5 Ways You Can Fight Sex Trafficking, Right Now, From Your Computer

By: Guest Writer

Editor’s Note — In March, I had the pleasure to meet Cameron Conaway, a journalist who has dedicated his career to exposing the terrors of sex trafficking around the world. While such an article is outside our normal realm at TheCoolist, it is a poignant subject that exists in part because most of us would rather ignore it.  Cameron was kind enough to share 5 ways that you can fight sex trafficking, right now, from your computer. – Seamus Payne

More than once I’ve had someone approach me and say, “I want to help fight sex trafficking but I simply don’t have any time to volunteer.”

This is usually when I get to learn about their boss, Bill, and of how he’s a passive aggressive narcissist. Or of the precise times of little Madeline’s soccer practice throughout the week. It’s all valid. We’re all busy. But you need not spend ten hours each week volunteering at a local shelter for survivors of sex trafficking in order to help combat the crime. Here are 5 ways you can fight sex trafficking, right now, without leaving your computer.Bonus: Do two or more of these as soon as you finish reading the article.

(1) Follow the Warriors. While it is unbelievably rewarding to volunteer your time at shelters or to attend talks from some of the leaders in this field, equally important is supporting those who are on the ground, day after day, trying to eradicate this crime. Numbers matter in this fight. “Like” these Facebook pages and Follow these Twitter accounts:

Facebook

• International Justice Mission
• Half the Sky Movement
• Boy$ Documentary
• Anti-Slavery International
• The Alliance to End Slavery & Trafficking
• Polaris Project
• Free The Slaves

Twitter

• @SlaveryToday
• @IJM
• @NFS
• @Anti_Slavery
• @CNNFreedom
• @Half
• FreeTheSlaves

(2) Buy Books. I’ve been in this fight long enough to see the way in which some writers are simply using this cause to make money. Lots of money. So here are a few books by those who are pioneers in the anti-slavery movement, and by those who are continually pushing the conversation forward:

• Disposable People, by Kevin Bales
• The Lotus Effect, by Gary A. Haugen and Victor Boutros
• Half the Sky, by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
• The Slave Next Door, by Kevin Bales and Ron Soodalter

(3) Donate What You Can. Here are two organizations that I’ve connected with and that I personally believe do productive work with the money they receive. It’s cliché, but no donation is too small.

• ECPAT-USA
• Free The Slaves

(4) Share an Article. Publishers are struggling to stay afloat these days, and one way they pay the bills and can pay their writers is through pageviews. This means that just as you wield your consumer power in the grocery store and at the mall, so too do you wield consumer power with each site you visit. Here are a few articles worth reading and sharing:

• Anti-Slavery: Collaboration Begins to Come of Age
• ECPAT-USA Releases Ground-Breaking Report: “And Boys Too”
• The Face of Human Trafficking
• Pineapple Program Fights Traffickers in Sierra Leone

(5) Join the Google+ Human Trafficking Community. With updates every hour (and the ability to toggle them on and off) the Google+ Human Trafficking Community is a terrific way to stay informed about all aspects of the global anti-slavery movement. Members will find everything from breaking news and influential political decisions to inspiring stories from survivors. And you know the next part: Share what you learn!

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Cameron Conaway, Executive Director at The Good Men Project, is a freelance journalist who has covered stories of human trafficking from Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines, and elsewhere. A frequent speaker on the topic, Conaway serves on the Editorial Board at Slavery Today: A Multidisciplinary Journal of Human Trafficking Solutions.