Supporting Survivors

As a child safety analyst for Tik Tok, Asia Perez ’22 does work every day that many people can’t imagine even attempting. She can end up reviewing 1,000 posts a day, identifying material that exhibits predatory behavior or child sexual abuse. Her work allows Tik Tok to ensure that material doesn’t appear or is removed from the platform, address the accounts that post it, continually train artificial intelligence to flag material before it ever appears publicly, and refer incidents to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and law enforcement.

“I’m grateful that I’m able to be the voice for those children who don’t have one. Otherwise, what is happening to them would be erased,” Perez said. “From a young age, I was telling myself, ‘I’m going to be a cop.’ I decided I didn’t want to do that, but I’ve always had that passion. And I’m glad I can contribute this way, behind the scenes.” 

Perez studied sociology at Washington, studying closely with professors Rachel Durso, who specializes in criminology, and Erin Anderson, who has a focus on social issues, particularly dealing with gender and sex. The two faculty members advised Perez on her senior capstone experience (SCE) research on US intervention in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala and how it led to mass migration of women from the area. Perez had a particular interest in human trafficking, and a section of her thesis was dedicated to that specific aspect of the research. 

“I looked forward to meeting with my capstone advisors because they were both very wise, and they had knowledge in the subject. They always encouraged me to try to venture out of my comfort zone,” Perez said. “Because of the small classes at Washington, I was able to have a relationship with my professors and with my peers, who were consistently encouraging me to grow.” 

Perez’s first job after graduation was as a victim advocate for the National Human Trafficking Hotline, which was run by a nonprofit that had produced some of the data she used in her SCE research. Her familiarity with their work gained through the SCE was a large reason why she was hired. 

During the two years she spent providing what she characterized as “high-stakes crisis management,” taking calls from trafficking survivors and connecting them to resources, Perez also earned a master’s degree in criminal justice with a counterterrorism concentration from Southern New Hampshire University. But ultimately she wanted a job where she could more directly see the positive impact of her work. 

“Once that call was over, I didn’t know happened with that survivor. Sometimes they had to hang up because their trafficker came back,” Perez said, adding she was often left with a sense of uncertainty and dread. In contrast, she said, at Tik Tok, “I know law enforcement is 100 percent following up.” 

— Mark Jolly-Van Bodegraven