Human Trafficking Awareness

As you may know, January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month in the US. There are over 45 million people trapped in slavery today, and modern-day slavery can take many forms. While many slaves are victims of forced labor, thousands more are victims of sex trafficking. These atrocities happen in the United States and in other countries all over the world.

For many people, it’s overwhelming to think of all that is happening around the world, and there seems to be little hope. However, there are various organizations who are working to end modern-day slavery, and seeing great success. If you are interested in learning more about what human trafficking and modern-day slavery involves, and how you can be a part of the solution, these organizations are a great place to start. These are only organizations that I’m familiar with, but all have a verified practice model and are actively working in either the US or abroad. I also included some ways you can get involved after you’ve educated yourself on the issues. I highly recommend following one or all of these organizations on social media to stay up-to-date on their work and learn of other ways to join the fight.

Organizations:

•A21 (Abolishing Injustice in the 21st Century)

Ways to Get Involved: Join an A-team

•End It Movement

•Exodus Cry

Ways to Get Involved:  Host a screening of their documentary, Nefarious

•Human Trafficking Institute

•International Justice Mission

Ways to Get Involved: Join the Freedom Commons to learn about local and national ways to advocate to end slavery and join or start an IJM campus chapter at your university

•Made in a Free World

Ways to Get Involved: Take the slavery footprint survey to find out how many of the products you use were likely produced by forced labor and petition companies to check their supply lines for forced labor

•Walk Free

Ways to Get Involved: Sign some of the many petitions that Walk Free hosts on their website

In addition to these outstanding organizations, here are some other resources you might find useful to inform and inspire your investigation into human trafficking and slavery.

Resources:

•The New Activist

     Blog produced by IJM which interviews real activists from all over the world. Great inspiration and place to find other justice-minded organizations.

•Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

     Book discussing many issues that especially involve women, including sex trafficking

•Why Not Today by Matthew Cork and Kenneth Kemp

     Book exploring one church's journey on how they became directly involved in the fight against sex trafficking in India

•Terrify No More by Gary A. Haugen and Gregg Hunter

     Book written by the founder of International Justice Mission, detailing their fight against sex trafficking in the Philippines

•The Locus Effect by Gary A. Haugen and Victor Boutros

     Book written by the founder of International Justice Mission, discussing many issues that plague the developing world, including human trafficking and slavery, and how these issues can be resolved

•A Path Appears by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

     Book that brings to light some ways that the issues discussed in Half the Sky are being dealt with by various groups and how you can be involved

I’ll leave you with this quote from one of the greatest anti-slavery activists of all time. If you’re not familiar with William Wilberforce, you can read more about him in my blog post here.

Hong Kong

Over Christmas break we were able to meet my mom in Hong Kong and renew our Thai visas. None of us had been to Hong Kong before, but were very excited about going! It seemed like an ideal choice for the holiday season, and an easy place to travel due to its long period of affiliation with Britain. It was everything we had hoped for and more!

We started by meeting my mom at the airport. We had not seen each other for six months, and the kids were dying to give her a hug. As you can imagine, there were plenty of hugs and kisses exchanged during our time together.

Hong Kong is made up of a peninsula and different islands, and we spent a little time in each region. We stayed in Kowloon, which is on the peninsula. Our first two days were spent exploring various parts of Kowloon, including its many markets. We visited the Flower Market, the Goldfish Market, and the Temple Street Night Market. We also explored a couple of parks with really nice playgrounds. One of E’s requests was that we go to a Christmas Eve service, and we were able to attend a very nice English service at St. Andrew’s Church. Definitely a highlight of our week!

Our Christmas gift to our kids was to spend two days at Hong Kong Disneyland. This was their first time to a Disney park, and we had an absolute blast! Some highlights were a character lunch at the Enchanted Garden (thanks, Grandma!), jedi training and a sneak peek of the new Ironman ride in Tomorrowland, watching the Lion King show in Adventureland, and meeting Elsa herself in Fantasyland. It was fun to see all the joy and wonder on the kids’ faces as they met some of their beloved Disney characters, and to experience a lot of fun rides together.

The next day we applied for our Thai visas. That’s always a nerve-wracking experience, and I was glad when we finally received them. The rest of the week was spent exploring other parts of Lantau Island and Hong Kong Island. This included taking a cable car to see the Tian Tan Buddha and Po Lin Monastery, hiking the Dragon’s Back Trail and seeing Shek O Beach and Big Wave Bay, and riding the Peak Tram up to Victoria Peak to get a bird’s eye view of Hong Kong. We packed a lot into just a few days, but the experiences were unforgettable!

We loved our time in Hong Kong. You can find just about anything you want to do there: amusement parks, nature hikes, shopping, gourmet food, etc. It has a little bit of everything! It was a great place to spend Christmas and introduce my mom to life in Asia. Hope you all had a lovely holiday season!