International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, 25 November 

Since 1981, the united nations general assembly set November 25th to be the day to remind the world about violence women face and importance of eliminating it.    

• 1 in 3 women and girls experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, most frequently by an intimate partner (UN, 2018)

• Only 52% of women married or in a union freely make their own decisions about sexual relations, contraceptive use and health care (UN, 2018)

• Worldwide, almost 750 million women and girls alive today were married before their 18th birthday; while 200 million women and girls have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) (UN, 2018)

• 1 in 2 women killed worldwide were killed by their partners or family in 2012; while only 1 out of 20 men were killed under similar circumstances (UN, 2018)

• 71% of all human trafficking victims worldwide are women and girls, and 3 out of 4 of these women and girls are sexually exploited (UN, 2018)

• Violence against women is as serious a cause of death and incapacity among women of reproductive age as cancer, and a greater cause of ill health than traffic accidents and malaria combined (UN, 2018).

Couple of weeks ago, I visited "the National Underground Railroad to freedom", which is a museum in Cincinnati, Ohio. I was touched by these pictures at the museum (Sorry the lighting was not the best there)

They talk about sex trafficking in Moldova. They presented how some traffickers got their victims through job ads targeting women in need for work and aspiring for a better life. Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery. It plagues every country. The United States is one of the largest destination countries in the world. Victims are sometimes deceived into accepting a job offer that promises them a better life, or they are sold, or kidnapped. Later on, they find themselves trapped in a cycle of physical and psychological abuse. They are prisoners who cannot escape. Their lives are full of pain, brutality and despair.

The story of Tatyanaa is not a unique story, but approximately 18,000 persons are trafficked into the United States from over 50 countries every year (according to innocentsatrisk.org). However, in such issues the numbers are not well documented and this rises the question of how many humans are suffering and their human rights are violated? In addition, there are many like her even here in Ohio. Ohio state ranks as the 4th state with the highest rates of trafficking. Following California, New York, and Texas. A national human trafficking hotline was created for empowering service providers, law enforcement, and other professionals in Ohio to serve victims and survivors of trafficking, respond to human trafficking cases, and share information and resources. In 2018, 219 human trafficking cases were reported from Ohio alone and 500 calls were received on the Human trafficking hotline (hotline human trafficking, 2018).

It is heartbreaking and shocking to read and to watch this material. But this is an issue that can happen to any person and is occurring in every community almost. We need to stand up and speak up. It starts with simple harassment and gets to extreme cases of human trafficking. We need to understand the importance of campaigns such as the me too campaign and to assure that it is not only a wave. As there is a real need that can`t be ignored. The highest rates of the victims are around the ages of 13- 14. To conclude, this issue is huge and one country on its own can`t solve, but we need humanity to stand up together to end human trafficking.



Sources: 

http://www.un.org/en/events/endviolenceday/

https://humantraffickinghotline.org/state/ohio
http://www.innocentsatrisk.org/human-trafficking/trafficking-news-articles