STOP "human trafficking" with Alexa

It’s sad but true: here in this country, people are being bought, sold, and smuggled like modern-day slaves.

They are trapped in lives of misery—often beaten, starved, and forced to work as prostitutes or to take grueling jobs as migrant, domestic, restaurant, or factory workers with little or no pay. We’re working hard to stop human trafficking—not only because of the personal and psychological toll it takes on society, but also because it facilitates the illegal movement of immigrants across borders and provides a ready source of income for organized crime groups and even terrorists.

It's sad but true: right here in this country, people are being bought, sold, and smuggled like modern-day slaves. They are trapped in lives of misery, often beaten, starved, and forced to work as prostitutes or to take grueling jobs with little or no pay.

The victims include some of the most vulnerable in society: abused children who've run away from home, women with few job skills, immigrants who fear deportation or retaliation against their families overseas if they speak up. For them, there is little hope of escape.

New life

About 10,000 ASU undergraduate students earned their diplomas this week, and one of those students is not only the first person in her family to earn a college degree, but she's done so after living on the streets of Phoenix.

 

"I was just wanting to make it through the next day, or on most days, not make it to the next day," said Savannah Sanders.

Ten years ago, if you had told Sanders she would be walking on stage accepting a diploma in front of family and friends - she wouldn't have believed you.

"I was addicted to drugs. I wound up being trafficked. I was homeless. I just had a lot of things I was up against," Sanders said. She said when she was 16, she met a sex trafficker.

"They had me for about nine months before I got out of the situation," Sanders said.

After regaining her freedom, Sanders says she slowly gained the confidence she needed to get her GED and enroll in college. With four kids and two jobs, she's turned her life around, and after earning a degree in social work, she plans to help others do the same.

"For me, it's just a life that I lived, and now I live this life and it all seems normal," Sanders said.

"You will not be a millionaire, but you do feel very satisfied about the work that you do," said ASU professor and social worker Dominique Roe-Sepowitz. She said with the area's children, immigrant and retirement populations, the state needs people like Sanders now more than ever.

"We have huge communities that need to be served by social workers so there's not a dearth for social work in Arizona," Roe-Sepowitz said.

"That's why I do what I do," Sanders said. "I don't share my story for recognition; I share it to give other people the courage to share theirs."

She now plans to get her master's degree with her sights set on ultimately earning a doctorate

 

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/sisterthundershow/2014/05/21/stop-human-trafficking-with-alexa