No to human trafficking

GEORGE NEWS - The first week in October marked Human Trafficking Awareness Week, with NGOs and churches supporting the A21 Walk for Freedom campaign all over the world. A21 stands for "Abolishing injustice in the 21st century".

In George, Hope Church hosted a silent protest march with a group of loyal supporters last Saturday, 16 October, to raise awareness about the reality of human trafficking and work towards abolishing slavery. It is the third time that Hope Church hosts the event.

"The idea is to create awareness and get people to understand that this is a real thing. Human trafficking is really happening," said Meggan Kaplan, one of the participants.

The group started their protest march at Hope Church in Knysna Road and walked in the direction of the Garden Route Mall. The turn-around point was at Protea Park. The total distance covered was just under 5 km.

A post on the A21 Instagram page states the selling of people generates an estimated $150,2 billion USD per year. "Human trafficking affects every region of the world. Right now, there are more people enslaved than ever before in history," reads the post.

In front of Hope Church. From left are Meggan Kaplan, Alézaria Botha, Lauren Downer and Mauruschka Kruger.

Marinette van Coller, lead pastor of Hope Church, said it's hard to sit with the reality of how prevalent human trafficking is in our world today:

"Every flyer. Every step. Every message holds power to free the millions still enslaved today. All of it matters. All of it makes an impact. Thank you for joining us for this historic day."

Find more information at www.a21.org.

Concerned persons can report any suspected cases of human trafficking to the police or the Department of Social Development hotline on 0800 220 250.

Hope Church hosted a silent protest march last Saturday to raise awareness about the reality of human trafficking.