The Modern-Day Abolitionist Movement

On an otherwise ordinary flight from Seattle to San Francisco, Alaska Airlines steward Sheila Fedrick noticed a disheveled teenager traveling with a well-dressed older man. She was silent; he was defensive. Fedrick’s antenna went up. "She looked like she'd been through pure hell," Fedrick said. She whispered to the teen to look for a note in the plane's restroom. Three words of response were all it took: “I need help.” Police were waiting at the airport when they landed. Thanks to Fedrick's training in spotting suspicious circumstances, a case of human trafficking was interrupted. But in this day and age, slavery continues to be the scourge it has been for the past 4,000 years, modern abolitionists say. ...