Why We Ride
We ride to raise funds, to support survivors, raise awareness, and fight human trafficking locally and wherever it exists.
The Problem
Human trafficking is the trade of human beings for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or child soldiering. This modern form of slavery is a world wide issue and at its highest recorded levels in human history.
Some Heartbreaking Facts
- 40.3m – Around the world, an estimated 40.3 million people are in some form of forced labor, sexual exploitation or domestic servitude. That’s over two- thirds of the population of Italy. (Source: UN International Labour Organization)
- $150bnModern slavery is estimated to generate $150bn illicit profits every year, globally.
- 118,932 confirmed and identified human trafficking victims worldwide in 2019-20. As this is a hidden crime, this is just a fraction of the true number of victims. Last year there were 11,841 prosecutions and 9,548 convictions globally.
(Source: Trafficking in Persons Report 2020)
Our Beginning
In 2011, a 200 mile one day bike ride was transformed from an amazing feat of self achievement into a platform to fight human trafficking that we call Break The Cycle 200 (BTC200), formerly OK200:Stop The Traffic. After doing the first OK200 for personal satisfaction the core riders agreed that a second OK200 would be done the following year, but with a purpose beyond personal goals and pride. We realized that when we told other cyclists that we were riding 200 miles in one day they would typically say, “You’re crazy”, and “Why are you doing this?” The core riders discovered that on a second OK200 they would have an opportunity to grab the attention of others by talking about the ride and they would be able to use that as an opportunity to raise awareness and fight injustice in the world.
Today, BTC 200 is part of the Hope for Justice family. Now we can more effectively rescue victims, provide aftercare to help survivors start their healing journey. Find out about more of the work they do here – www.hopeforjustice.org.
The Impact of Our Work
Real lives changed forever
Megan, a teenager, met a man online and travelled to a long way to meet him. During their ‘relationship’, he got her addicted to heroin and “then began trafficking her for sexual exploitation to various cities around the United States.
Megan’s mother said she felt frantic and helpless, she was in despair at what a trafficker was doing to her daughter. Then she found out about Hope for Justice, and contacted us.
She said: “The first call I got was from the investigator at Hope for Justice…He was really positive about what I had sent him, and you know we had a case. I was very confident that they would keep digging and they would get justice.”
“Without Hope for Justice, I don’t know what would have happened to me or where I would be. If you didn’t help me, maybe I wouldn’t be alive.” Survivor of human trafficking being supported by Hope for Justice.
Hope for Justice investigators – a team of seasoned police officers with long careers in law enforcement – got to work. They followed a number of leads and managed to track down Megan and rescue her from this horrifying situation of exploitation and abuse. The investigation was turned over to law enforcement for prosecution. We deal with many cases like Megan’s, where vulnerable young women are exploited into sex trafficking. They often get sucked into this world through false promises made by the traffickers, and are then kept compliant through threats, violence, drugs and deception.
Then when they come out a trafficking situation, they are often both psychologically and emotionally distraught. To be able to bridge that gap and give them the services that they need, whether that’s health care or rehabilitative care, is key to the success of turning the life around for the trafficked victim.
Megan’s mother said: “When I received a call that she was safe, words can’t explain it enough. I was so overwhelmed and so grateful that she didn’t die, and justice was going to be served.”
Talking to us later from the hospital where Megan was being treated for injuries inflicted on her by her trafficker, her mother wanted to pass along a personal message of thanks to everyone who supports Hope for Justice: “I couldn’t be more thankful for the people that keep this program going and donate to this program. And I will be donating. It’s going to take everybody.”
Many more case studies are available at www.hopeforjustice.org/news.
Our Response
Our response to this horrible problem has been to sacrifice ourselves physically and use those efforts to benefit the oppressed across the world.
The money we have raised through BTC200 has positively impacted thousands of lives. It is not a stretch to say that lives are being saved because of your support and BTC200. With the help of BTC200, Hope for Justice have succeeded in bringing home 1,208 vulnerable and exploited children home to their moms and dads. They have trained 20,686 people on how to spot the signs of human trafficking, and have reached 102,803 children by our programs globally across five continents and 30-plus locations.
Rocky Vest, a founder of BTC200 said, “None of us knew that we would be where we are today. We just wanted to use our bikes and help others.”
We Ride So They Can Be Free!