January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. American Mothers, Inc. will be partnering with mothers and organizations across the county to help raise awareness.
Please join us in the fight against modern-day slavery.
Meet our Guest Blogger, Marissa Johnson, a mother who will show us how everyday mothers can help fight Human Trafficking. Please share this article so that moms across the country can join us as we SEE, we CARE, and we SERVE.
5 Ways You Can Help Fight Human Trafficking
Let’s discuss something difficult. It might be uncomfortable but we need to talk about it so we can help fight against it. Human Trafficking is a scourge that affects all of us. Regardless of what you think, it has been proven that it permeates all countries, socioeconomic levels, classes, and races.
Human Trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of sexual slavery, forced labor, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. It happens all over the world. It happens in your city, and your neighborhood. According to the International Labor Organization, in 2016, there were over 40.3 million people in modern slavery. This number includes over 24.9 million trapped in forced labor and 4.8 million forced into sexual exploitation. Human trafficking is a scourge on the world but we can all help fight against it. Here are just a few of the many ways you can help.
1- Educate: One of the biggest impacts we can have as mothers is through education. We need to educate ourselves and our families regarding what human trafficking is and how we can protect ourselves against it. Our children need to know the realities of trafficking and that it can happen anywhere. We need to teach them how to protect themselves online and in public from becoming victims. There are many good resources online on how to educate and talk to your children about sex trafficking. This article from Operation Underground Railroad is a great start.
Educating your community is another way to help. Get involved with your city councils. Make sure as many people know as possible about this plague that is happening at everyone’s back door. Fight for tougher laws for the perpetrators and for laws to protect the victims. The more people that are cognizant of this problem, the more it can change.
2- Stop Supporting It: It is unlikely that you knowingly support trafficking. It is likely however, that you are supporting it as a consumer. Many companies use child or adult slave labor to produce goods at a cheaper price. This allows them to sell at a more competitive price and increase profit margins. We can make an impact with our financial dollars and where they go. We can also reach out to companies that use slave labor and let them know that we do not approve of what they are doing. End Slavery Now has a great website that shows how you can be a smarter consumer and fight against slave labor.
3- Find Ways to Help: Educate yourself on the signs of human trafficking. The Polaris Project has a great website that you can use to educate yourself on the signs of human trafficking. If you recognize signs of trafficking it is important to know how to report it. Research human trafficking resources in your area. You can also call the National Human Trafficking Hotline 888-373-7888 if you are in the United States.Another example of an easy way to help combat this evil is through the app TraffickCam. This app asks you to send a couple pictures of your hotel room upon entering, name of hotel, and room number. Traffickers regularly post photographs of their victims posed in hotel rooms for online advertisements. These photographs are evidence that can be used to find and prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes. In order to use these photos, however, investigators must be able to determine where the photos were taken. The purpose of TraffickCam is to create a database of hotel room images that an investigator can efficiently search, in order to find other images that were taken in the same location as an image that is part of an investigation
Help in the fight against child sex trafficking with your smartphone!
MOM’S CALL TO ACTION: DOWNLOAD THE FREE APP TRAFFICKCAM TODAY. TAKE A COUPLE OF PICTURES OF EVERY HOTEL ROOM YOU STAY IN OR SEE TO HELP LAW ENFORCEMENT IDENTIFY ROOMS WHER CHILD PORN IS FILMED:
4- Support Groups that fight human trafficking: There are many great groups out there that fight against Human Trafficking. You can donate money to these organizations. If you don’t have money you can also volunteer to help with many things including projects, fundraisers, and anything needed to help the organization move forward in their goals of eradicating Human Trafficking. Here are two organizations that focus on rescuing and rehabilitating trafficking victims.Operation Underground Railroad: Donate or Volunteer International Justice Mission: Donate or Volunteer
5- Teach Family about The Worth of Souls: If everyone valued human souls and loved others, human trafficking would not be a problem. Traffickers wouldn’t take advantage of their victims. Corporations wouldn’t put the almighty dollar in front of human rights violations. As mothers the greatest impact we can have is in our own home. We need to share the value of others with our children and help them understand how we should value others.
Now it’s your turn. Share in the comments below how you fight human trafficking in your own way.
Follow Marisa Johnson at www.livingagoodstory.com
Marissa, Thank You for your bravery, passion, and devotion to this cause. We see the good that you are doing and we will join you in this fight to end slavery.
American Mothers Guest Blogger Marisa Johnson is passionate about living a good story and strives to inspire those who secretly want to break free from their current story. She encourages them to have the courage to step out in faith and start living the life of their dreams. Marisa is currently living in South America volunteering full-time for Operation Underground Railroad with her husband and 4 children working with survivors of human trafficking.You can check out her website and YouTube channel at www.livingagoodstory.com.
