By Michael Ashcraft –
When Than Baardson decided to go all-in in the fight against sex trafficking, he quit his job. THEN he told his wife.
“Do we get the keep the house, or do we sell it?” his supportive wife, Emma, asked.
Not only did Than and Emma keep the house. The North Dakota couple has filled it with two children.
At the same time, they have saved hundreds of thousands worldwide from the scourge of sex trafficking. Than’s organization, Unseen, is helping groups worldwide find funding so that their boots-on-the-ground efforts are not hampered because of lack of money.
“The barriers to sustainable funding were keeping so many groups from doing more,” says Than, who provides vetted groups with marketing materials and genius to find their own funding.
Unseen is bringing into view the out-of-sight horrors of modern-day slavery: 13.5 million kids are sex-trafficked worldwide, 86% of which are sold by family members who are in dire straits.
Yes, you read that right. They’re own family members (sometimes an uncle to orphans) sell them off because they can’t afford to raise them up.
One case was an epiphany for Than in 2011. He was on a fact-gathering tour through Southeast Asia. In Thailand, he sat across the table to interview two girls, one and the other. Fortunately, they were rescued from sex slavery.
They had been collateral on a $300 loan the mom could not pay back. (Human collateral??? Tears are flowing.)
“In that moment, seeing those girls, trafficking went from a theory into reality. To see the girls break down and cry because they thought their brother and sister were also in danger,” Than remembered. “That was a burn-the-boats moment.”
His translator and host shut down the interview right then and there when the girls were crying. He looked across the border in Myanmar and vowed to free the siblings – which he did.
Than, for his part, quit his job and went full time on the business of saving people. “We didn’t have a surefire plan of how we were going to move things forward with our family financially,” he admits.
Despite the uncertainty of finances, his wife was 100% supportive, Than says. There were moments of uncertainty, but God came through for them financially.
Thorough Unseen, Than vets rescue workers and organizations around the world. Once they see the results of these organizations, they help them administratively to set up their own sustainability. Thus, they are “accelerating” the work of saving slaves.
The organizations he supports help victims get out of the vulnerable zone (poverty). They don’t bust traffickers. That’s a job for other organizations.
“Child traffickers have a greater chance of being struck by lightning than being brought to justice,” Than says.
As enraging as it is to see the most evil humans continue on life scott free, Unseen is picking its battles: helping victims is the priority. They have helped 257,628 people so far, he says. One lady was victimized by 60 men a day, until she was rescued, he says.
Than always went to church since a child. On short term mission trips, he acquired an awareness of and a vision for the entire world.
Out of high school, Than joined the Air National Guard in their fire-fighting department, transferring later to Public Affairs. The Air National Guard afforded him the chance to be stationed in Ghana, Northern Italy and Germany. He connected with lots of people.
After 20 years in the National Guard, he retired out and connected with people who were tackling sex trafficking. He partnered with Tanya Martineau a photographer who traipsed the world documenting the horrors of slavery.
