What comes to your mind when you think of human trafficking? At first, I thought of the image of a person chained to a wall in a basement somewhere miles away from civilization, being forced to live in servitude. However, after attending A21’s global Walk for Freedom on Saturday, October 19th 2024, I learned that there are many different faces of modern slavery. Walk for Freedom is an initiative that has been run by A21, a global anti human-trafficking organization. They collaborated with local Lewisburg and Bucknell organizations to bring awareness within our community, including Ekklesia United, Catholic Campus Ministries, Disciple Makers Christian Fellowship, and Bucknell Against Human Trafficking Organization (BAHTO). The annual walk is intended to bring awareness to human-trafficking, while showing solidarity to victims and survivors. Thousands around the globe participate within their own cities, which is a manifestation of one of A21’s mottos, “Local Walk, Global Impact”.
Before marching, a presentation was given to those participating to give greater context to the cause. Human trafficking can look very different from what most people think, as it can operate silently within our communities with people being none the wiser. Victims can be exploited by close family or friends, and manipulated using blackmail and violence. Because this is not the image that most people are familiar with when it comes to human trafficking, victims may not know that they are victims until it is too late. This is why it is important to bring to the surface the different ways human trafficking can take place.
Participants met at 3:30 pm, and after the presentation, were given signs to hold up while walking. We were all dressed in black to show solidarity to victims and survivors of human trafficking, and were instructed to walk in silence while listening to A21’s Walk for Freedom podcast titled “On The Frontlines” using headphones. You can listen to the podcast on spotify: On The Frontlines Spotify , or on apple music: On The Frontlines Apple. We walked down 7th street to Market Street and back to Hildreth Mirza, where we ended with optional prayer and worship.
The event was a great opportunity to get involved with an important cause locally and globally, and it doubled as an insightful learning experience regarding human trafficking. A21 is hosting their next walk in 2025 on Saturday, October 18, which I encourage people to participate in if they are able to.
To read more about A21, please visit their website here: A21 website.
To learn more about the Bucknell Against Human Trafficking Organization, please visit their get involved page: BAHTO getInvolved
–Mercy Ifiegbu ’26