Wear Blue! Students Against Trafficking Takes On National Human Trafficking Awareness Month

By: Haley Michelson and Peyton Sa

January, while being the start of the new year, is also the time to bring awareness to the issue of human trafficking.

Redwood’s own Students Against Trafficking (SAT) club has been bringing attention to the subject in many different ways. The club did many other beneficial things to raise awareness before the school break and has many goals for this semester.

Izek Nelson, ‘24, is the club president for SAT. Entering Human Trafficking Awareness Month (January) brings more opportunities for SAT to spread awareness and information onto this issue.

Nelson says, “We are really excited it’s Human Trafficking Awareness month and are excited to talk about it on Club Day this month on the 25th.”

As the second club day approaches for this year the SAT club has many things planned.

Club day helps in getting students involved with more clubs around campus, Nelson says, “We have some fun things in the works to get more students involved and to join our club. We also have a giveaway going on that if any of our SAT Club officers catch any club members wearing their Students Against Trafficking t-shirts (or their Wash Out Human Trafficking event t-shirts from this past November) during the month of January and they don’t want to miss out on this!!”

SAT has many members involved, making a huge impact on helping the fight against human trafficking.

Nelson says, “We currently have almost 150 members and we hope that more students continue to join because they want to help us fight human trafficking and educate themselves and others. Every child deserves a safe and loving home and environment.” SAT works their hardest to be able to do all they can in helping the cause to end this issue.

On January 11th, the SAT club and students around campus wore blue to support bringing awareness to the issue.

Wearing blue is very important on National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, Nelson says, “Wearing blue to me is so important because I want to do everything we can to help rescue children from sex trafficking and bring awareness to the fastest growing criminal enterprise.”

Wearing blue shows support in how many people can come together in showing support to end human trafficking. Nelson says, “I hope they (students) are sharing with their family and friends and that each year we will see more and more people wearing blue on January 11th (National Human Trafficking Awareness Day).”

The SAT club works hard in doing everything they can to grow their club around campus and spread awareness. SAT has held many different kinds of events that also aid in raising money for their club as well as the nonprofit organization their club supports; Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.).

Nelson says, “I’ve actually been so happy to see our club numbers continually grow and this past November we had a huge all day weekend event ‘Wash Out Human Trafficking’ where we had a great turnout and raised a lot of money for our club and to give to the nonprofit our club supports (Operation Underground Railroad; O.U.R.) to help victims and survivors from sex trafficking.”

It is extremely important to shed light onto this issue that is happening within the world, Nelson says, “It is so important because I know it is a tough issue and a very sensitive topic to talk about, but the fact is that it is HAPPENING EVERYWHERE- even in our own communities and neighborhoods (not just in far away foreign countries).”

Being able to educate so many people about this topic helps in causing an end to human trafficking. Nelson says, “We need to be talking about it more and educating students, parents, and families. Children can be trafficked and sexually exploited online and we need to teach parents and kids about the importance of online safety.”

Being able to do everything in order to keep people educated on safety is important and something that SAT focuses on.

The nonprofit (O.U.R.) aids in education and training parents on the issue, Nelson says, “O.U.R. even offers a free online safety training for parents which is a great tool! (https://www.ourrescue.org/online-safety)”

Nelson says that, “we (SAT) hope you’ll stop by our table and join our club and if you’re a club member make sure you wear your Students Against Trafficking shirt on Club Day! #ChildrenAreNotForSale”

This month is all about spreading awareness. Hailey Rasmussen, ‘23, the Vice President of SAT, says, “Our main focus during human trafficking awareness month is really as simple as spreading awareness to as much of the community as we can during this time.”

Rasmussen says, “January 11th is National Human Trafficking Awareness day and we invited people to wear blue to help spread the message. Our club offered Crumbl cookies to those willing to participate and share a message about how big of an issue human trafficking truly is and I feel like it was a huge success for our club.”

Wearing blue for a day is the easy part. The meaning of that blue is the true importance of the activity. Rassmussen says, “Wearing blue today means that I stand against human trafficking and I am doing everything that I can to spread awareness about this issue and try to prevent it in any way that I can. It’s more than wearing a shirt, it’s taking a stand and that’s something that I am more than happy to do.”

On the same topic, Ashlyn Guenter, ’24, (club secretary) says, “Wearing blue means that I am willing to stand up for this cause that I truly believe in. It is a simple way to get people’s attention and it is an easy way for them to participate in also raising awareness.”

The club has goals to accomplish in order to bring awareness to this issue around campus.

Guenter says, “I think an easy way to bring awareness to this issue is social media and word of mouth. Just by talking casually to my friends they all knew why I was wearing blue and spreading the word on social media can make a big difference.”

Rasmussen says, “Events like wearing blue to spread awareness as well as trying to get more club attendance and participation are some of our main goals. Social media has also been a great tool to help bring attention to the cause.”

This club has proved to be of great importance to its members and officers.

Rasmussen says, “It’s important to me because I think it’s an issue that is so often overlooked and there’s a lot of misinformation and misconceptions about what human trafficking really is and how prevalent it is in our world today. I want to do anything that I can, even if it’s just bringing a little awareness to the topic, to help prevent it and ultimately keep more people safe.”

Guenter says, “It is so important to shed light on this issue because many don’t know the extent of effect human trafficking has on people. Since I have joined this club, and being an officer, I have learned so much like learning how to be safe online to try and avoid being in that situation.”

Finally, Rasmussen says “I just want people to know that we’re always looking for new members and feel free to ask anyone from the club if anyone has any more questions.”

Guenter says, “A little bit before break our club did a 3 part event of fundraising for OUR and online safety training. That took up a lot of work and time last semester, so winter break was needed to regroup and continue on with the club.”

In regards to Human Trafficking Awareness month,Guenter says, “So far I think the most important thing is to just raise awareness of this month and what it means as many people don’t understand the full concept of human trafficking.”

Laiba Hassan, ‘23, is SAT’s event coordinator. Being able to hold club meetings is such an important aspect of many clubs on campus, Hassan says, “We are so excited to not only have a couple meetings this month where we will be awarding students with giveaways for those that choose to spread awareness about sex trafficking.”

SAT also gets students involved in being able to use social media to shed more light onto the issue.

Hassan says, “We are also inviting students to participate via Instagram to engage and offer students opportunities to get involved. We are super excited to bring awareness about this issue as it is so prominent across the world; it happens to people WE KNOW.”

As many students were getting ready to spread awareness around campus by wearing blue in support of ending human trafficking, Hassan says, “Wearing blue means you are choosing to bring awareness to the global issue of Sex Trafficking. This simple act represents the fact that YOU are choosing to spread awareness. The first step to solving global issues is AWARENESS.”

More education on the issue leads to more action that can be taken to bring an end to human trafficking. Hassan says, “…the more people that know about the issue… the more ways we will find to solve this problem. Wearing blue makes you the FIRST step towards a proper solution.”

SAT club meetings are held in room 31, helping educate students around campus.

SAT’s main goal is spreading awareness, Hassan says, “Our club wants to bring awareness to this problem by spreading the word, knowing the signs of sex trafficking, helping others register for courses that teach about this issue, and by involving our community for events to promote solutions to this sickening problem.”

Being able to create a safe environment on campus is very important. Hassan says, “…it is so important to educate people ABOUT IT, starting with students at Redwood to ensure that we are in a safe environment. This problem kills and tortures individuals all over the world; we need to put it to a stop everywhere!”