What do you know about Human Traffik?

The other night I was watching a typical human triumph CNN story about Haiti – the kind of story that makes Americans feel all warm and fuzzy and good about themselves. One of the reporters went on and on about the Haitian children that are still trapped in rubble that need rescue and “who is going to rescue them?” as he stood next to a demolished building. And as much as I agree with their sentiments, I was muttering to myself, “Yeah, but even if they are rescued… who is going to keep them from being trafficked when all the cameras and rescue workers are gone?”

With so much focus on recovery efforts in Haiti, you probably never considered that many of those children that were in orphanages and are now out and about without protection…they are being picked up and trafficked, turned into slaves, or child prostitutes.

It’s not just in Haiti, it is all over the world. You probably knew that but if you are like me, you probably can’t grasp such abstract immensities. Then, I stumbled upon this TED talk out of India, by Sunitha Krishnan and not only does human trafficking have a face now, the other side of it, the re-humanization of victims has a reality, too. This is something you need to watch, even if you don’t want to:



Krishnan runs a group called Prajwala “that rescues women from brothels and educates their children to prevent second-generation prostitution.” Another organization, here in the States, that is doing some extraordinary work in this realm is Ineternational Justice Mission - creating cases against traffikers and working with governments to rescue the enslaved. Out of the UK is Stop The Traffik that is worth checking out, too. You want to do something? Start somewhere. Start with one of these options.

If you are on Twitter one person you should “follow” is Aaron Coen: http://twitter.com/AaronCohen777 - he is actually one of the folks that goes into these brothels and rescues enslaved humans.

There’s so much more going on in the world if you are willing to look not only at the feel-good stories on the nightly news, but beyond them into the darkness outside the spotlights.
Kendall R1 Comment