In late September, the WPU Christian Intervarsity group hosted an event to bring awareness to human trafficking. They stayed up for 27 hours and got 1000 signatures to support their cause. Now you may be asking yourself, what is human trafficking and why is it important to bring awareness to it?
Human trafficking is a transnational crime, which means that human trafficking exists all around the world both nationally and internationally, in economically wealthy and impoverished countries. It is a form of modern day slavery that victimizes children, women, and men of all ages. Human trafficking strips its victims of their human rights as they suffer through cruel and inhumane circumstances.
Victims of human trafficking are often made vulnerable and dependent on their owners. They rarely recover from their experiences suffering from physical, emotional, and psychological trauma. According to the International Labour Organization, it is estimated that there are about 21 million victims of human trafficking. Females make up about 11.4 million of that population and males make up about 9.5 million. Out of the estimated 21 million victims about 4.5 million are exploited in the sex industry, varying in many ages. Major forms of human trafficking include domestic work, agricultural work, construction, manufacturing and entertainment. For more information, we encourage you to visit the ILO website.
Human trafficking is a crime that is often overlooked. The first step is to bring awareness to it. With numbers comes power, and you can make a difference.