Northern Va. Task Force on human trafficking receives federal grant
“I’ve seen victims from several high schools throughout Northern Virginia. I would say that our kids in each and every high school are vulnerable to the trafficker’s deceptions,” said Woolf.
Read the whole article and watch the video on WUSA
A couple weeks ago we hosted an informational meeting about Human Trafficking. We learned that Northern Virginia has a significant problem in this area that very few people know about. The police do. They are facing this on a daily basis and working to rescue women who have been enslaved right in our neighborhoods. Afterward I reached out to a friend of New Life and asked what we could do to help. He had this to share…
I’m so thankful for the increase in awareness over the past 5 years regarding human trafficking. Before that, not many people had ever thought much about it, if they had even heard of it. But there has been exponential growth in general awareness of this issue recently, and I’m thankful to God for that. But it’s time to move one step further on this issue. Being aware of it doesn’t prevent it and doesn’t set people free that are trapped in it. Being aware of it doesn’t facilitate healing for those that have been impacted by human trafficking and modern-day slavery.
Every time there is a big news story about people who were enslaved and are rescued (think the 3 girls in Cleveland last year), there’s always a lot of hand-wringing in the media. Big questions like “where were the warning signs so that this could have been stopped sooner?” and the like. But there never seem to be any answers to these questions. So it’s time to bring some answers to this massive global injustice.
Part of the solution is helping every day citizens like us to no longer walk in ignorance, fear, or complicity in the industries of human trafficking, modern-day slavery, prostitution, and a significant root involved in them all – pornography.
So we need more opportunities to engage with people who have insight. We know we can pray about this issue. We know we can contribute to fighting this. But there are more ways we can help.
To that end, the Hilton Garden Inns of the Washington, DC region are sponsoring a 5k charity run/walk on Saturday morning, 5/3/14 in the Tysons area. Every penny of the $35/person registration fee will go to local groups who are involved in fighting human trafficking and modern-day slavery. These local groups will have information tables and booths at the race so that we can interact with them directly to learn more about this issue and how we can be involved.
Would you spread the word? The more registrants, the more money goes to these groups who are doing amazing work in very dark places. Again, Hilton Garden Inn is paying all of the costs of the race so that 100% of the registration fees go to these 501c3 organizations.