While the average citizen lives under the assumption that the trans-Atlantic slave trade ended two centuries ago, 27 million people—eighty percent women and girls—continue to be trafficked into sexual servitude and bonded labor today. On September 5 - 7, 2008 fifteen students from across America met in Washington, D.C. to form the National Student Coalition Against Slavery.  Cosponsored by Campus Progress and Americans for Informed Democracy, the students made plans to solidify their activism across the country and bolster youth involvement in the international abolitionist movement.

During this three-day leadership retreat, they learned the finer points of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act from Karen Stauss, Lead Policy Counsel at the Polaris Project, as well as tips for helping survivors reclaim their lives from Amelia Korangy, Director of Development for the FAIR Fund.  Professor Michele Clark, of the Elliot School of International Affairs at George Washington University, challenged students to envision a trafficking-free world and to hold our government and economic systems accountable for protection of our most basic human rights.  Paula-Raye O’Sullivan, Events Associate at Campus Progress, led a workshop on attracting media to issue campaigns, and spoken-word duo Yellow Rage moved the room with poems of slavery and despair.

The coalition set consensus goals for moving forward and laid out strategies for meeting these goals on their individual campuses.  Through synchronized and targeted efforts, the National Student Coalition Against Slavery will fuel a student-led anti-trafficking movement in Massachusetts, Connecticut, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Missouri, Texas, California and Washington.  They are supported by Americans for Informed Democracy, Polaris Project, FAIR Fund, and Free The Slaves.  
For more information visit www.AIDemocracy.org or contact Sarah Frazer sarah@aidemocracy.org.

Email Campus Progress Events speakers@campusprogress.org to plan your own anti-trafficking event.