On May 1, hundreds ran for the thousands who cannot flee.
With every step they took, about 1,000 Seattle-area runners who participated in the Free Them 5k Run/Walk showed that they were advocates for the voiceless — the victims of human trafficking.
The event, held at the Crista Ministries campus in Shoreline, raised nearly $80,000 for World Concern, a Christian humanitarian organization that helps defend women and children in Southeast Asia from the threat of modern-day slavery. Its programs include safety training within villages, job development and care for the victimized.
People came from across the state to run or walk, forming teams that helped raise funds and promote awareness of an often-neglected issue.
“It is more common than anyone would like to realize,” said Derek Sciba, a spokesperson for World Concern. “And in certain countries, especially in Southeast Asia, trafficking happens all the time in communities where parents have little money and want to trust a stranger to give a better life for their family.”
“I heard about (the 5k) on the radio,” said Noelle Ruddy, a 20-year-old college student from Everett who participated in the event. “The truth is that I just like to run. I didn’t even know too much human trafficking, but people really need to be aware that this is happening.”
According to the United Nations website, human trafficking is defined as any act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring or receiving a person through a use of force, coercion or other means, for the purpose of exploiting them. It is an issue that affects virtually every country in the world, including the United States, where the CIA estimates almost 18,000 people are trafficked into the country every year.
Seattle is no stranger to the issue. In 2003, Washington became the first state to make human trafficking a crime. A year later, a Seattle Post-Intelligencer article deemed Seattle a “hot spot” for human trafficking given the city’s many points of entry, particularly through Sea-Tac Airport and the Port of Seattle. The federal government established an Anti-Trafficking Task Force in Seattle that year, becoming one of 10 cities to be given aid in identifying and ending human exploitation.
As of 2008, there had been no convictions on the charge of human trafficking in Washington state.
The run will ultimately help fight the illegal abuse of women and children who are searching for a better life.
“It’s heartbreaking to know that women go through that,” Ruddy added, “and I’d love to help make it stop.”
Rene Ramos is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.
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