Megan Smith COM201 Spring Semester, 2013 Just Around the Corner Citizens joined forces with local

anti-trafficking groups Unicef and Not For Sale at numerous T-stops Saturday, Jan. 26th for a T-Blitz to raise awareness of modern day slavery in honor of National Slavery and Human Trafficking Awareness Month. For this T-Blitz people gathered outside designated T stops and distributed information about human trafficking and how to get involved. The event was organized by Unicef and Not For Sale, who joined and launched a new End Human Trafficking campaign this year. These two groups joined because we understand that we are so much more powerful when we collaborate with others, said Unicef affiliate Leigh Forbush.

Human Trafficking is defined by the US State Department as any process of recruitment, transportation, transferring, harboring, or receiving a person through means of threat, coercion, abduction, fraud, deceit, deception or abuse of power with the goal of prostitution, pornography, violence/sexual exploitation, forced labor, involuntary servitude, debt bondage or slavery/similar practices.

Globally, there are 27 million people caught in Human Trafficking. I just personally believe, its a Martin Luther King Jr. quote, that injustice anywhere threatens justice everywhere and reality is people need to actually realize this is happening and stand up, supporter Nia Lamrock said. We are just trying to say that human trafficking exists here in the United States and in Boston. Many people view human trafficking as an international issue involving people crossing borders, but that doesnt have to happen to be considered trafficking, Forbush said. A Northeastern student supported this belief, I guess I think of like, women in the Ukraine or something, I mean, I dont know, I guess I dont really know that much about it, but I know horrific things happen, she said.

Unfortunately, this view is common among not only college students but other citizens as well. Today is mostly getting the word out, if a few more people realize human trafficking is happening locally and theres something they can do, if they just have access to the hotline number so if they see something that seems suspicious they call it and do something about it, and thats really the point of today. Just to kind of get the word out, raise the profile about it a little more, Sarah Durfey, Not For Sale volunteer, said.

Forbush believes when more people see and understand human trafficking and social injustice is happening in Boston they will be aware and educated about the issue if there is ever a political decision to be voted on. Recently, there is a national law, Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) that was passed a few years ago. Unfortunately, the TVPA was not renewed, as it should have been. So this is something that we understand we need more people to be aware about and more people to be raising their voices to make sure we have protections for everyone, Forbush said Others are unfortunate to like you know not have their own life, its being controlled and manipulated or even destroyed, Dow said. Human trafficking is obviously something that definitely should not happen and I feel like its wrong on so many different levelsBut it happens like everywhere, places you wouldnt expect and it happens all the time, high school student and advocate Sarah Bouaitah said. High school student Nick Mucci added: people think of it as foreign and they dont think of it as being just around the corner.