A call to action against human trafficking

It seems only fitting that Western Washington should be the site of the state's first home for victims of human trafficking. Time and again, our area has shown the capacity to think globally and act locally.

The inspiration behind the planned five-bedroom home on an undisclosed three-acre tract is a young couple whose story is the stuff of novels — except, as Seattle Times reporter Lornet Turnbull recently recounted, the details of their lives are grippingly real.

In 1978, when she was 7, Rani Hong was taken from her parents in southern India and sold into slavery.

Meanwhile, in Southeast Asia, Trong Hong, who was 9 at the time, was aboard a fishing boat trying to flee the communist army's reach in Vietnam. The boat was attacked by pirates, and shipwrecked. Trong survived in a cave before eventually being resettled in Seattle.

Years later, as adults in Washington state, Rani and Trong met on a blind date, fell in love and married. When they finally shared their pasts with one another, they determined to help others — specifically those who had been taken for sexual exploitation or slave labor.

The Hongs have established the Tronie Foundation (www.troniefoundation.org) and are readying their home for victims of trafficking, possibly as soon as this month. The first in this state, it is believed to be only the second of its kind in the United States.

Seattle and Washington are aggressively working to combat the problem. In 2002, the state passed anti-trafficking legislation and established a Seattle-based task force whose members now help about 40 victims annually.

On national and international levels, John Miller, the former Seattle councilman, has spoken out passionately against human trafficking. He served as director of the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons before taking a faculty post at George Washington University.

Whether as individuals or institutions, and whether aiding refugees from wars or victims of human trafficking, our state's been called upon to act. The Hongs are the most recent to step up.