How we can help Fight Human Sex Trafficking in 2020
Here at Tomato Superstar, we celebrate girl empowerment and teach girls how to live and thrive in their stardom. We also realize that it's important not to overlook those who are less fortunate. It is estimated that over 16 million women and children are trafficked globally for sexual exploitation with profits well into the billions. There are numerous ways that you can help fight this epidemic. Here are 4 major ways:
Learn the Signs of Human Trafficking
We recently released a blog post on this issue and it gives all of the tell-tale signs of possible trafficking. Possible signs are:
- signs of physical abuse
- branding tattoos
- child being closely guarded
- child taken out of school
- child having an over-sexualized vocabulary
Please read the entirety of our blog post herefor a more detailed description of these signs.
Volunteer and Support Human Trafficking Efforts in Your Community
Organize a Fundraiser and Donate the Proceeds to an Anti-Trafficking Organization. There are various non-profits working in cities and towns all throughout the country. Some national non-profits are Thorn and Polaris.
Thorn considers themselves digital defenders of children, previously known as DNA Foundation. This is an international anti-human trafficking organization that works to address the sexual exploitation of children. Please learn more about them here.
Polaris is a nonprofit, non-governmental organization that works to combat and prevent modern-day slavery and human trafficking. For the past 10 years, Polaris has run the National Human Trafficking Hotline, working on some 40,000 cases of trafficking. Please learn more about this organization here.
Become a Mentor of a Young Person
Traffickers often target people who are going through a difficult time or who lack strong support systems. As a mentor, you can be involved in new and positive experiences in that person’s life during a formative time. There is a wonderful national non-profit called Big Brothers Big Sisters that facilitates these types of mentorships. Their goal is to help all children reach their potential through professionally supported, one-to-one relationships with volunteer mentors. Big Brothers Big Sisters is one of the oldest and largest youth mentoring organizations in the United States. Please learn more here.
Use Your Social Media Platforms to Raise Awareness
Blogging, facebook posts, instagram posts and YouTube can be very powerful in getting the word across! Be sure to use appropriate hashtags like these: #endtrafficking, #freedomfirst, #humansextraffickingawareness, #enditmovement.
We hope this gives you a better idea on how you can contribute in fighting this war on children. A lot of people think sex trafficking is a third world problem while it's really a major issue right there in the USA. Awareness is the first step! If you'd like to learn more about our philanthropic efforts, please visit our website here.
