During this year’s Oyster Festival, visitors will have a special opportunity to learn about the issue of human trafficking and how it still exists in modern times. The Freedom Schooner Amistad will feature a human rights activist from Ghana who will be discussing this problem in depth from Oct. 15 through Oct. 19.
Eric Peasah, founder of Right To Be Free (RTBF), a non-profit organization dedicated to freeing children and women who are victims of slavery, exploitation and other oppressive conditions, will have a station on the ship where people can learn more about the history of the problem and the issues surrounding it today.
“I will be speaking about human trafficking in modern times, giving some history and discussing what is happening in the world today,” says Peasah, who is from Ghana and travels to the United States about once a year to speak to high school and middle school students around the country.
According to Peasah, human trafficking has become a bigger business than drug trafficking, generating more than $150 billion a year in profits.
“There are more slaves today than any other time in human history,” he says.
More than 29 million adults and children are victims of forced labor, bonded labor and sex slavery every year; the majority are women and children.
Peasah has managed and led humanitarian and social services programs that focus on reducing poverty and improving the worth and dignity of these victims. He also works closely with government, law enforcement and judiciary agencies, civil society organizations and NGOs to combat human trafficking in Ghana and the West African sub region. He has been a key advocate in establishing the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of the Ghana Police Service and the Human Trafficking Act in Ghana.
RTBF has a special focus in Ghana, where the trafficking of women and children, some as young as 5, is common. RTBF conducts education and advocacy programs in North America and globally to increase awareness of human trafficking. It also focuses on providing families of victims with assistance through vocational training and micro-business loans to prevent further trafficking.
Peasah’s human trafficking awareness programs have inspired hundreds of students in schools and universities throughout the United States and his awareness campaigns have led to the formation of youth groups that champion the fight against child trafficking, such as “One is Greater Than None,” which was started by two teens from Long Island, and “Kids Helping Kids.”
“It has a devastating impact on the individual victims, who suffer physical and emotional abuse, threats against self and family, and even death,” says Peasah. “But the impact of human trafficking goes beyond these victims; it undermines the health, safety and security of every nation it touches. The eradication of human trafficking is one of the paramount challenges of our time.”
The Freedom Schooner Amistad will be at the West End Waterfront Pier; visit www.amistadvoyages.org or righttobefree.org for more information.
