Stop the Traffik!

Last week a couple of ladies came to speak to our school about human trafficking. I've heard about human trafficking before, and it's always outraged my heart. People on this modern-day earth are still bought and sold! Human beings - women, men, and children - are purchased... some into forced labor, many into prostitution, and still many more into other forms of exploitation. It's gut-wrenching and sickening and so many other things... I don't really have words to describe how I feel/what I think about it. 

It seems so ludicrous that it's difficult even to believe that it still happens. And even if one does believe it, then what? When we see a problem of this proportion it's easy to feel hopeless or disconnected, assuming "I can't do anything about it." This presentation may have been the first about human trafficking that gave me hope to fuel the fight against this injustice. We have to become outraged collectively. We MUST. 

I've often heard that the easiest way to begin combatting human trafficking is to raise awareness. It has taken me until now to understand how that is helpful. (It seems like we should be doing so much more.) For me, the key to understanding the usefulness of awareness is the realization that human trafficking happens HERE. It happens in Northern Ireland. It happens in the United States. It doesn't look like "Civil War Slavery," but it HAPPENS! We need to learn what it looks like, and when we do, we need to tell each other. When we see it, we need to speak up. We need to stand up for others, and stand up for what is right. We need to make the world an unsafe place for traffickers. This is how it will be stopped. 

Further, we need to be aware of how our consumerism affects the rest of the world. Every time we make a purchase, we vote for the business practices of the organizations that produce our goods. We as consumers must INSIST on the ethical treatment of our fellow human beings. We need to be willing to pay enough for the things we want, so that those producing them can receive fair wages. We don't need all of the things we want. "Live simply, so others can simply live." 

Ahhhhh I don't feel like I'm articulating this point clearly... but I'm going to learn how... I really am. 

http://stopthetraffik.org