Slavery is supposed to be a thing of the past, abolished in 1865 when the 13th amendment was added to the constitution. What most people do not know is that slavery still exists today.
At the beginning of January a group of local 18 to 25-year-olds went to Passion Conference 2013 in Atlanta, Ga. At the religious conference for college-aged students, they learned statistics on the global problem of modern day slavery.
Some of these same young adults will be taking a stand against modern day slavery Saturday, March 9, and they are inviting the community to join them.
"Slavery occurs when one person completely controls another person, using violence or the threat of violence to maintain that control, exploits them economically, pays them nothing and they cannot walk away," explains www.enditmovement.com, a website dedicated to arming people with information about modern day slavery.
The website also lists the different types of modern day slavery, including bonded labor, forced labor and human trafficking.
"Anywhere between 600,000 and 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year. And somewhere in the neighborhood of half of them are children. Every minute of everyday, 2 children--children who should be playing and learning and enjoying the most precious part of their lives-are sold into slavery," states the site.
This is not the first year young adults from the area have attended Passion Conference. Brittni Adams, a student at USC Aiken who has been to the conference for the past two years, said that before she went to Passion she did not realize slavery still exists to the extent that it does.
According to the statistics revealed at Passion, there are 27 million people in 161 different countries enslaved worldwide right now, including 200,000 in the United States.
Adams said the best thing for people to do to help is to spread the word so others will know what is happening. She encourages people to do research about slavery. "These people do not have a voice, so somebody else has to raise their voice for them," said Adams.
This Saturday a rally will be held in Williston on the walking trail near Meeting on Main from 7 a.m. to midnight. Organizers encourage residents to come out and learn more about the problem and how they can get involved in ending modern day slavery.
For more information about the rally, contact Amber Burrus at a_burrus30@yahoo.com.