FREEST’s mission is to prevent human trafficking through education by empowering students to take action. We promote education and student activism to prevent human trafficking. According to the 2021 Trafficking in Persons Report human trafficking is a widespread, profitable crime generating an estimated $150 billion worldwide per year. An estimated 50 million people worldwide at any given time are trafficked worldwide. The average age of a sex trafficking victim is 12-14 years old. In light of these statistics, schools are uniquely positioned to share information with students and staff to be a prevention hub. Schools must better understand their power, positioning, and role in stopping human trafficking.
We activate schools, equip them with the tools, and empower those populations to connect to the resources available to them. We have been working around the world through coordinating CNN Freedom Project’s #MyFreedomDay, a global day of awareness and action against human trafficking. Student engagement is the answer to creating an environment that spreads awareness and stops human trafficking.
There is not only one solution to stopping human trafficking, but we do believe that our method is an effective one for prevention: guiding schools in creating peer to peer engagement year round, in which communities learn to speak out, learn the signs of someone being trafficked or someone using grooming tactics, and create protocols for their schools so individuals know how to report what they see. Our vision is a global student network taking action against human trafficking. With a growing network of schools taking action we can achieve this vision.
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