Our Host this week is Roger Cline. We have a special guest this week in Sienna Leising, who will be talking about her Short Term Rotary Exchange experience!
It's always interesting when Jeff signs up to be announcer. You learn things you may never knew you wanted to know!! On top of that, he has been a great ambassador for the Rotary Foundation and has given countless hours to our club. Thank you, Jeff for your dedication to the rotary foundation and keeping us all thoroughly educated about our great state of O! We appreciate everything you do!!
Our speaker last wee was Sister Anne Victory, who is the Director for Education for The Collaborative to End Human Trafficking.
Sister Anne described that there are two basic parts to human trafficking...sex trade and forced labor. In both cases, the parties are held against their will and find it very difficult to escape. It is estimated that 40 million are enslaved in the world and that it is a multi-billion dollar industry. Generally the crime is the exploitation of the person. Often they are kept addicted to drugs, receive false promise and receive psychological threats. Three main at risk groups are children, often runaways, people struggling to support families and the homeless. Most runaways are approached within 24 hours. After 2010 there has been an 846% increase in child exploitation since so many now have cell phones.
If you suspect that you may be seeing trafficking, there is a national hotline 888-3737-888. That number can connect people to local resources. There website at collaborativeinitiative.org can be a source of information for helping anyone recognize that they might be looking at a trafficking situation. Do not hesitate to call the hotline or the local FBI or police if you become suspicious.
