Mississippi University for Women students are taking a stand to raise awareness about, and fight against, modern slavery.
Students from MUW’s campus chapter of International Justice Mission will host Stand for Freedom, a series of campus events Monday and Tuesday. The events are all about raising funds and other donations to help organizations which work with human trafficking victims and raising awareness about more than 35 million people enslaved and trafficked in the world today.
The MUW group is just one part of IJM’s international organization which combats violence in poverty-stricken areas, particularly human trafficking. While the organization does everything from raising awareness about issues to funding smaller groups that help victims of violence internationally, the leadership team at MUW is dedicated primarily to raising awareness about human trafficking across the world.
“It happens around here,” said member Morgan Kelly. “It’s not something that just happens in Europe and Asia…it’s in our state and it’s all around us.”
The leadership team consists of Kelly, along with IJM chapter president Ashlee Eames, Asia Duren and Allie Burt. All four said they only learned that human trafficking was such a prevalent problem when they got involved with IJM as students — and each was determined to do something about it.
“It was something I felt I was called to do, that I needed to do,” Burt said.
Stand for Freedom is one of the group’s biggest events every year, Eames said. The idea, she explained, is that members of IJM literally stand for 24 hours. A lot of members actually do stand in one spot for 24 hours, but Eames and the rest of the group decided to keep standing — and to keep moving. From Monday to Tuesday nights, the group hosts non-stop events, including a rave to raise money and awareness, a carnival-like drive to collect bras for another group which helps former trafficked victims and Call on Congress, in which individuals call their representatives to push them to crack down on human traffickers in the state and the country.
A study in central Mississippi in 2013 estimated that there were 90 cases of domestic minor sex trafficking in the four counties the study looked at, but added that number was almost certainly lower than the real number, according to a Jackson Free Press article in March.
“It happens in our backyards,” Duren said. “It’s girls our age. It’s girls younger than us.”
The event
Stand for Freedom kicks off at 7 p.m. Monday in Demonstration Field on MUW’s campus. IJM members as well as other students will be making and holding signs for three hours to raise awareness about human trafficking. There will also be music and a photo booth at the event.
That night at 10 p.m., the students will host Rave for Slaves in the W Room in Hogarth Building. The rave is open to the public and cost of admission is $2, according to Burt.
The next day students and members of the public will stand outside the cafeteria on campus, making signs and using the opportunity to raise awareness for their cause. Their second stand also includes Call on Congress. The event ends in Dem Field from 3 to 5 p.m. with Free the Girls.
Free the Girls is an organization promoted by IJM which provides resources and aid to former trafficked victims and which IJM promotes. Eames and the rest of the leadership team encourage the public to bring bras to donate to the organization. The event will include carnival games and other entertainment. Though all the events will take place on MUW’s campus, members of the Columbus community are invited to attend.
How to help
The leadership team hopes not only to raise awareness about human trafficking as an issue but to recruit more members for their own chapter at MUW.
“I want it to grow,” said Burt.
While MUW students can join the rest of the IJM on campus, members of the community can find their own ways to fight human trafficking. Eames encourages them to go to IJM’s website and donate.
“Five dollars helps them out tremendously,” she said.
Eames also talked about the Polaris project, in which individuals or groups visit businesses like gas stations and restaurants in the community and ask the owners or managers to put up flyers telling customers more about the issue and how they can help. It’s especially important to have them in gas stations and hotels, said Eames, as those are places where many trafficked victims end up.
“They need to know that people … are actually fighting for them.” Burt said.
To donate to IJM or to learn more about it and the organizations it supports, go to ijm.org.
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