Human Trafficking is a world wide injustice tearing the very fabric of humanity. Though this injustice is a problem all over the world, it is happening closer to home than you may think. Just last month the Ohio News Network released a story about a woman they called "Sarah." She was trafficked into sex slavery right here in Chicago and then taken to Ohio where she later escaped. "Sarah" is not the first or last victim that this has happened to in Illinois, and certainly not the last woman to find herself going willingly back into this kind of slavery.
Human Trafficking decimates a person's self-worth, it can seem nearly impossible for some of these victims to ever lead normal lives again. This is why we have to do all we can to prevent trafficking from happening in the first place. We need to preserve everyone's right to their humanity.
This problem requires a 3-step response.
1) Educate Yourself. Without educating yourself you will not be able to know why or how we should even be involved with this issue.
Below are 3 ways you can educate yourself:
International Justice Mission is an organization made up of Journalists, Lawyers, and Law Enforcement who have made it their mission to eradicate injustices like this one. They have many resources including their Injustice Today feed which informs you of a new injustice every day that you can pray for.
UMCOR is also a fantastic resource. For us as United Methodists we have a system already in place and this issue of Human Trafficking is very important to our denomination. UMCOR is always finding ways to inform us of their work and this issue is no exception. Read Anna's story, one of exploitation, evil, and in the midst of it all HOPE and JUSTICE!
Finally World Vision too has been fighting the evil of Human Trafficking for years has put out some of the best and most respected literature on the subject check out their eBooklet, "10 things you need to know about Human Trafficking"
2) Create Awareness. Others need to learn about what you just found out. Pass it along, use facebook, twitter, or even the good old fashion telephone. There is so much we can do just by expanding the awareness of the problem.
3) Advocate. We need to be telling our law makers what we care about and tell them why they should care about it too. The help of the government is only a piece of the pie, but it is still a very important piece and we can affect it in so many ways. Finally there is one what to advocate for this cause that we so often forget. PRAY! We have a high priest who cares for our needs and prayer is so powerful. I know it doesn't feel like we are doing anything, but we can't see just how powerful prayer may be. Just as we would go before politicians to advocate for our cause, we have a King to whom we can go and advocate for our cause. And, the best part about this is, He actually cares!
Looking forward Do Something is working on creating more opportunities for us as a group to advocate for this issue, but for now you can spread awareness and advocate through prayer!
There is no justice issue today as scary and as wretched as Human Trafficking. This day, do something to raise awareness about this issue by digging a little deeper yourself, read one of the links above and share that information.
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