Guardian Group: 2023 Second Quarter Impact Report

125 VICTIMS IDENTIFIED 
to date in 2023

 

 

Through the Project 1591® volunteer force and our internal Analysis Team we surpassed the number of victims identified in all of 2022 at the start of this quarter. The combination of these two strategies working together has allowed for the ability to scale at this rate.

The 125 victims were identified in the blue states.

Traffickers connect with sex buyers online through surface websites, think Craigslist but for people. On average there are 150,000 new escort ads posted on these sites every single day in America [1]. While the sites and the ads are not difficult to find, knowing if the person in the ad is a minor or not is very challenging. Traffickers offer quite a bit of information freely to the public, but most often they will advertise their victims as over the age of 18, regardless of their true age.

Skilled Project 1591 volunteers have the capability for finding and placing a true identity to minors. We have an international volunteer that has successfully identified four underage victims being advertised online here in the U.S., in a matter of four months since joining the Project 1591 platform.

 

1336 INVESTIGATIVE HOURS

From both Guardian Group’s internal Analysis Team and Project 1591’s volunteer force to date in 2023.

 

 

Upstream Intelligence, a company that specializes in complex investigations including forensics, due-diligence, locates, threat-actor unmasking, and anonymity services across the globe recognized that they have the ability to make an even bigger impact. Built upon a tight-knit cadre of in-house intelligence professionals ranging from surveillance operatives to OSINT experts, they are actively encouraging their employees to donate their time and expertise.

Once a quarter this company incentivizes their employees through a company reward program to spend a paid day volunteering for us. Each of these employees have been vetted through the Project 1591 platform and in total this year they have collectively identified 26 victims across 10 states in just 2 days.  Their efforts have saved Guardian Group and law enforcement 128 investigative hours thus far.

If you work for a similar company that may be willing to join us in the same manner, connect us to your leadership at [email protected].

98 CERTIFIED VOLUNTEERS 

 

 

 

This quarter we streamlined how law enforcement can sign up to receive the Publicly Available Information Reports (PAIR) developed through the volunteer force and Guardian Group’s internal analysis team. Each report is delivered to law enforcement via a state-wide distribution list, all free of charge. These reports contain the identified individual and valuable account information that can be used by law enforcement to identify force, fraud, or coercion if sex trafficking is occurring.

This opportunity is available for active US law enforcement officers only, if you know an officer that may be interested you can direct them to this link to sign up and join their state’s list. Passing this along helps us expand our reach and connect this resource to more officers across the nation, resulting in more victims being offered a path to freedom.

 

The Project 1591® certified volunteer force spans across the globe,

they are highlighted by the red states and located in 7 additional countries.