"Each month in Atlanta, 300-500 girls are bought or sold. Additionally, the median age at which children are abused is 9 years old. “What do you do with a 9-year-old baby?” he passionately asked a crowd of about 40 people, all of whom had come to Emory’s Cannon Chapel to generate awareness against trafficking and domestic violence — especially those which occur in and around Atlanta...
The presentations continued with a short video, “One Billion Rising,” which featured Tim Heintz and Tena Clark’s song “Break The Chain” and choreography originally performed by an anti-trafficking, anti-violence flash mob on Valentine’s Day of 2013. Coordinated by Lori Teague, Director and Associate Professor of Dance, students in Emory’s Dance Department had the opportunity to perform the choreography once again — for the Cannon Chapel audience. Involved with the Dance Department myself, I got to witness the chapel’s energy from the front of the crowd as we started to perform; the audience slowly began to move, clap or do anything that would confirm their presence. The several children in the audience ran to the front, jumping up and down to the music...."
"The multitude of art mediums and performances made for an effective program that, at the least, introduced a few more people to the severity of trafficking and abuse throughout Atlanta. Various performers and organizations brought faces to their names, including Out of the Darkness, an organization that directly interacts with trafficking victims at weekly events. One of these events is called “Princess Night,” during which volunteers travel to areas where trafficking and prostitution run heavily. On Princess Night, the organization and its volunteers aim to increase victims’ awareness of their options by bringing with them a prayer, a card, a lipgloss with the “Out Of The Darkness” hotline and a rose for the victims.
Although the overall situation is simultaneously uncertain and dire, all artists and organization representatives that participated in Saturday’s program maintained a certain optimism. Even Racine, who acknowledged that the smallest factors can yield catastrophic results (“Pretty Woman” and its effect on girls), is confident that law enforcement — and the public — have the “tools in [their] arsenal” to find and to stop those responsible for trafficking and violence."
1 comment:
I think we need to do more about raising awareness for raising awareness about things we should be raised aware.
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