On Friday May 6, 2011 my activist group and I presented the topic of human sex trafficking to a classroom of Gilbert High School students. We first passed out a survey questioning the students on their knowledge of current day slavery and what they thought about trafficking in general. As we assumed they would, most students referred to the trans- atlantic era and compared the idea of slavery to that time period. We then began our presentation, which went a little rough the first time due to technical difficulties with getting the YouTube video to play by getting around the block on the internet from the school. The second time we presented went so much better.
It was amazing to me how much I was personally moved by the presentation. I have found interest in human sex trafficking since it was first talked about and presented to me in my Sex and Gender Sociology Class. So I have read tons of stories, picked through many articles, and watched countless videos and have been able to get thought it all just fine. I would tear up here and there about the things I was reading and get upset about how these innocent people were being treated but I would suck it up and write the papers that I needed to write. Presenting however was an entirely different story. After playing the movie that gave some insight to human sex trafficking, I asked how many of the students had a brother, sister, niece, nephew, or cousin that was younger than they were; majority of them did. I then described in detail about how young the children are that are trafficked. The minute I started talking to the students about my section of the presentation, I felt my throat start to swell. Watching the students faces as I began to unfold the horrors of current day slavery that is happening in our backyards just blew my mind. During my piece of the presentation I had to stop a few times just to suck back my tears and finish up. I was in complete shock when I saw how much my piece of the presentation was so difficult to get out. It didn’t matter how many times I had gone over the material, telling other people and watching their reactions was so surreal for me. I couldn’t and still can’t believe it.
This activism project has taken my interest in human sex trafficking to a whole new level. I plan on applying with a complete resume to Streetlight Phoenix this summer, though the process is pretty extensive. I would love to be able to work with the victims and help survivors recover from the experiences they have come through. I would also be interesting in studying the psychology of how the survivors cope and return to a normal life. There is a home due to open soon that will house eight girls who are survivors of human sex trafficking and who aren’t of age to take care of themselves; but that is only eight girls. My background is in construction and building, how amazing would it be to build an even bigger home to house even more survivors? It would take lots of time and effort, but with the degree I am working on I think it would be entirely possible; but that’s the future. I hope to start taking the first steps this summer and let things lead me to where I need to be.
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