As an organization that is determined to end the restavek system in our lifetime, we at Restavek Freedom appreciate hearing about other people who are also fighting to end slavery and human trafficking, especially when those people have large platforms.
We have written before about celebrities who are doing their part to end modern-day slavery. We wanted to follow up with another post to highlight some more big names who are using their status to make an even bigger difference.
Here are five more celebrities who are taking huge stances in the fight against human trafficking:
1. Emma Thompson
British actress Emma Thompson came face to face with the horrors of human trafficking after hearing the story of Elena, a young woman who had ambition and hopes of a future, but was held in solitary confinement and used as a sex slave. To bring Elena’s and many other girls’ stories to light, Thompson created an exhibit called “Journey.” It told a story of despair and brokenness that made the issue of sex trafficking hit close to home, but it also told a story of hope and encouraged all of us to get involved in the fight.
2. Ashton Kutcher & Demi Moore
Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore co-founded Thorn together in 2009. Thorn believes that advances in technology have represented a step forward culturally, but have also created new dangers and possible exploitation areas for children. They partner with tech companies such as Facebook, Yahoo, and Google to find victims of abuse more quickly, make it harder for abusive platforms on the web to function, and potentially intercept abusive behavior before it occurs.
3. David Beckham
Beckham was named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 2005. To mark his recent 10-year anniversary as an ambassador, he created 7, Beckham’s UNICEF fund to
help protect children from danger and violence all over the world.
4. Bono
What type of work does Bono not have his hands in? Between being the frontman for rock band U2, creating organizations and campaigns such as DATA and ONE, and bridging the gap between entertainment and politics, Bono sure knows how to keep himself busy. Although it’s hard to pinpoint the humanitarian efforts Bono is working on at any given moment, no one can argue that Bono isn’t doing everything he can to make the world better, and that means helping put an end to human trafficking.
5. Angelina Jolie
Like Bono, Angelina Jolie is widely known for her humanitarian work. From advocating on behalf of refugees to shedding light on sexual violence against women in military conflict zones, Jolie cares about a wide range of issues and is committed to making them non-issues. She even lent her voice to narrate the film, Trading Women, which tells the story of and follows the complex path of trading women into the sex trade in the countries of Burma, China, Laos, and Thailand.
Are you aware of someone that we left off our list? Let us know who we missed. We’d love to hear from you!
Even today, there are billions of people in the world living in some form of modern-day slavery. Nearly 300,000 of those are children living in restavek, a form of child slavery found in Haiti.
Restavek Freedom is committed to ending this system in our lifetimes, thereby helping to end the problem of slavery in general. Will you stand with us? Contact us or visit our website if you are interested in hearing more about what we do and how you can get involved.
