“There are 27 million slaves in the world today, and we feel that it is our social responsibility to use our talents as artists to fight this global issue,” says student Shannon Kuguenko. “We seek to expose great injustice in the world, knowing that art has the power to educate and stir compassion in the hearts of the public.”
The atrocities of human trafficking don’t always hit close to home here in Savannah. But Innocence Atlanta, an organization that fights sex trafficking, argues otherwise, referencing a 2011 report from The Bureau of Justice stating that of the 2,515 human trafficking cases opened between 2008 and 2010, 82 percent of those cases involved U.S. citizens.
“We believe this show has the potential to empower and unify our city and campus to act selflessly for the sake of a greater cause,” says Kuguenko. “Our hope is that as a community, we can band together to fight an evil that we thought was abolished from our country long ago.”
Despite the challenges of conquering human trafficking in the U.S. and around the world, Savannahians should take comfort knowing something can be done to help reduce what is now the highest number of slaves in human history — 2 million more than in 1860, according to Bits Blog at the New York Times.
Jillian Mourning, co-founder of Charlotte-based non-profit All We Want is Love, will be speaking at the event. Mourning has a background in international studies and spent time in Berlin to learn more about the history of human rights violations in Europe.
Founded in 2012, the All We Want is Love seeks to provide education, empowerment, and emotional liberation for victims of trafficking.
Kuguenko hopes that EXPOSED will help transfer the reality of human trafficking so close to home — Charlotte, N.C. (the home of All We Want is Love) happens to have the tenth highest rate of human trafficking recruiters in the United States.
EXPOSED opens at Sicky Nar Nar this Friday from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. with guest speakers Mourning and a representative from The Justice Project beginning at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 for the general public and free to students with an I.D. All proceeds from the show will go to the event’s partnering non-profits that advocate an end to human trafficking, including Relate Church, Tiny Hands International, The Red Thread Movement, The Justice Movement, Student Trafficking and All We Want is Love.
For more information about the event, including facts and resources related to human trafficking, visit the EXPOSED blog.
