Most of my blogs tend to be peppy, this one may take a turn towards a much more serious topic. I recently photographed the StAT (Stand Against Trafficking) Community Forum in Indianapolis. The forum was created to educate our community on human trafficking. It is going on around the globe, and in our own community. At the forum there were two stories from women, Americans, who had been rescued from the trafficking industry. One woman told of her story being held captive across seas and forced into sex slavery. The other woman lives in Fishers, she was trafficked in Fishers, I was shocked. I can't decide if learning about this industry makes me mad, sad, scared, or a combination of everything. I appreciate the Wesleyan Women for developing this organization and bringing awareness to our community. I think many of us (myself included) consider trafficking a problem that happens across seas rather than in our own back yard. I never imagined a child being trafficked could attend school and be too controlled or scared to ever tell anyone, or that a woman could have friends and a seemingly normal life but on the inside be hiding a secret of how her husband is controlling and trafficking her for sexual favors with other men. The night I photographed this event I sat in bed sobbing. I knew at that very moment hundreds, perhaps thousands of people (many children) were being forced to do acts against their will. It is easy to think someone else with deal with this problem, but the reality is that it is to large for "someone" to handle. This is happening in our community, it will take a community effort to stop this industry.
If you are interested in educating yourself on human trafficking here are some sites I learned about at the forum:
The Not For Sale Campaign includes educational information and a store to purchase items made by women who have been rescued from a life of sex trafficking:
The Sold Project contains information about trafficking and a trailer about the film The Sold Project:
Slavery Map shows reports of slavery by location. You can search your area, or report an incident. There are so many more incidents than what are mapped, but it is shocking to see that this is occurring everywhere.
Bound For Freedom is a non-profit organization empowering young people to contribute to the global effort to eradicate human trafficking by using commerce to economically empower former sex workers to claim freedom:
StAT (Stand Against Human Trafficking) is a local anti-trafficking organization:
1 comments:
Hey, check us out:
www.nominetwork.org
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