29th Parliamentary-Intelligence Security Forum – Stopping Trafficking in Businesses and Supply Chains
Ms. Jane Lasonder shared her journey from surviving child sexual exploitation and trafficking to becoming a leading advocate for survivors on the international stage. She described the extreme invisibility she felt as a child, living in fear and suffering severe physical and emotional abuse, with no trusted adults to turn to teachers, doctors, and police failing to recognize her distress or intervene.
Lasonder emphasized the critical role of awareness and training, particularly for healthcare workers, who are often the first professionals to see victims of trafficking. She shared a case of a man forced into labor in the UK whose injuries went unnoticed for over a year because medical staff did not recognize the signs. Proper training could have rescued not only him but others in similar situations.
Her key message was that every individual, especially lawmakers, professionals, and citizens—holds a “superpower” to make the invisible visible. She called for meaningful survivor engagement, co-design of policies, creation of national survivor councils, and multi-disciplinary collaboration to identify, report, and prevent trafficking.
She ended with a poignant metaphor: the public spectacle of rescuing a pigeon in Madrid highlights society’s ability to act, yet far too often, people trapped in slavery are ignored. Her challenge was clear: if we can save a pigeon, we must act even more decisively to rescue human beings from exploitation.
