31 Days to Becoming an Abolitionist {Day Five} mtvU Against Our Will Campaign

Today, I had planned to blog about international trafficking.  When I first started learning more about trafficking and discussing slavery with people in my sphere or daily world, I found the most information was about foreign victims. Not only that, but most people were more open to discussing trafficking as an international problem, not a domestic problem. I recognize that international trafficking makes it seem a like a more distant (maybe safer) problem, even if many of the exploited are shipped into the US.  As a nation, we've also been educated more about international trafficking through the media, TV shows, and film.  So, because my path led here, I had intended to blog about this part of my journey before I started a discussion about domestic slavery.

My plan was interrupted by a the newsletter I received today via e-mail from the fabulous  founder and executive director of GEMS in New York, Rachel Loyd.

http://www.againstourwill.org/ 

As much as I want to, I can't even start talking about what an incredible woman Rachel Loyd is or I'll be here all night and you'll never get to see what she announced in her newsletter.  There will be a whole post or two or three devoted to her work as a leading child sex trafficking advocate, counselor and friend to victims, brilliant author, and accomplished speaker.  You can click on her name above to read more about her on the GEMS web page.

Back to the newsletter.  GEMS, which stands for Girls Educational and Mentoring Services, has teamed up with Free the Slaves, The Polaris Project, and mtvU to start a smart, relevant campaign, "Against Our Will".  

Please, please, please visit this page, "Against Our Will".  If you have teenagers or friends that act like teenagers or a radio that plays FM, or cable, you know that terms like "Pimpin" and "Hos" have become common in pop culture.  I believe a large part of this popularity is due to media (how many Pimp my ____ shows do we need?).  This is why it completely thrills me and gives me so much hope that MTV is taking on the challenge of educating its audience about Modern Day Slavery and the danger in even the language we use.  

And, I love the website.  I haven't been able to look at every little thing on it yet, there's so much.  The "take action" segment alone is so valuable.  It allows you to see that even if you only have one minute, one day, or one hour, you can do something.  One minute is "Learn How To Talk About It".  If you click through it provides situations that a college kid might find themselves in (hmmm, I've found myself in some of the same situations as a thirtysomething....).  One example is:  You're at the club and a song about pimpin' comes on. Different levels of action are provided, from Keep it Simple to The Real Deal. 

Rachel also worked with them to develop a PSA directed towards buyers of commercial sex.  The goal is to help us all reframe the way we think about prostitutes / the commercial sex industry.  Research has shown that most prostitutes in the US were forced into the sex industry between the ages of 12 and 14.  The obvious conclusion -  most prostitutes either are or were victims of slavery.  That's another post...  For now, please check out this video as well as the other videos and all the resources at mtvU's "Against Our Will" and spread the word about this campaign.  Thanks!  Let me know what you think of mtvU's site and the campaign.

Day Six: Sharing the Truth
Day Seven: Reporting Trafficking