Chennai to 'Walk for Freedom' to raise awareness on human trafficking

Organised by the Movement India, over 1,000 people are expected to join the march in Chennai which will start from and circle back to Besant Nagar.
Chennai to 'Walk for Freedom' to raise awareness on human trafficking
Chennai to 'Walk for Freedom' to raise awareness on human trafficking

On October 19, Chennai will join 450 locations and 50 countries across the world in a 'Walk for Freedom' to raise awareness about human trafficking. Organised by the Movement India, a volunteer mobilisation platform, over 1000 people are expected to embark on the journey, which will start from and circle back to Besant Nagar.

This Walk For Freedom is being hosted for the third time in a row and this is only the second time that Chennai will be participating in the global event. Over 3000 participants have already signed up at 10 Indian cities — Chennai, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Kolkata, Shillong, Kochi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Panjim — for the Walk.

It is a silent walk where participants pledge to help end human trafficking in their lifetimes and walk single file in a public place holding placards about the reality of human trafficking that raises awareness among the watching public. Globally, the Walk is organised by A21, an international NGO in the fight against modern-day slavery.

"The common public is extremely unaware of the magnitude of the issue. We want to spread awareness on the forms of trafficking - bonded labour, organ rackets and sexual exploitation. We want people to recognise indicators of trafficking. So these awareness programmes will help identify cases of trafficking in their daily life," says Biju Thampy, founder of The Movement India.

In the lead up to the walk, The Movement India has conducted over 40 awareness workshops about human trafficking reaching over 4000 participants across India in the last 1.5 months. These include awareness sessions in Chennai colleges like Women’s Christian College, Stella Maris College, corporates such as HDFC Sales Pvt Ltd, FedBank Financial Services, United Consultancy Services, NEST-IT, and Headout App, alongside partner NGOs. Last year, The Movement India conducted the march in Chennai and at four locations in Mumbai — Bandra, Juhu, Powai, Vasai — and drew over 1,450 citizens across different strata of society.

According to the International Labour Organisation (2016), 40.3 million are caught in various forms of modern-day slavery globally. Of these, right now, there are 8 million people trafficked in India for sex, labour, organs, forced marriages and domestic servitude, according to the Global Slavery Index 2018. 

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