January's Message From the Peacebuilders

Posted by Steve Bjornstad
 
 
 
 
January is National Anti-Human Trafficking month -
 
  • $150 billion per year is made from forced labor of one form or other
  • of that, $99 billion is made from sex trafficking
  • 4.5 million people worldwide are victims of forced sexual exploitation
  • 40.3 million people worldwide are now victims of forced labor
  • Children as young as 1 year old can be victims
  • 20% of all human trafficking victims are children
 
Prostitution - Slavery - Forced Labor - Sex Trafficking - Child Slavery - Labor Slavery - Human Trafficking - Modern Slavery. Serious words. Terms that don’t feel they could possibly apply to modern Arizona. Sadly, they do. Every…single…day.  The great thing is Arizona Rotarians are continuing to step up and lead their communities in raising awareness and reducing the threat of harm to their children.
 
 
Be Aware   -   Spot the Signs   -   Get Involved
 
Awareness leads to action. Everything you do where you live to help raise awareness can ultimately help both rescue victims of human trafficking and prevent some from becoming victims in the first place. 
 
A few examples of D5495 Rotarians in Action against human trafficking
 
RC Peoria North recently hosted a guest speaker from ASU who shared STARFISH, an educator-focused trafficking-awareness program. STARFISH is a collaborative effort between ASU and the McCain Institute http://projectstarfish.education/. For more information, contact President Jason Braunstein (jasonbraunstein@icloud.com).
 
RC Verrado is in the midst of a terrific district grant supported project - RC Verrado Child Trafficking Awareness. Their campaign includes child trafficking prevention education and awareness events for parents, community leaders, educators, youth and other community members. For more information, contact RTN Todd Halberg (toddhalberg@gmail.com).
 
On January 19th at noon, RC Sun City/Sun City Satellite will host Jim Weber of Global Connection International (GCI). GCI is at the forefront of the international battle against human trafficking and, particularly, child exploitation. All Arizona Rotarians are invited to join this ZOOM mtg - Meeting ID: 978 7759 4873; PSWD: 644874. For more information, contact RTN Steve Bjornstad (stevebj60@gmail.com). Announcement: 
 
A few sources to learn more -