A few years ago, residents, volunteers and I painted rocks to surround a garden at Dawn’s Place, a home for survivors of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation. A resident painted, “We are all masterpieces of broken pieces.”

It inspired the name and concept behind an art project for survivors from Dawn’s Place, The Salvation Army’s New Day to Stop Trafficking Program and other programs. Survivors and their allies create glittering mosaic candleholders and beautiful ornaments from broken jewelry, unwanted plates and discarded books.

By participating in the “Masterpieces” project, local survivors learn and practice work skills, make decisions, express ideas and think creatively. Survivors earn gift cards to buy what they choose; community members’ purchases of “masterpieces” enable survivors to earn more gift cards. One woman found that the relaxation and focus the activity provides can help her fight insomnia and PTSD episodes. Others experienced a boost in self-esteem when Penn State’s Henry Art Gallery included their “masterpieces” in an exhibit.

The pieces displayed at the “Masterpieces of Broken Pieces: A Labyrinth of Light and Hope”—a glittering, meditative walk among the survivor artwork and candlelight during January’s National Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month—help labyrinth participants connect with survivors’ success stories and their deeper sense of compassion.

The “Masterpieces of Broken Pieces” project reminds us all that although we carry scars from life’s difficulties and we are imperfect, we are all the more valuable, beautiful and unique for having survived.

Written by Carol Metzker

The late Daughter of Charity Sister Mary Rose McGeady saved the original New York Covenant House from closure in the early 1990s. She worked tirelessly on behalf of the runaway youths in this country, including those who often end up trafficked. Her efforts to serve the country’s homeless youth dramatically helped expand the reach of Covenant House throughout the world, with 16 locations currently open in the U.S.

But there is always more work to be done. Surveys have shown that around 88% of human trafficking survivors saw a healthcare provider at least once during their time as a victim. While many healthcare providers are being trained more extensively on the signs of a trafficking victim, researchers at the Urban Institute in Washington D.C. created a tool that may also help to identify these victims.

This tool, which takes the form of a questionnaire, is being pretested at the Covenant House in Houston. It directly asks respondents a variety of questions including if anyone has ever forced or pressured them to perform sexual acts, forced or pressured them to take pornographic photos and/or videos, and if anyone has ever put their photo on the internet to find clients.

After being pretested at locations in four states, 25.8% of respondents answered “yes” to one or more sexual exploitation screening questions.

“The key takeaway is that there are reliable tools that can improve our ability to identify human trafficking victims to help navigate them to services that can help them recover,” said Diane Santa Maria, University of Texas Health School of Nursing professor.

You can read more about this new tool here.

Pope Francis highlighted human trafficking at the Vatican conference this week. In a later interview regarding the Pope’s talk, Monsignor Robert Vitallo, Secretary General of the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC), reported that the Pope condemned “trafficking in human beings as one of the most dramatic manifestations of the commercialization of others, a crime against humanity that disfigures both victims as well as those who carry it out.” The Pope stressed the importance of networking on an international level in order to eradicate this crime. Monsignor Vitillo spoke on the importance of global level advocacy in the “shaping of international policies that have been already prepared, but still need to be implemented by the governments, as well as, new policies that need to be developed.”

Lindsey King speaks on the problems connected with the implementation of the existing international laws, the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children and the United Nations Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea, and Air in her article “International Law and Human Trafficking” from Topical Research Digest: Human Rights and Human Trafficking. Enforcement of these laws is problematic, in part, due to the crime transcending borders and jurisdictions. Furthermore, there is a lack of law enforcement training and awareness, language barriers, and the hesitancy on the part of victims to speak out against their traffickers, just to name a few.

There is no simple solution to eradicate this crime against humanity. However, as a world community, we must work diligently to urge our political leaders to spend time, energy, and resources to enact the existing laws as well as to create new laws and policies that protect all human beings from being used as objects. In working together, we can enact change and save countless women, men, and children from those who prey on the weak and vulnerable.

Click here to read about Monsignor Vitillo’s thoughts.

Click here for the Topical Research Digest: Human Rights and Human Trafficking.

National Human Trafficking Awareness Day (January 11) to the Feast of St. Josephine Bakhita (February 8) is a month set aside for us to be more aware and pray for an end to human trafficking. It is a time to remember those who are vulnerable and more easily victimized–migrants, runaway youth, homeless youth, applicants for fake jobs in foreign places, etc. Usually trafficking is a crime against those who are disadvantaged and/or marginalized.

During this period of time, the Super Bowl, one of the largest and most publicized sporting events in the U.S., took place in Atlanta. According to the Urban Institute, Atlanta has the largest underground economy for commercial sex–including sex trafficking–in the country. Sexual exploitation of men, women, and children takes place in this city and in every corner of the world every single day.

While it is true that the demand for sex trafficking increases around events such as the Super Bowl, it is wrong to assume this is the ONLY reason for an increase in sex trafficking. Still, prior to the Super Bowl, there was an effort to make others aware of the dangers around human trafficking that arise when large groups (especially large groups of men) gather for such an event.

Another cause for an increase in demand of sex trafficking is pornography. Pornography production often involves the use of fraud, force, or coercion to prompt the performance of those being depicted. Additionally, traffickers often further exploit their victims by recording the acts which they perform and post these for commercial profit.

Often times, we think of trafficking as something very distant that doesn’t touch our lives. However, it is something that happens each day in the U.S. and it is up to us to be aware of this crime and report it to proper authorities. This requires learning the signs of trafficking.

Learning these signs is one of the easiest ways to help fight against this form of slavery. This fight starts with knowing what to look for and all it requires is for a person to be more vigilant and aware in their normal and everyday surroundings. Additionally, by teaching adults the signs of trafficking, studies show that we can help to prevent the progression of children being trafficked.

It’s common knowledge that human trafficking increases around the Super Bowl and other large events. (You can read more about that here.)

The #TackleDemand campaign is aiming to draw attention to this increase in demand and educate the public on the dangers of human trafficking as well as the warning signs and what to do if you suspect someone is being trafficked.

Use the hashtag #TackleDemand on your social media posts to get involved and help us fight human trafficking!

Click here to read more about the campaign.