The school’s chapter of UNICEF hosted a guest speaker event Tuesday evening featuring the UNICEF’s North Texas Associate Kerisha High-Parker.

Every month, UNICEF focuses on a different theme in order to bring awareness to specific causes. January’s theme focused on raising awareness about human trafficking and children’s rights. 

“On par with the theme, we thought it would be a good idea to have an expert come talk about that and especially because a lot of people aren’t really quite aware that this is a global issue,” UNICEF chapter president Tarini Pankanti said via messages. “This is not just something happening in third-world countries or a thousand miles away, children unfortunately are victims of sex trafficking really not too far away from where we live. We thought it was important to raise awareness about this issue, and a great way to do so is by having an expert come in and talk about this. This is also a great way for us to ask questions, be informed, and come together and advocate for this important issue.”

Students were able to collect volunteer hours for attending the event, but most attended to gain information on the reality of human trafficking.

“I attended the speaker event to gain more insight about the issue from a professional standpoint,” member, junior Lalana Karri said via messages. “Often attending the regular club meetings I hear the informational perspective from other students, so I wanted to hear it from a more experienced view if that makes sense. I also attended the event in general because I felt like it was a great opportunity to be more heavily involved in UNICEF and gain more knowledge about human trafficking as a whole.”

10 million children are subjected to modern slavery which includes child trafficking and child marriage- these numbers have doubled since the last estimates in 2012. The international labor organization estimates that child trafficking and forced labor generated 39 billion annually.

“This is more than the earnings of the NFL, NHL, MLB, and MLS combined,” High-Parker said. “Human trafficking and forced labor makes 150 billion dollars a year. While the profits are a huge factor that fuel the industry, there are other factors such as supply and demand that keep the industry alive. The demand for human labor in that industry continues to increase. Every little bit counts, getting the message out and sharing it with others.”

Parker shared the story of Maria who was a victim to human trafficking at the age of 15; Maria is only one of the 1.2 million children who are trafficked each year. 

“[Trafficking] is a very large and prevalent issue today even though we are such an advanced and modernized country and that it is important to help prevent it by speaking up if you are suspicious or know about any instances of trafficking,” member, junior Indu Kancharla said via messages. “Child/human trafficking is a topic that is talked about a lot in UNICEF and I wanted to learn more about the topic and how I can be more careful. I also wanted to know more about ways to prevent it since it happens all around us, even in places we wouldn’t expect.”

Trafficking can be reported through several different methods including the National Human Trafficking Hotline, texting the hotline at 233733, or calling 1-888-373-788.

“Even though I care a lot about these causes such as clean water, literacy rates, human rights, immigration, I didn’t have the tools to help make a difference because I wasn’t educated about it,” Pankanti said. “To a certain extent as passionate as you are about an issue, there is a step of education that needs to happen in order for us to advocate for it and really create change within society. This is an opportunity to learn. As a youth in society where there are such complex tensions right now, it is really important we stay educated, informed, and take every opportunity we can to learn.”