Human Trafficking Awareness Day - Jan 11.

 The 13th Amendment to the US Constitution ended slavery in 1865. At least, that was the intent. Over a century later we are fighting the latest form of slavery, human trafficking. Awareness Day is January 11, 2009. Bloggers will post about it. Local organizations will talk about it. Honest cops and governments will fight it. Peole will die from it. For some human trafficking victims death will come as a friend; not as an enemy.  This Time News article paints a brutal and savage picture.

In this war, it is churches who lead the fight while governments negotiate. Human Trafficking is complex. Victims are often misled into thinking that they are being offered legitimate jobs. Then they are beaten, raped, humiliated, sleep deprived and given drugs. The profit for the captors can be enormous.

Fullstop estimates the current number of trafficked persons to be 27 million. Many of these are forced into the sex trade.

What can you do to help in the fight? The Polaris Project has some suggestions.

Other resources in the fight against human trafficking:

Evangelical Covenant Church
National Council of Churches
United Methodist Church
National Council of Catholic Women