Just over 500 students from the Aerospace Computing and Technology high school, in the Bronx neighborhood, reacted in a jovial manner to the bad decisions made by the character of a young woman who appeared as a victim in a recently released educational film and whose purpose is to alert young people about the methods of those who traffic for sexual exploitation.
“I was listening to the reactions while the video was running but I must tell you that what we show happens more often than you think,” clarified lawyer Stefany Ovalles from the organization Center for Safety and Change (CFSAC), who also provided another terrifying piece of information to the audience made up of children between 14 and 17 years old: “In the video we could see a blonde teenager of about 15 years old, but the communities most affected by trafficking are those of African Americans and Latinos and the average age at which minors are trafficked It is 9 years for girls and 7 for boys.”
The reactions changed and for a few seconds a heavy silence filled the auditorium of this school that on Thursday the 11th joined the Human Trafficking Awareness Month that has been celebrated since 2007 in the United States after Congress designated the 11th of January as the key day of such a painful anniversary.
The School Assembly to seek to raise awareness about human trafficking held at Aerospace, was promoted by the CEO of the company Goya (a sponsor in addition to the educational videos), Bob Unanue, who explained to El Diario de Nueva York that the effort called Goya Cares It intends to help “young people and children not only in the issue of trafficking but also in mental health.”
He explained that Goya has joined a coalition of organizations that are experts in these problems and that the main idea is to educate and raise awareness of what is real and current and of the damage caused by “that evil.” Referring that human trafficking has caused the current era to be “the time of greatest slavery in the history of humanity,” Unanue explains that trafficking in children and people in general, “is an industry that generates profits of hundreds of millions of dollars.” per year, more than drug trafficking and arms sales,” he clarifies. “There is a lot of money behind it,” laments the Goya official, who insists that one way to overcome “that darkness is by bringing the light: loving and caring for others.”
Optimistic, Bob Unanue is certain that “through education and with the help of God we are going to achieve it.”
New York, in the top five states with the most trafficking
Liliana Rodríguez from the CFSAC organization regrets that after the COVID pandemic the numbers that illustrate the size of trafficking have increased. “Almost 1.3 million children are trafficked a year,” clarifying that this figure may be underestimated since many cases are not even reported.
“New York is in the top five of the states where the most trafficking occurs,” he clarifies and when looking for the reasons for this to happen, he highlights the fact that it is “a state, a city very well connected by expressways and routes that favors work of those traffickers who in this way can connect with places like New Jersey, Pennsylvania,” or the New England states.
Rodríguez assures that, although there are sectors more vulnerable to falling into trafficking networks such as “people of color, LGBTQ communities, young people fleeing dysfunctional families or those who live in orphanages,” he affirms that trafficking is everywhere. and it does not only affect specific people or neighborhoods, “but it hits people of any race or social status.”
That is why one of the points that the speakers insisted on most at this Thursday’s assembly is that the community and young people must know that there is help, there are resources, and that the work done by institutions such as the Center for Safety and Change works. , so no one should doubt if they require some kind of help. “Human trafficking becomes a trauma that affects the health, first of the victims, but then of the families and the community,” concludes Rodríguez.
Stefany Ovalle points out that the problem of reporting is vital because it illustrates that one of the strategies used by traffickers is to discourage victims, either with threats or coercion, from reporting. She invites that, if someone sees something suspicious, they should say so “and you don’t have to go directly to the police if you are afraid of being undocumented because there are institutions with resources available that can help anyone” regardless of their condition.
Unanue, the CEO of Goya, clarifies that the United States is the largest consumer of sexual exchanges in the world and the Latina is the race most affected by them. Under this understanding, he clarifies that “efforts must be focused on alerting and educating African-American, Hispanic and Latino communities” and that is why he visited the Bronx. He remembers that since the United States has the largest number of Latinos after Mexico, “as brothers we have the obligation to help and take care of each other.”
Break the silence
When she was nine years old, María Trusa was forced by her father to have sexual relations with a friend of his in her native Dominican Republic. After the ordeal of the cross that he had to live through, he traveled to the United States to become a health professional and since 2020 he has directed the non-profit organization, Yo Digo No Más, which seeks to raise awareness in the Latin community about sexual violence, help helps survivors break the cycle of abuse and provides mental health services and trauma information to survivors and families.
Also present in the Assembly, Trusa is categorical in ensuring that “breaking the silence” is the greatest vaccine to end the pandemic of sexual abuse and trafficking.
“When I was a child, my mother told me ‘you shut up’ and that way they take away your voice,” Trusa told El Diario. “These social norms are what we must begin to break, because not only do they not feed the family, but they destroy individuals.”
For that reason, she moves under the motto “to educate is to prevent” and every time she is invited, she goes to these events. Upon hearing her story, it is likely that someone might consider: “ah, this is happening to me or my friend.” After 93 percent of child sexual abuse begins at home with a family member or acquaintance, be it an uncle, grandfather, mother, father, siblings or aunt, Trusa believes that turning schools into places where There is an atmosphere of trust and it is possible to report, it is vitally important.
During the presentation offered by Stefany Ovalle and Leslie Rodríguez, the students were also alerted that, although abuse can begin at home or in a close environment, it can also “happen anywhere: In a shopping plaza or on the networks. social”.
Now that we all have cell phones “and we keep a lot of information, photographs or personal data there, we must consider that as something valuable, but also quite dangerous,” they warned, recommending taking care of your data and security.
The video shown by Goya Cares is interspersed at all times with alerts and the 1-888-373-7888 child and adolescent trafficking hotline.
Trafficking data
- According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), this “economy” operated by organized crime generates annual benefits estimated at 2 trillion dollars.
- The video Signs of Trafficking shows how you can identify someone when they are separated from family and friends, the lack of eye contact they show or the tattoos to mark them. And how a victim is easier to manipulate because they generally tend to fall into deep states of depression.
- The video shown yesterday is narrated by UFC fighter and trafficking survivor, Maycee Barber. You can watch it in the following link:
2024-01-12 00:45:00
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