Inglemoor High School junior Annabelle Yip was a freshman when she first learned about the devastating magnitude of worldwide human trafficking. During a fundraising event for a local victim support organization, she heard the story of a person who had been sex trafficked and had gotten out.
“It was so jarring because she was only a few years older than me at the time — 19 to my 15,” she said. Yip said hearing her story “was truly eye-opening.”
“I [didn’t] know that 20 percent of homeless youth are victims of trafficking, including sex and labor trafficking.”
Kids need to know
Yip wanted other teens to know what she hadn’t, so she created The Lotus Bloom Project. The project is a teen-led initiative to raise awareness about trafficking, educate teens about human trafficking risks, and arm them with the information they need to avoid becoming victims.
“Despite Washington being the first state to criminalize human trafficking, it remains one of the top 10 states for human trafficking locations.”
Trafficking in Washington
Since 2007, the National Human Trafficking Hotline has received 8,431 alerts of potential victims of human trafficking in Washington state. Those calls resulted in 2,320 confirmed cases involving 4,160 victims. In 2023, the hotline received 582 leads, which led to the discovery of 160 victims. Yip wants teens to understand that trafficking is not limited to poor communities or to women.
“Police uncovered a potential interstate sex trafficking ring operating in Bellevue and Seattle last summer,” she said. “Up to 40 percent of worldwide victims are male.” And according to UNICEF, nearly one-third of trafficking victims are minors.
Under the Lotus Bloom Project banner, Yip attends school resource fairs to distribute information to tweens, teens, and parents. She hosts “Human trafficking: Not just a scary thought” workshops for middle and high school students throughout the year.
“Knowledge is power,” she said. “By bringing education to local cities and school districts, students are empowered with the awareness necessary to mitigate human trafficking in Washington.”
(Image: Annabelle Yip)
A mandate for Washington schools
That same sentiment is what led Eastside Preparatory School’s then-senior Ria Bahadur to write, negotiate, and eventually see passage of a 2023 bill mandating that students across Washington receive sex trafficking prevention and awareness. The law went into effect this year.
The new law equips “the coming generations with an accurate understanding of sex trafficking and its risks in their environment,” said Bahadur, who worked with Auburn Senator Claire Wilson on the bill. “By educating students, we are empowering society today, and for years to come, to nurture empathetic and action-driven citizens that will alleviate sex trafficking at its root.”
As of the 2024-25 school year, the law mandates that students learn about:
- the race, gender, and socioeconomic status of sex trafficking victims and perpetrators
- the medically and legally accurate definitions of sex trafficking
- victim stigmatization and how it may reduce reporting and increase the difficulty of detecting and prosecuting sex trafficking crimes
- how to report trafficking
- community engagement opportunities with local, state, or national organizations against sex trafficking
- basic training to determine if an individual is at risk of or has been sex trafficked
- how to recognize the signs and behavior changes in others that may indicate grooming for sex trafficking or other unlawful, coercive relationships
Student instruction must occur between grades 7 and 12, corresponding to when young people are most vulnerable to becoming victims. Yip says that as of February, she hasn’t seen an uptick in middle and high schoolers getting needed information in schools.
“I can’t speak to exactly what [the state education department] is doing right now, but in my experience and my peers’, the answer is ‘nothing,’” Yip said. “I’ve seen instances of some privately operating schools in other states and some in Washington taking on anti-human trafficking education in their curriculum, but nothing otherwise.”
(Image: Annabelle Yip)
What happens after graduation?
Yip now works with a teen-led team of advocates at schools throughout Puget Sound to deliver information on trafficking to peers. She says those students will run with the project when she graduates in 2026.
“I’ve always found it easier to relate to and listen to those closer in age to myself,” she adds. “For me, the message clicked when I heard from someone a few years older than myself. I hope that I can provide that same impactful education to others.” Research supports the peer-to-peer model as an effective form of awareness building, particularly around youth sexual health.
Upcoming workshops
Yip hosts her free Lotus Bloom Project workshops in libraries, schools, and other locations. Upcoming workshops include:
- March 13, 4 p.m. at the Kingsgate Library and online (click here to register). No registration required for in-person workshop.
- April 16, 3 p.m. at the Woodinville Library and online (registration open soon). No registration required for in-person workshop.
