Some of the annual”X, Y, and Z DAY” proclamations are fun…National Ice Cream Day…International Jumprope Day…American Chocolate Week. But today sucks. It is a travesty that a day like today needs to be proclaimed…Human Trafficking Awareness Day. There are millions in our world that are held in forced labor situations, sold or coerced into the sex trade, restavek children (institutional slavery in Haiti), and more. Freedom of choice has been removed from the equation for so many.
While it seems like it is, this is not an issue that happens “over there” or “way back when” but is happening, right now, all around us. It is far more comfortable to think slavery is an issue dealt with by ancestors or other cultures, but it an issue in our midst. The United States is a HUGE purveyor of slaves in each of the industries where they are kept working against their will (sex, farmworkers/agriculture, fashion/apparel, domestic work, industry, etc). The very least we can do is educate ourselves, and be proactive. Find out more at events and online educational outreach today (or tomorrow or next week or any time, as long as it’s soon). Start here (change.org) and here (Free the Slaves), and then keep on digging. Your voice and action truly count and can make a difference.
Change by Doing 
Posted by Human Trafficking Awareness Day « Just one girl on January 11, 2011 at 6:16 PM
[…] We wake up every day and have the choice to do what we want to do, we have the freedom to be who we want to be, and go where we want to go. For millions of people their freedom of choice has been removed from the equation (Andrew Mersmann, Change by doing). […]