Thursday night we attended the rally for Five Weeks for Freedom at the Freedom Center.  The event featured cyclists who are cycling part of the route of the Underground Railroad in order to raise awareness of human trafficking and support International Justice Mission. There were lots of other great organizations there, as well.  Channel 9 News in Cincinnati was there and did a great story featuring Stop Traffick Fashion and others.  The story does a great job telling the story of modern day slavery.  You can read the text below or click on the link to see the video.

Modern-day slavery is real
WCPO Channel 9 News

Posted: 11:19 PM, 7/22/10

• By: Adam Marshall

CINCINNATI - Loveland Resident Emily Hill took a trip to Thailand. After meeting young women living in poverty who were at risk of being slaves, she decided to start stoptraffickfashion.com.

Hill’s company only purchases and sells fashionable items made by survivors of human trafficking.

“It gives them a sense of dignity and confidence in themselves again. And most importantly it helps them generate a sustainable income for themselves going forward,” Hill said.

Hill chose to set up her booth at Thursday’s “5 Weeks of Freedom” event hosted by the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

The point of the event was to remind the public that slavery is not a thing of the past.

“There are more slaves today than over 400 years of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. 27 to 40 million estimated slaves in the world. So in 2010 it’s hard to think that that’s true,” said Amy Roth who is with the International Justice Mission, a Washington based anti-slavery organization.

Everyone that attended got to enjoy music, performances, and most of all, an education.

“When you hear lives of sexual exploitation or families sold into lives of 18 hour days, you can’t help but stop for a moment and say that is unacceptable today in 2010,” Roth said.

To learn more about modern-day slavery, click on the related links.