Column: I'm in it to end it

Hi friends! Right now, West Texas is a winter wonderland of sorts, which means I think it's absolutely gorgeous. Anywho, this week's column is very important. I won't go into further detail. Please just read it and share it and together, let's bring awareness to this. Thanks and much love.

Original publication date: Friday, February 17, 2015 

Random Writer 

I'm in it to end it  

When I attended the 2014 Passion Conference in Houston, one of the many eye-opening things I heard about was modern-day slavery and human trafficking. It was crazy to think that in today's society, such issues are prevalent, but I walked away from the Toyota Center with a keen awareness of the topics. 

The End It Movement was created to "shine a light on slavery". Sixteen global organizations--which include familiar entities like World Vision and the Salvation Army--form a coalition to work together on a daily basis toward awareness, prevention, rescue and restoration in the fight for freedom. 

While a topic of this magnitude requires daily awareness, one day a year is set aside to bring the issue to the forefront. Each year, February 27 is "Shine a Light on Slavery Day", which just happens to be today. 

Around the world today, 27 million people are trapped in some form of slavery. Those in bonded labor are either born into slavery or are forced to pay a debt that may not even be theirs. Forced labor victims work against their will under the threat of punishment. And those in human trafficking are taken from what they know to another city or even country to work against their will.  

Even though it's illegal in every country across the globe, slavery exists in 85% of the nations around the world. As the second largest organized crime in the world, slavery generates $150.2 billion annually, with the average cost of a slave currently standing at $90.  

Demographically, nearly one out of five victims of slavery is a child, with 12 to 14 years old being the average age of a United States teenager who enters the sex trade. Over half of victims of forced labor are female.  

Two years ago, reports of human trafficking in every American state and the District of Columbia were received by the National Human Trafficking Hotline. It's estimated that over 60,000 people are trapped in slavery right now in the United States.  

Also in the U.S., every three minutes, a single incident of the sexual exploitation of a minor takes place. As a result, almost 200,000 incidents occur each year in this nation.  

So what can we do about it? We let the world know that slavery still exists and we're against it. That we can come together and work for the extinction of slavery in our lifetime.   

We use social media for a noble cause. We draw a red X on our hands, take a selfie featuring that red X, and share the photo with the #enditmovement hashtag. 

We use our money to donate toward the cause, whether it's a solo donation or joining a team of Freedom Fighters. The money goes toward the funding for projects like the rescue of victims, staffing organizations that combat human trafficking, and restoration programs for survivors of trafficking, among others. 

So when others ask why we're sporting a red X on our hands or why we're donating to this particular organization or even both, we can get the conversation going.  

Because when we do, we give a voice to the voiceless.  

We take the focus off our own petty problems, toward something that is so much bigger than ourselves and is so much more important.   

I'm most definitely in it to end it, and my hope and prayer is that you'll join the cause too. 

Information obtained from enditmovement.com.