Anti-human Trafficking Event in Brooklyn

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK –

A public event to spread awareness about human trafficking took place in Cornerstone Daycare Center on Thurs. Jan. 16 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. The event informed attendees on ways to report instances of human trafficking, find help for trafficking survivors and learn ways to defend yourself from kidnappers. The event also provided tips for parents on how to talk about trafficking with their children to educate them. There is no official figure estimating the number of human trafficking victims in the United States. But, Polaris the organization operating the National Human Trafficking Hotline estimates there to be hundreds of thousands of victims of sex trafficking and labor trafficking in the U.S. when factoring in adult and juvenile victims.

Monique Riley, a sex trafficking survivor, spoke at the event to share information community members can use to defend themselves from traffickers. She emphasized how human trafficking is a major issue not just happening abroad, but also locally. Furthermore, she discussed warning signs to detect traffickers. Riley is the founder and CEO of Freedom Youth NYC in the Bronx helping victims and survivors of trafficking, domestic violence and sexual assault.

Following Riley’s talk and Q&A session with the audience, Farah Zulaikha, United Nations ambassador for the National Council of Women of the United States, spoke about ways to spot traffickers and gave attendees resources including mobile apps and hotlines to seek help if they become in danger of trafficking.

Moreover, Derrick Strong, owner of Team Demolition Mixed Martial Arts, a gym in East New York, Brooklyn, demonstrated self-defense techniques audience members can use to fend off traffickers on the street. The moves rooted in a combination of martial arts including Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay thai and wrestling, are designed to help people of all ages and sizes increase their chances of survival if they are ever threatened by a kidnapper.

In 2018, the Walk Free Foundation published a report, the Global Slavery Index, which estimated more than 400,000 people suffered forced labor, sexual subjugation and non-consensual marriage in the U.S. Walk Free formed the report by researching data from groups such as the United Nations’ International Labour Organization, ILO, aggregating information on trafficking victims from the UN’s International Organization for Migration and conducting national surveys.

ILO and Walk Free published a report in 2017 estimating that in 2016, nearly 40 million people were victims of modern slavery worldwide. Of the 40 million, 25 million were in forced labor and 15 million were in forced marriage. Adult women and girls under the age of 18 made up nearly 70 percent of modern slavery victims. In addition, children less than 18 years old accounted for about 25 percent of all victims.

In 2016, 4.8 million people were victims of sexual exploitation internationally. About 20 percent of them were children.

For more photos from the story, please visit: jiminkim.org

Camera: Nikon D90. Nikon 18-55 mm zoom lens. Nikon 70-300 mm telephoto zoom lens.