DRESSEMBER (December Writing Challenge, Day 3)

Yesterday afternoon, I found a really cool nonprofit that raises money and awareness for victims of human trafficking worldwide. I'm an advocate, and I will be wearing a dress every day for the rest of the month (except while I am at work due to my uniform, and while I am working out).  

PLEASE help me to raise money for these victims! I am going to try to match all of your donations, so please, break my bank.  All donations are tax-deductable, too :-)

(While this isn't exactly a writing "challenge" for my blog today, I will be vlogging my experiences, as wearing dresses for the entire month of December in Nebraska will be quite interesting.) 

Here are some facts about human trafficking if you aren't aware of this massive problem: (most of these facts come from the Dressember website)

• 30 MILLION people are currently enslaved worldwide
• 80% are being trafficked for sexual exploitation 
• Roughly 19% are trafficked for labor 
• Human trafficking makes $150 billion annually 
• Roughly 2 million children are exploited in the global commercial sex trade
• 50% of the trafficked are children
• 70% of those trafficked are women and girls

While you may know this happens in other places, this happens in America.  In fact, the sex trade through I-80 is a massive problem, and there are victims being trafficked in Omaha and Lincoln. I was at a seminar last spring on this issue right before the CWS in Omaha, which is one of the most prominent times this happens - WORLDWIDE. When I did an informational interview at The Bridge, they said they work with sex trafficking victims, too -  in Fremont!  This is not an outside problem, but a global one.  It happens in places you may least suspect.  

If you want to help these victims, please, please, please donate:

https://dressember.funraise.org/fundraiser/hannah-bussa

I will be doubling donations for as long as I possibly can! This is #biggerthanadress.  While I love wearing my fleece-lined sweatpants in the winter and I LOVE sleeping in warm sweats, I will not be doing so this month.  While I will be a little uncomfortable, I am happy to be called to do this.  No matter how uncomfortable I get, it will pale in comparison to what these victims face.

If I can raise my goal of $200, I can help provide urgent needs to these victims, including hot meals, therapy, and assistance in their legal proceedings.

The next levels:

$320 = Aftercare: 8 hours of therapy for an individual

$6,300 = Rescue Operation (From the initial investigation to immediate aftercare by law enforcement)

Please join me in helping meet these victims' needs! Dressember is a 501c3 nonprofit that partners with IJM (International Justice Mission) and the money is used for the things listed above.

Here are some links to check out if this topic is interesting to you or if you want to know more:

Dressember TED Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGuTpWTcSE8

IJM Website: https://www.ijm.org/

Dressember Website: http://www.dressember.org/ 

If you want to learn more about sex trafficking, I suggest watching the documentary I Am Jane Doe on Netflix.  Also, the documentary Half the Sky talks about human trafficking in other countries.  These are heartbreaking things to watch, but they are 100% true.  

Don't forget to share this link around!  Thanks!

https://dressember.funraise.org/fundraiser/hannah-bussa