Director of Catholic Campus Ministry, Tricia A. Wilder, has announced the A21 Walk for Freedom. The walk will take place in Binghamton on October 14th at 4:30 p.m.
What Is Human Trafficking?
Human trafficking, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is “organized criminal activity in which human beings are treated as possessions to be controlled and exploited (as by being forced into prostitution or involuntary labor)”
Below are some statistics A21 has collected about human trafficking:
- There are more people enslaved today than at any other time in history.
- Human trafficking generates an average of 150 billion dollars per year.
- There are an estimated 40.3 million people enslaved right now.
- Men, women, and children can all be victims of trafficking: (71% women, 29% men, 25% children)
- Slavery happens in every country.
- An estimated 5.4 out of every 1,000 people are enslaved in the world.
The A21 website provides an abundance of important information on human trafficking, check it out. It might save a life.
What Is A21?
It’s a day of global awareness and local action in the fight against human trafficking.
A21 is a global non-profit, non-governmental organization that works to fight human trafficking, forced slave labor, bonded labor, involuntary domestic servitude, and child soldiery.
It was founded by Christine and Nick Caine in 2008 after Christine noticed several handmade posters with pictures of missing girls on them in an airport in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Christine was astonished that such a large number of children were missing. After further research, she found that these children were being trafficked. In the 18th and 19th centuries there are reports of girls standing on platforms to be sold at auctions, but to Christine, she thought human trafficking in the 21st century “couldn’t possibly exist”, and could not wrap her head around the fact that such acts could still take place in modern society.
How It Works
The A21 walk is used to spread awareness about human trafficking, as well as educate people of all ages on how to look out for it.
The A21 website separates it into six categories:
- Presentations
Presenting the problem of human trafficking to various audiences and how they can be apart of the solution.
- Human Trafficking Awareness Program
This program entails three sessions of activities, videos, and information used to educate and motivate.
- Primary Prevention Program
This three-session program teaches children; empowerment, and protection from possible trafficking scenarios or situations.
- Education Curriculum
As the name suggests, this curriculum aims to engage students and to properly teach them to understand, recognize, and respond to the threat of human trafficking.
- Can You See Me?
This public awareness campaign depicts common scenarios of human trafficking and provides tools to report suspicions.
- Walk For Freedom
An annual day where thousands of people walk the streets in a single-file line, holding posters and distributing flyers so spread information about human trafficking.
Join The Fight
To participate in the walk all you need to do is reply to Tricia Wilder’s original email regarding the walk by September 20th.
Click here to donate!