A Response to the New Republic Article: “QAnon is Using the Anti-Trafficking Movement’s Conspiracy Theory Playbook”

We take serious issue with any attempts to link the anti-trafficking movement — a global movement created to end the buying and selling of human beings that is supported by millions of American citizens — to QAnon, a conspiracy theory driven by an undefined group of anonymous players deemed a domestic terrorist threat by the FBI. To assert that the anti-trafficking movement is made up of grifters with a hero complex is not only inaccurate. It is insulting to hundreds of survivors of commercial sexual exploitation who vehemently object to “rescue” and work daily to create a world where no one is bought, sold or exploited.

To be clear, the anti-trafficking movement is not a single organization as the author suggests. Operation Underground Railroad is not representative of the anti-trafficking movement. The movement is made up of hundreds of organizations doing deeply substantive, reputable work. Many of these organizations provide comprehensive services to those exploited in the sex trade. Others work tirelessly to make sure that those sold in the sex trade are not saddled with criminal penalties. The author’s profound mischaracterization of the broader movement is a dangerous distraction at a time when the serious threat of conspiracy theories needs to be confronted and addressed. We expected better of The New Republic.