Human Trafficking Awareness Week focuses on education

The week ends Thursday with a discussion at Carpe Diem.

By Samantha Sunne

Published Sept. 22, 2009

There are an estimated 12.3 million people in forced labor, bonded labor, forced child labor and sexual servitude at any given time, according to the U.S. State Department.

The Central Missouri Stop Human Trafficking Coalition is aiming to raise awareness of human trafficking this week with events ranging from a meeting of Columbia business leaders to a dance marathon.

Human Trafficking Awareness Week is a succession of events geared toward reaching out to MU students and members of Columbia's community. It started with a park outing Saturday and will end with a discussion of human trafficking Thursday at Carpe Diem.

Paul Schlup, a special investigator for the western Missouri human trafficking task force and CMSHTC member, said the task force has rescued more than 100 victims and handled 65 cases since 2006.

"The biggest thing we need assistance in is for people in the public to call information in," Schlup said.

Mustard Seed Executive Director Jessica Canfield organized a Fair Trade Bazaar, saying the bazaar helps fight human trafficking by promoting fair trade rather than slave labor in countries affected by trafficking.

"I think the way (fair trade) aids human trafficking awareness is that if you give people a way to survive, they can avoid slavery," Global Market Manager Ava Swofford said. "If they had a way to make a living, they wouldn't have to sell their sons into slavery."

Global Market is a fair trade store in the United Methodist Church.

The bazaar was a collaboration between Mustard Seed, First Christian Church and the United Methodist Church. The Fair Trade Store at First Christian Church contributed Mexican jewelry to the bazaar, and United Methodist Church's Global Market featured crafts from Guatemala, Kenya and Peru.

"I really wanted to make the fair trade movement in Columbia something cooperative," Canfield said.

The bazaar featured handcrafted products from countries heavily affected by human trafficking, including those made by sex trafficking survivors from India.

Recreate: Making Art at Douglass Park, another event Saturday, was designed to make children more aware of their own freedom, Rainbow House Shelter Director Kristi Turner said.

The event was a joint effort between Karis Community Church and Rainbow House, an emergency center in Columbia, Karis Church worship intern Bobby Schembre said.

The children participated in games and informational art projects, such as making bracelets in orange — the color of freedom — Turner said.

"Interns talked to kids a little bit about what human trafficking was and really emphasized freedom, and made it clear that they are free, while others are not," she said.

To grab the attention of MU students, Stop Traffic Now arranged a Dance Marathon.

"We're trying to do a lot more creative things to bring people in," Stop Traffic Now Co-chairwoman Brittany Heenan. "We want people interested in coming out to events."

The marathon took place from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday in the Underground Cafe. The event was held to raise awareness about human trafficking and also to recruit students for Stop Traffic Now, Heenan said.

Pop Fiction, a local band, started the night with a set including an original song about human trafficking, she said.

"It's supposed to be a good time for a good cause," junior Monica Chavez said.

Chavez performed at the marathon with the Hispanic American Leadership Organization's dance team.

On Sunday, two events geared toward trafficking awareness were held at the Christian Chapel Church. Pastor John Battaglia is a member of Not For Sale, another anti-trafficking organization, church member Paul Meiners said.

There was a visiting musician who worked with Not For Sale and the pastor's service Saturday morning included a sermon on human trafficking awareness, Meiners said.

"I think our church realizes the great need there is out there relative to human slavery," he said. "Our church and our leadership has a passion to do what we can to bring awareness and to be a part of bringing an end to human trafficking."

After the service, visitors could go to the Freedom Lounge next door to learn more information from representatives of the CMSHTC, Mustard Seed Fair Trade and Not For Sale.

"I learned how much of a problem it was," said Jordan St. Omer, who attended the event.

Church member Willie Jones said he would become more involved with anti-trafficking efforts after attending the event.

"I just learned a lot more about how people are helpless to help themselves," Jones said. "Our pastor has made it a really big effort of his. We support it 100 percent."

In the evening, there was a meeting of the Underground Church Network, a collection of churches advocating modern-day abolition, according to Not For Sale's Web site.

Missouri law enforcement is involved with human trafficking through its Human Trafficking Task Force, a coalition of officers from the FBI, Columbia Police Department, Missouri State Highway Patrol and other agencies.

The task force's job is to determine the correctness of information about a human trafficking case and then perform a rescue and investigation, said Schlup, who founded the task force.

Stop Traffic Now is also hosting a movie night Wednesday in Memorial Union. They will show the documentary "Born into Brothels," Heenan said.

"It's basically a relaxing way for students to hear about (human trafficking) and talk about it," she said.

Other events this week include discussions of human trafficking and a meeting between business leaders in downtown Columbia.

CMSHTC board member Elizabeth D'Agostino said the meeting would hopefully jumpstart a program called the Slave-Free Stores Campaign. The campaign, she said, would set goals for all the businesses including not having slaves working for them and not selling any products made by slaves.

"We want to hone the project into something the businesses will want to put their name on," D'Agostino said.

On Thursday, CMSHTC will sponsor a presentation by Barbara Bogomolov, leader of the Refugee Health and Interpretive Services at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, according to CMSHTC's Web site. The presentation is called "Working with Victims of Violence in Immigrant Communities — Linguistic and Cultural Issues," the Web site stated. Carpe Diem, a meeting place in downtown Columbia, will host a discussion of human trafficking Thursday, as well.