Work out at Fit Body Boot Camp in South Lake Charles this week and see results beyond improving muscle strength and boosting endurance. Fight for freedom. 

Owner Clint Anderson is joining forces with SWLA Abolitionists Founder Rusty Havens to raise awareness and educate communities about human trafficking during Freedom Week.  Every squat, push-up and burpee is a win, win, win opportunity. That’s no typo. That’s win, win, and win again.

The first win – opting to start an exercise program. Sign up for a free trial at Fit Body Boot Camp in South Lake Charles, and its headquarters will donate $5 to SWLA Abolitionists. After Freedom Week, Anderson will continue the work to help stop human trafficking. That’s a win for the local group that has been fighting human trafficking through awareness, prevention, rescue and restoration, for the last 12 years – before anyone was talking about it.

“If we make it into the top five locations for the most trials, headquarters will donate $1,000 to Southwest Louisiana Abolitionists,” Anderson said, “and help educate the community and prevent human trafficking.” That’s a win for humankind.

Havens said human trafficking can happen in any community, anywhere around the world.

In 2021, Louisiana service providers reported 932 instances of confirmed and suspected human trafficking. It’s not just in our cities, but in rural areas as well.”     

There is no single indicator to identify trafficking victims, according to the human trafficking.la.gov website. At higher risk of being sex or labor trafficked are youth with runaway behavior, homelessness or housing instability, system involvement, people with disabilities, LGBTQIA+, history of substance use or mental health disorders, history of childhood trauma and/or non-English speaking or limited English proficiency.

Potential indicators could be disorientation, confusion or showing signs of mental or physical abuse; the person cannout freely contact friends or family; the person is fearful, timid or overly submissive; the person was forced to perform commercial sexual acts; there is evidence of a sexually explicit online advertisement; the person was recruited for a job but was forced to engage in work without compensation, the person does not have freedom of movement; the person lacks personal possessions such as identification or money and appears not to have a stable living situation; the person is often in the company of someone to whom he or she defers to speak on his or her behalf; and/or the person is closely monitored at all times. To find out about training to help fight human trafficking, go to humantrafficking@la.gov.

To report suspected human trafficking activity, call the Louisiana State Police Hotline at 800-434-8007.