Women of Global Action Against Human Trafficking

On Sunday, July 1st, approximately one hundred women gathered at Silverlake Community Church in Los Angeles for an evening conference hosted by Women of Global Action. The event was organized for women of faith to explore the subject of human trafficking and included a panel of experts who are working to stop sex trafficking at global and local levels.

The 2006 Trafficking in Persons Report issued by the U.S. State Department estimates that as many as 27 million people, mostly women and children, are being trafficked at any given time for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and bonded labor. In addition, according to a report from 2004, as many as 800,000 people are being trafficked across our national border each year.

The event was hosted by Women of Global Action (WOGA) and produced by LA LOVES with the goal of educating their constituency about this epidemic and providing tangible actions for participants to take in order to take a stand against trafficking and the commercial sex industry.

Organizations taking part in the evening were:

• Trade As One who sell products made by ex-trafficked women in order to provide an alternative income
• NightLight who run a business in Bangkok that provides women from the commercial sex industry an alternative life of making jewelry
• Tiny Stars who provide law enforcement with on-the-ground agents who collect evidence of US citizens engaging in child prostitution abroad
• The Salvation Army's Safe Refuge Project which partners with churches to raise awareness on these issues and which fights the commercial sex industry
• After Hours who work among the pimps and prostitutes on the streets of LA
• LA Loves who use the arts to educate and inspire action.

Practical steps of action taken as a result of what people learned that evening were:

• Buying products made by people released from trafficking – Over $1,500 was bought on the night
• Donating to extend the work of NightLight in Bangkok where 75 women are employed and where a waiting list for employment exists – one person donated a month's salary for a woman at NightLight
• Signing up for more training on how to combat the commercial sex industry and reach those in it in LA
• 11 new women joined the Women of Global Action: LA Chapter as a way to unite themselves with other women in their city who are concerned with justice issues impacting young women globally.