Where were you? asked Gita

We are not winning the fight against human trafficking. We presently have nearly 45.8 million victims around the world - more victims today than any other time in history. According to the US State Department's 2017 Trafficking in Persons report, it is estimated that around 66,000 victims were helped globally. Even with the collective response of governments, the UN and civil society partners, less than 0.2 per cent of the victims are assisted. Relying solely on the anti-trafficking community around the world to tackle this modern form of slavery and the criminals behind it simply isn't working. Unless something changes drastically, this trend will continue unabated.

This reality was first brought home to me years ago when I met a girl named Gita. She was a 15-year-old teenager from Nepal who was trafficked into a brothel in India and systematically raped over 7,000 times during a two-year period. At the time, I was living and working in Nepal. I was researching a book on the plight of sex slavery between Nepal and India and I started visiting shelters throughout Nepal. While nearly all of the girls I approached agreed to tell me their personal stories, there was one girl, Gita, who repeatedly declined my requests for an interview. But during all of my interviews in her shelter, she sat and listened to everything being said.

On the last day, Gita said she had changed her mind - she would give me an interview. Over the next three hours, she described one of the most gut-wrenching testimonials I had ever heard. It was filled with a mixture of love, life, deception, rape, torture, murder, and disease. At the end of the interview, I sat there speechless. I finally said, "Wow, you must be so angry at the traffickers for all of the terrible things they did to you."

Instead, Gita looked accusingly at me and the others in the room and said, "No, I am not angry at the traffickers, I am angry at you!" she shouted, pointing her finger at each of us in turn. "Where were you when I was in that terrible brothel? I sat there every day waiting for someone to come and save me. I knew that everything happening around me was illegal and wrong. Where were you and everyone else when I needed you?"

 "And why are you sitting here?" she added. "Why aren't you down there helping those other girls? Everyone knows what is going on. How can such terrible things happen without anyone doing anything? I am not angry with the traffickers. They are just bad people doing what they do - bad things. I am angry at the good people - society, you! Where were you? Why does no one care?"

That day, a survivor spoke for herself and for so many others. She "called us all out," asking a fundamental question: "Why doesn't the world care enough to stop this crime against humanity?" It was a profoundly relevant question then and remains so today.

That moment was an epiphany that helped me to understand that we, the citizens of the world-collectively and individually-have a responsibility to help end the suffering of those like Gita. Human trafficking represents one of the most egregious human rights violations of our time. As rights bearers ourselves, we must all accept some responsibility.

To solve this problem, we need to establish a "second generation abolitionist movement" in which we all step up and do our part to help address the problem. Abolitionist William Wilberforce and others led a movement 200 years ago.  So can we.  If an army of ordinary people were to come forward within a mass movement, this can turn the tide and help reduce the number of victims. This approach worked before - it can work again today. But we need a mindset shift and must all take heroic steps to do our part. Every contribution will add up.

What can we do? We can learn about the problem and educate others. We can step up and volunteer for one of the many anti-trafficking groups.  We can raise money for the cause or donate our own funding to help.  We can support government efforts to help fight the problem. The idea is to use our own talents to fight human trafficking. If you are artist, do an art project and display it in a public place. If you are a film maker, be a voice for the voiceless and produce films on the state of modern-day slavery. If you are a corporate executive, organise a talk on the issue and mobilise your company. Whatever you do, do it in the direction of freedom. The same can be said if you are a teacher, social worker, doctor, lawyer, or anyone else. If 10 million people did one act each that is 10 million acts. This mass movement could finally abolish slavery.

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