The #1218 Campaign

The #1218 Campaign is two-fold.

The first component is to promote love and peace around the world. The world of trafficking is ugly. Anger is a common response to the atrocities committed during trafficking. While that anger is justified, it can also keep us stuck in the problem. The solution to the problem is love and peace. We build stronger communities with love and peace. We build healthier families with love and peace. We build new lives with love and peace. And while we live in love and peace, we continue to fight against the disruptions in society that allow human trafficking to exist. Learn more about our legislative efforts here.

The second piece is to help the layperson easily dispel some myths about human trafficking. Read on to learn how you can tell the story of a trafficked individual through an ordinary rock.

How can a rock create dialogue about human trafficking?

There are millions of rocks in the world. Some of them are exactly where you expect them to be. They’re hanging out where rocks typically are. You know where to find them and can easily see them. Other rocks are more hidden. You find them in places where you might not expect. You stumble upon them.

Each rock represents a person who has been trafficked. Each rock is unique but shadowed by its environment. Each rock is beautiful but largely unnoticed by most people. Each rock has scars from its battles in the elements that may only be seen by the person who is looking for it.

Each rock is just existing. The rock isn’t asking to do anything other than be a rock. Rocks just keep rocking every day.

Human trafficking survivors aren’t much different. The media has done us a disservice by frequently showing us tied up. Often, the control is in the form of mental/physical abuse and addiction not chains. But just like those rocks, they cannot always see outside of their environment to other options. They are simply surviving.

For a person to see and understand a rock, they have to learn about rocks.

They have to start by learning about rocks- where to find them, how they are shaped, and other purposes for them. A rock doesn’t know that it can become a foundation until it learns to try to test the weight of growth.

One person can highlight a rock’s potential. First, the person has to look for a rock. They look in areas where rocks may be. They keep their eyes open throughout their day for rocks. One person can interrupt the pattern of the rock’s current existence.

MNMV offers free community seminars so that you can spot human trafficking. Learn more about that opportunity here.

Even something as strong as a rock needs support when it is trying something new.

For a rock to find its full potential, it may have to leave its current environment. It is brought inside, cleaned up, and given time to dry. Many rocks end up going back to the same rock piles they came from. They might get picked up and brought inside again and again only to go back out to the piles. Some rocks move on to new gardens and quietly soak up the sun. They’re no longer in the old piles. They’re in new, beautiful places doing new rock things. Then there are some rocks that want to go back for more rocks. They want other rocks to know about the gardens. Some rocks want to be seen. Those rocks get painted with #1218.

When your organization is ready to provide survivor-led care for survivors of trafficking, we want to help. MNMV creates custom consultation packages for ongoing education and support. Learn more about some of our previous clients here.

For Survivors, By Survivors

Each #1218 rock is hand-painted by a survivor of human trafficking. Each rock which already began unique and beautiful is transformed through time and effort into a new type of beauty. These rocks are meant to be bright and seen. Each rock is then placed on a new path where they share their unique beauty and message with the world.

While we paint rocks so that they will be easily seen, we also leave exponentially more rocks in their own natural beauty because not every rock wants to be painted.

We honor all of the survivors we meet in our fight to interrupt human trafficking- those who are seemingly stuck in a horrific cycle, those who are living a fantastic life outside of trafficking, and those who stand and shout from the roof tops that it ends with us.

Be your own beautiful rock.

Join us on our #1218 Campaign. Find a rock painted by a survivor, share it on social media, and use the hashtag #1218 so that others will see it, too.

You can do it, too! Paint some rocks. Use #1218. Help us spread awareness.

Make it stop.