The Cause

The End of Child Trafficking.

Photo: traffickinginpersons.com

My friends have often asked me how I found my passion. I wish there was a science to it, or that it could be explained, but my passion comes from a fire deep within, and that fire was ignited when my heart got broken.

Fighting human trafficking is no longer a choice; it has become a calling. And it started the day I watched little girls of no older than 5 years offering sexual services to men.

That there would be men who would take advantage of them enrages me; that there are girls who have come to accept this as a way of life breaks my heart.

The Issue

Trafficking happens not when someone is transported, but when someone is exploited.

UNICEF estimates that over two million children are kidnapped or sold and forced into the multi-billion dollar sex industry, and unlike drugs, humans are a renewable resource.

Each child serves an average of 35 customers a day.

The profits of these are often steered towards funding the international drug trade, both of which are most commonly run by cartels and other organized crime groups.

Many of these children are starved, beaten and drugged to gain compliance and cooperation.

Those steered into forced labor are not treated any better, often spending long hours in the sun, and without a proper place to sleep at night.

The Fight

Life could no longer be the same again. Since this realization, I have sought to get involved as much as I could, and educate myself as best as possible.

I have interned and volunteered with the Redlight Children Campaign for two years—managing interns, organizing publicity events and spearheading outreach for the campaign.

I pursued a Masters degree in International Law and Government at Georgetown University to understand the international legal mechanisms that have been put in place to combat the issue.

I took an International Trafficking in Persons law class under Dr Mohamed Mattar and State Department Senior Advisor Laura Lederer, and currently intern as a legal research assistant at The Protection Project.

But above and beyond all the policy study, my heart has always been to be out there on the ground, helping those who have been hurting, and hoping to make a difference from the ground up.

This summer I will go on a Summer Study trip with Prevent Human Trafficking and American University. Please support my Cupcake Project here!

I look forward to the real life lessons I will learn on the ground, the people I will meet and how this will be so foundational to the work I will continue to do once I return to Singapore.

I know in my heart this is something that will follow me a long time over the next few chapters of my life, and I’m excited to think that I might have just found my calling.