In this episode of Consider Before Consuming, Megan Lundstrom joins us for a second time.

Since we last spoke to her, Megan has become the director of the Resilience Fund at Polaris,

a direct cash assistance program for survivors of all forms of trafficking in the United States.

The conversation delves into the role of platforms like only fans in the modern sex trade.

Megan discusses the platform's portrayal as an empowering tool for financial freedom

and contrasts it with her research

findings, which reveal patterns of exploitation and the challenges of identifying trafficking within

its ecosystem. She examines how OnlyFans defines consent, the psychological and financial

toll on creators, and the ways traffickers leverage the platform for profit. With that,

let's jump into the conversation.

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Consider Before Consuming. Well, Megan, thank you so much for

joining us again on the Consider Before Consuming podcast. Since the last time you were here a couple of years ago,

you've started a new role at Polaris. So for any of our listeners who haven't heard your

past interview, can you share a little bit about yourself, the work that you do, and how you

became involved in anti-trafficking work? Yeah, absolutely. Hello, I'm so excited to be back. Yeah, so my name is Megan Lundstrom.

I have been in the anti-trafficking field for about 10 years now. About eight of those, I ran the

Avery Center, which was a direct service organization for victims and survivors of commercial

sexual exploitation and

sex trafficking. And then over the last two years, yeah, I transitioned to a role at Polaris.

So I am the director of the Resilience Fund, which is a direct cash assistance program providing

up to $500 a month for 18 months for survivors of all

forms of trafficking across the U.S. And I got into anti-trafficking work really because of my

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