Unchained is an OSU organization that raises funds and awareness about human trafficking. By raising awareness so that bystanders are more equipped at noticing the signs and enabling them to help those in their communities, Unchained hopes to drastically reduce the number of women in sexual trafficking arrangements. In order to raise money and awareness, Unchained hosts a fashion show with a number of guest speakers and women as part of a multimedia presentation on the realities of human-trafficking.
Starting with a musical performance from Dust and Light, the show quickly transitioned into an emotional summation from Gina Burris, a speaker from Unchained, about her time being trafficked. Initially lured in with promises of attention and love, a modeling agency brought Gina in and eventually sold her to the underground world. Her story involves many identities and masks that made her into what her traffickers wanted and drugs were used to keep her complacent. Because of the forced drug use, Gina came out of her experience addicted.
“In my younger years there were times where I moved across the country and I felt I was finally away from those things but with my low self-esteem, my addiction, and my lack of identity I ended up re-trafficked,” Gina said.
After she was arrested for what Gina deemed the final time, she entered rehabilitation for extensive trauma counseling. From there she met people from Unchained and received their Survivor’s Scholarship and is now attending Capitol University for a degree in social work.
Immediately following, the women of Unchained OSU participated in the fashion show, a multimedia experience. A powerful narrative that included facts and statistics shed light on the often-hidden underground world of human trafficking. The hair, makeup and fashion portray a survivor of human trafficking and allow the models to give a voice to the voiceless.
Shortly after the show were the remarks of Kenny Sipes, who, through a long and transformative journey, launched The Roosevelt. The Roosevelt is a coffee shop that raises money for impoverished areas where unsanitary water and human-trafficking are huge problems. Specifically, he looks to find a stable place for men to participate in the restoration of the survivors.Through a mentality of true selflessness, Kenny has always believed in the strength and satisfaction that comes from helping others.
Finally, the audience heard from Jessica Graham, a speaker from Survivor’s Ink. Like many people, Jessica was relatively unaware of the realities of human trafficking. That all changed when she met Jennifer Kempton. Jennifer was another woman swept up in the charm of her boyfriend until he decided that he could make something by selling her on Craigslist.
After many years of going to the highest bidder, Jennifer eventually got out and began to make amends with the people in her life, one of which was Jessica. It was through this friendship that Jessica began to understand the extent of this world that lay right under her nose, especially when she learned that her estranged husband and the father of her two daughters happened to be Jennifer’s trafficker.
This man would act again and attempt to sell Jessica’s daughter (his own daughter) into the market.Through her recovery, it was hard for Jennifer to move on when she had to look at that “Property of _____” tattoo above her groin. And, with Jessica’s help, she grew the idea of a non-profit that would tattoo women to cover up previous branding embedded in them by their traffickers.
“Each of those survivors that we have helped all say, ‘Now I can wake up in the morning and know no one person or gang member or dope dealer has any power over me, they don’t own me.'”
In closing, Jessica requested each person to tell one other person about human trafficking and encourage them to tell one other person. It is only through raised awareness that we can know what to look for and pull these women off the streets. Jessica encourages everyone to see these women as the humans that they are instead of the trash their traffickers portray them to be.
Listening to these speakers and hearing the statistics was a humbling experience and opened my eyes to a world that lies parallel to our own. I encourage all of you to invest the time to get educated on this issue as it affects our daughters, sisters and friends.