“The Journey to ‘The One’”

Eve was 3 years old when she started working on a brothel-laden street in Thailand. She was forced to dance for hours and hours without end for western tourists, sustained only by her drugged juice. Covered in makeup and wearing only a bathing suit, she was making enough money to cover all of her family’s expenses. This continued until she became internet famous for a video of her dancing in her bathing suit. That is when she was discovered by The A21 Campaign. A21, along with the local authorities, tirelessly worked for Eve’s freedom. Eve is now living in freedom, receiving aftercare, going to school and even taking gymnastics. Eve’s life is marked with hope. She has been given the freedom to be a child again.

With people like Eve in mind, Christine Caine created The A21 Campaign. A21 is a nonprofit organization dedicated to abolishing slavery everywhere, forever. This daunting task that A21 has taken up is fueled by the idea of rescuing “the one”. They believe that behind each statistic, each seemingly insurmountable number, there is a person. A name. A story. Each one of those people deserve to be free. At the end of the day, if even just one story is changed from one of bondage to freedom, they have done their jobs. A21 also believes in the power of “the one”. At the core of the organization, A21 holds strongly to the idea that anyone can make a change in the world. “When a lot of people do a little, it adds up and makes a difference.” Caine said. To this end, A21 has placed great priority on the mobilization of A-Teams, groups of volunteers dedicated to the abolition of human trafficking, and having a global presence. A21 has grown to encompass 12 different offices in 11 different countries.

A21 today is involved in the full process of ending human trafficking, from prevention, to awareness, to recovery. For this past Valentine’s Day, A21 ran a “your words in their hands” campaign. During this campaign, A21 focused on combating the lies that trafficking victims are told by their captors. To do this, they asked their supporters to write a valentine to a victim of human trafficking. Instead of hearing, “No one will ever love you”, this Valentines they heard, “You are strong”, “You are beautiful”, “You can do whatever you put your mind to”.

Along with this, A21 recently debuted a new campaign, Can You See Me?. Can You See Me? brings awareness to the people that we come into contact with that are victims of human trafficking. They accomplished this through a series of PSAs how often people come into contact with trafficking victims. Through this, A21 inspired people to make use of their international trafficking hotline. One only has to click on the country in which they live in order to report a suspicion of human trafficking. The PSAs closed with the slogan, “If you suspect it, report it”.

The statistics are daunting. However, The A21 Campaign is committed to the ideal that even if they only help out one person it is worth it. Even if they only give one girl like Eve her childhood back, they have made a difference. Yes, the numbers seem insurmountable. But with hope, dedication and hard work, A21 bravely moves forward towards their goal, fueled by stories like Eve’s. They will not stop. They will continue till every Eve is free.

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