It's Time to End It

           This past Thursday, there is a good possibility you saw a picture of a hand with a red “x” on it somewhere on social media. No, there wasn’t national holiday for going to the club. This was a movement recognized around the world as the “End It Movement.” This worldwide awareness day was centered around modern-day slavery. This subject isn’t one that comes up often when sitting at the dinner table with your family. I had vaguely heard of this day last year but never really took the time the educate myself like I should’ve. Thankfully this year, I got involved with the help of a close friend who was very passionate about the subject.

           

            It was shocking to see how many lives are affected by slavery and human trafficking all around the world. An estimated 27 million people are being held against their will and being bought/sold all across the world. This is an absolutely disgusting thought. According to the website “enditmovement.com,” the world had something to say about it with over 500 million people sharing the iconic red “x” to raise awareness. And these are only the times it was shared and hash tagged on social media. There were countless others who drew the “x” in support of the people affected by it.

            On their website there are a few statistics throughout the page and one of the most jaw dropping statistics of them all was out of those estimated 27 million, 1 out of every 5 of those people are children under 18. When I was a teenager, something like this never crossed my mind. Not one time did I think life could’ve been different and it could’ve been not so comfortable for me.

            After learning more about this movement and looking at the website, I decided to do some research of my own. I’m a visual learner and videos usually have a big impact on me, so I decided to go to YouTube first and I found everything I needed to want to get more involved. One of the videos I highly suggest you watch was from about 4 years ago and I’ll put the link right here. This video opens with a box truck outside a warehouse and you quickly realize what’s going on. A man puts a struggling young woman in the back of the truck and they quickly drive off. As the video continues the truck drives into the busy streets of Atlanta, GA and as the camera pans out and people are all staring at the truck, you see the back end of the truck is a glass box filled with over 20 women.

           

            The initial shock factor of this ad was enough to leave me speechless. It showed what could be a reality of human trafficking and slavery that happens right before our eyes. The end of the video shows a statistic from the Final Four NCAA basketball tournament. It states over 60,000 people were trafficked and sold in and around the tournament venue. Major sporting events like this are hot spots for this horrible activity because of the amount of money it brings in and the ability to “hide in plain sight.”

            Each and every day another person is taken, bought or sold. It is happening right in front of our eyes and this is why spreading awareness is so important. There are so many ways to raise awareness and help support this cause. End It Movement has 16 coalition partners including Polaris and The Salvation Army who help them fight against human trafficking and slavery. You can visit their website here to donate money, buy merchandise to support the cause and find more information if you want to learn more. Even though the awareness day has passed, you can still come together and help shine a light on slavery and end it!