Get up, Stand up
“And if you feel like you are witnessing a movement, then get up girl and let them know you’re free.”
- State Radio, “Calling All Crows”
John Lennon once asked us all to imagine; Lance Armstrong has made wearing a yellow LIVESTRONG bracelet a symbol in the fight against cancer; musicians of all genres have banded together and asked their fans to “Rock the Vote”; millions of dollars have been raised through annual AIDS walks, and just as importantly, millions of people have started thinking about safety and solutions as a result. Awareness is the first step to solving a problem, and the global tragedy of modern day slavery is no different.
The harrowing reality is that slavery did not end with Lincoln. Although slavery is not legal anywhere, it happens all over the world, even in the mostly unlikely of places. Forced to work in fields to brothels to American suburbs, there are an estimated 27 million modern day slaves. In this crucial movement to end slavery now, a lack of awareness about the reality of modern-day slavery might be holding us back the most. Awareness is not a human rights cliché; it is the greatest tool for change available.
In New York City, an entire human trafficking awareness campaign has begun within the last few weeks. The Somaly Mam Foundation, a nonprofit committed to eradicating modern day slavery, recently partnered with the Office of the Mayor of New York to launch the campaign, called “Let’s Call An End To Human Trafficking.” This awareness campaign involves print both print ads, placed in subway stations and bus shelters throughout the five boroughs of the city, and a new anti-trafficking website. The street advertisements, in both English and Spanish, evoke situations like forced labor and sex slavery with their images and phrases. They provide a 311 number to call to learn more about human-trafficking, and urge victims to seek help. The website further provides information and resources for victims.
On this new website, Mayor Bloomberg writes, “We hope our public awareness campaign, and the resources we are providing online, will help us involve more people in the fight against human trafficking.”
New York’s city-wide campaign highlights the value of awareness in both policy and reality. Hopefully these anti-trafficking advertisements will lay a foundation of thought in the minds of New Yorkers… which could turn in action… which could turn into change.
However, you don’t have to be plastering ads all over the country’s largest city or singing about empowerment at sold-out concerts (although it might help) to be raising awareness about modern day slavery. You just have to be talking. Everyone can do something: words are just a powerful as lyrics, and a conversation with a friend is just as important as a poster. Simply initiating the conversation about human trafficking is valuable, and often half the battle.
