When “Rescue” Is Rebranded: Compass Connections Takes the National Hotline episode artwork

EPISODE · Oct 20, 2025 · 5 MIN

When “Rescue” Is Rebranded: Compass Connections Takes the National Hotline

from SWOP Behind Bars Advocacy from the Margins · host Swopbehindbars

After nearly two decades under Polaris, the National Human Trafficking Hotline has a new operator: Compass Connections, a San Antonio nonprofit with deep ties to child welfare, foster care, and adoption. On paper, this looks like a routine management change. But for those of us on the ground - sex workers, survivors, and people criminalized by “anti-trafficking” systems - it’s not just paperwork. It’s a shift in power. Hotlines are never neutral. They decide who gets believed, who gets funneled to police, and whose stories vanish.

After nearly two decades under Polaris, the National Human Trafficking Hotline has a new operator: Compass Connections, a San Antonio nonprofit with deep ties to child welfare, foster care, and adoption. On paper, this looks like a routine management change. But for those of us on the ground - sex workers, survivors, and people criminalized by “anti-trafficking” systems - it’s not just paperwork. It’s a shift in power. Hotlines are never neutral. They decide who gets believed, who gets funneled to police, and whose stories vanish.

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When “Rescue” Is Rebranded: Compass Connections Takes the National Hotline

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This episode was published on October 20, 2025.

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After nearly two decades under Polaris, the National Human Trafficking Hotline has a new operator: Compass Connections, a San Antonio nonprofit with deep ties to child welfare, foster care, and adoption. On paper, this looks like a routine...

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