Boston Global Citizenship Fellow Nick Leisey (center) with the rest of the LINK 2013 planning committee. Photo by Marcia Garcia.

LINKing Together to End Human Trafficking

Nick Leisey is a Global Citizenship Fellow at the U.S. Fund for UNICEF in Boston. Emily Pasnak-Lapchick is an End Trafficking Fellow in New York.

With an estimated 27 million victims worldwide, human trafficking is an issue that plagues communities everywhere. Traffickers are smart, fast and organized. To effectively address trafficking, NGOs, law enforcement, the government, businesses and civil society all need to work together.

In an effort to create connections between these groups, the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, under the leadership of Nick Leisey, Global Citizenship Fellow, and the Massachusetts Coalition to End Human Trafficking, co-hosted LINK-2013 in Boston on Saturday, Dec. 7. LINK provided an opportunity for anti-human trafficking organizations, community coalitions and concerned individuals to LINK together and educate each other on the incredible work that they do. Guests learned about the work of 16 partner organizations and had the opportunity to build relationships with over 85 individuals working to reduce the number of exploited children to ZERO.

The U.S. Fund for UNICEF’s End Trafficking project was one of the initiatives highlighted at the event. Emily Pasnak-Lapchick shared our work to raise awareness about human trafficking and give communities the tools they need to take action. Resources such as the End Trafficking one pager, hotline postcard and toolkit -- which has over 20 ways to take action -- were distributed to the audience. She also suggested the film Not My Life as a resource to help inform the public about human trafficking.

We believe that collaboration among organizations and coalitions at the community level is critical in addressing the complex issue of human trafficking. By first informing ourselves on the resources and tools that are already in place, our ability to influence change at all societal levels is far greater than if we are working alone. This concept was the backbone of LINK-2013 and the reason why the U.S. Fund for UNICEF was proud to host such a powerful community gathering.

If you believe in a world where ZERO children are trafficked, join us by visiting www.unicefusa.org/endtrafficking.

Marcia Garcia