On Saturday September 29th, DC Stop Modern Slavery held its annual walk to raise awareness about human trafficking and modern-day slavery. The walk featured guest speakers who shared their perspectives on human trafficking, and inspired the audience to take action.

Evelyn Chumbow, a survivor of child trafficking for labor and survivor-advocate with FN member organization Break the Chain Campaign, shared her thoughts with us after the event:

 

It was a wonderful experience to speak at the DC Stop Modern Day Slavery Walk.

 

At first, I was just sad to see all the signs people had with them were only about sex trafficking. I didn’t see any signs about ending labor trafficking, all I saw was “stop sex trafficking.” It hurt me a lot to see that, but when I shared my stories, most people started crying and were overwhelmed.

I had several people come up to thank me specifically for the fact that I spoke on labor trafficking. Many people heard about it for the first time at the Walk, and were grateful for the opportunity to open their eyes to a most critical issue. They thanked me for opening up my heart with them, and for being so bold and passionate about labor trafficking. Every person in the audience felt it.

Evelyn shared her experience but also her knowledge and advice- and encouraged the audience to remember that trafficking for labor is equally important to focus on as trafficking for sex- both internationally and right here in the United States. She has been an outspoken advocate on this subject for several years and has visited members of Congress and testified at events and conferences, tying her experience to policy recommendations for lawmakers and the public.