HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) — A local Hampton woman wants to raise awareness about human trafficking. She has started a nonprofit to educate others, hoping to prevent human trafficking in the future.
In a revealing encounter, Anna Glider witnessed human trafficking in a restaurant in Thailand 26 years ago.
“One of our waiters, because we had two, was physically abused by the manager,” Glider said.
She was so moved by the incident that after learning more about it, she founded the Anchor Project, a nonprofit focused on education. Labor trafficking is just one of 17 types of human trafficking she describes on her website.
It hits close to home: There was a human trafficking case in Williamsburg that came to light in 2022, involving a laundry business that employed more than 100 illegal immigrants from El Salvador under threat of deportation.
Previously: 3 convicted in Williamsburg human trafficking case
“They were in the basement, and they were living and working there, and they were chained to their chairs,” Glider said. “There were children, minors and adults,” Glider said.
Glider says labor and sex trafficking are the most prevalent in our area. She was recently contacted by a victim who said her father had trafficked her when she was only four years old. Glider said a child can be trafficked by someone they know — their parent, teacher, even their babysitter. She urged people to watch for the signs.
“You start noticing changes in their clothing,” she said. “They start dressing a little bit more provocatively, a little bit differently, they start breaking their curfew, they start getting money. And you don’t know where that money is coming from.”
She said victims are lured with promises of easy money and kept in with threats of public shaming. Glider is working with Parents Against Trafficking, hoping to reach out to schools and talk to students.
“This is the priority,” she said. “Saving our children and making sure that our nation is aware that we have a problem and that we need to talk about it more.”
She said the only statistics we have now are on sex trafficking — and those are based on arrests only. Glider is working with local universities to get more accurate numbers on all forms of trafficking. The UN estimates there are more than 27 million victims of trafficking, but only 115,000 have come forward.
You can learn more and volunteer by visiting AnkerProject.org.
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