Atlas Free Launches "Normal?" Campaign to Challenge Society's Complacency Toward Sex Trafficking

27.6 Million Lives Exploited.* $236 Billion Pocketed.** Human Trafficking Isn't Rare—It's Routine.

SEATTLE, Jan. 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- We tell ourselves sex trafficking is rare, shocking, an anomaly in our world. But the truth? It's everywhere. It's thriving. It's routine. That's the provocative message behind Atlas Free's new campaign, "Normal?"—launched during Human Trafficking Awareness Month.

The Campaign's Challenge
The campaign asks a gut-punching question: Should this be normal? With traffickers making $648 million daily—more than the GDP of countries like Greenland and Samoa—and 27.6 million people currently trapped, the campaign reframes the staggering statistics in a way that hits home: human trafficking is as commonplace as passing a Starbucks or catching a green light.

"This isn't an issue confined to far-off places or shadowy corners of society," said Callie Tybur, Chief Operating Officer at Atlas Free. "Sex trafficking thrives because it's woven into the fabric of our systems. It hides in plain sight, and we've become blind to it. 'Normal?' forces us to ask if we're willing to keep looking the other way—or if we'll finally say, 'Enough.'"

The Hard Truths Behind the Numbers

• Every second of the year, traffickers earn $7,483—literally in the blink of an eye.
• Every day, traffickers rake in $648 million—more than the daily GDP of entire nations.
• Every year, 27.6 million people are exploited—enough to fill Madison Square Garden 1,380 times.

Atlas Free's "Normal?" campaign brings these stats to life through analogies that force us to confront the truth: trafficking has become as routine as the everyday things we hardly think twice about. And it will thrive until we no longer tolerate it.

A Call to Disrupt the Norm
Atlas Free isn't just asking people to look at the problem—they're asking them to do something about it. The campaign's central call to action is simple but powerful: Join Team Freedom, the #1 monthly subscription fighting human trafficking.

Team Freedom funds critical programs across 26 countries, supporting everything from survivor rescues to long-term care and advocacy.

"Trafficking isn't normal, but it's been normalized," said Mollie Thompson, Art Director at Atlas Free. "When we tolerate it, we enable it. But when people act—when they give, advocate, and stand together—freedom becomes possible. That's the world we're fighting for."

A Question That Demands an Answer
The campaign, live at atlasfree.org/normal, invites audiences to cast their vote: Should sex trafficking be normal? Through stark storytelling and disruptive analogies, Atlas Free shows that confronting the issue is the first step to dismantling it. It's only normal if we let it be.

About Atlas Free
Atlas Free is a leading global nonprofit dedicated to ending human trafficking. Operating in 26 countries through a network of over 40 frontline partners, Atlas Free fights trafficking at every level—from prevention to rescue and survivor care.

*International Labour Organization 2022
**International Labour Organization 2024

MEDIA CONTACT: 
Makenna Hatloe, Digital Content Coordinator
[email protected]
(888) 388-1811

SOURCE Atlas Free