January 11, and Why Atlanta Should Be Brave

Remember about a month ago when we celebrated International Human Rights Day? Well now it's time to get a bit more specific. This Sunday, January 11, is Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery Awareness Day. Want to honor the day in a meaningful way? Head on over to Diana Scimone's website for 43 things you can do to stop child trafficking. Feel free to let me know what YOU did on Sunday in the comments--I'd love to hear.

There is some truly horrible stuff going on in this country--and some very inspiring people rising up to fight it. Enter @maepotter, who pointed me to a site hosted by her church that illuminates the very harsh reality of a thriving child sex trafficking and exploitation industry right in the heart of Atlanta. Here are just a few facts that Perimeter Church highlights on its Justice website:

• 200-300 girls are exploitated monthly in Atlanta
• In Atlanta, the average age of the victims is 14, but girls as young as 10 & 11 have been sold.
• Children under the age of 18 now constitute the largest group of trafficking victims in the U.S.

My hope is that other cities will follow Atlanta's lead and start seriously looking into the practice of child sex trafficking within their own borders. How much more would you care about this cause if you had hard numbers about it happening in the city you live in? Trust me, it's there--just happening behind closed doors. Let's look to Atlanta and get behind them for whatever we can do to put child sex trafficking in the past.