a few ways we helped survivors rebuild their lives to WORK WITH DIGNITY in 2024, in addition to wrap-around trauma informed rescue, aftercare, and healing:

Rebecca McDonald
Founder & President