Hungry Kiwis Help to Free Enslaved Women And Children

Hungry Kiwis Help to Free Enslaved Women And Children
Media Release

More than 700 hungry Kiwis participated in the Live Below the Line Challenge last week, raising over $124,000 for TEAR Fund’s anti-trafficking partners working to free women and children trapped in sexual exploitation.

The total raised by Kiwis for TEAR Fund this year exceeded last year’s effort of $107,000 and goes towards a combined global total of more than $4 million (NZ) raised this year by participating countries.

Live Below the Line is an annual anti-poverty campaign which raises awareness about poverty through participants living on NZ $2.25 a day for five days the equivalent of the international extreme poverty line. The idea started in the backyard of a Melbourne flat in 2010 and spread to New Zealand, Canada, Columbia, the UK and USA.

Though funds globally are used to fight extreme poverty, funds raised in New Zealand go towards TEAR Fund’s anti-trafficking and exploitation partners to help them free and rehabilitate women and children forced into sexual exploitation and to help authorities prosecute those responsible. It’s estimated for every trafficker prosecuted, 120 potential trafficking victims are saved.

Kiwis showed ingenuity this year in creating awareness and fundraising, by organizing pub quizzes with human trafficking rounds, creating Live-Below-the-Line-inspired dishes at restaurants and putting on concerts.

“Thank you to everyone who took part or supported someone doing the challenge,” says Joy Davidson, TEAR Fund’s Manager of International Programmes. “Those most likely to be trafficked or trapped in slavery are the poorest and most vulnerable in our world. Through your efforts, suffering women and children will be given the chance for a better future.”

Trafficking victims into sexual exploitation accounts for an estimated $US99 billion in profit each year, and an estimated 4.5 million people are trapped in this industry. This represents around 21% of the estimated 21 million trapped in slavery around the world, mainly in labour exploitation. The average age of a victim of sexual exploitation is only 12-years-old and it’s estimated only 1 to 2% of victims are rescued.

To find out more about TEAR Fund’s work against human trafficking and exploitation visitprojectact.com

MORE INFO/STATS

• Human trafficking is organised criminal activity where deception and coercion are used to lure and transport people into slavery.

• The fastest growing form of trafficking is forced sexual exploitation.

• More than 6 in 10 of all trafficking victims have been trafficked across at least one national border.

ENDS

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