QC urged to Walk for Freedom to help save trafficking victims

Quad Citians who want to raise awareness of human trafficking and walk to aid victims who cannot run away from their captors are urged to line up on Saturday, Oct. 14, for a two-state Walk for Freedom across the Interstate 74 Bridge.  Organizing the one-way, one-mile or roundtrip two-mile trek against trafficking on the new, […]

Quad Citians who want to raise awareness of human trafficking and walk to aid victims who cannot run away from their captors are urged to line up on Saturday, Oct. 14, for a two-state Walk for Freedom across the Interstate 74 Bridge.  Organizing the one-way, one-mile or roundtrip two-mile trek against trafficking on the new, award-winning Mississippi River bridge’s pedestrian walkway is the Rotary District 6420 Task Force Against Human Trafficking.  Leading the charge for the Quad Cities Walk for Freedom is Rock Island Rotarian Kathy Trone, who chairs the 6420 trafficking task force. Lately she’s been working her way across Rotary’s northwest Illinois district to urge other Rotarians to join the fight. Some Iowa Rotary clubs also plan to join Rock Island Rotarians on Walk For Freedom Day at the foot of the pedestrian walkway in Moline at 10 a.m. Oct. 14.  The event, however, is not just for Rotarians. Anyone can join the campaign billed as: “Local Action. Global Difference. Local Walk. Global Impact.”

The worldwide silent, single-file walk was started by the global anti-trafficking campaign A21 and designed to raise awareness of “the illegal trade of human beings,” which can include “the recruitment, control, and use of people for their bodies and for their labor.” Like many who have joined the fight, Ms. Trone didn’t become passionate about the cause until she truly understood what it was. “I had this picture in my mind that this only happened to young girls on vacation in other countries,” she told the QCBJ. “After hearing a survivor speak at a Rotary District Conference, I realized it was so much more,” she added. “I found out that it is the exploitation of children in our communities, it is forced prostitution and porn, it is forced labor and it is happening in Iowa and Illinois right now.” According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, “Victims of labor trafficking have been found among the nation’s migrant and seasonal farmworkers, including men, women, families, or children as young as 5 or 6 years old who harvest crops and raise animals in fields, packing plants, orchards, and nurseries.” Victims can include U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents, undocumented immigrants, and foreign nationals with temporary H-2A work visas. The jobs its victims do are often isolated, transient and irregular. That makes them hard to find. “Unscrupulous crew leaders exploit these conditions of vulnerability, adding debt, violence, and threats to hold farmworkers in conditions of servitude,” the hotline reports. The nationwide trafficking numbers tell a grim tale and not only in U.S. border states which, not surprisingly, rank highest in human trafficking incidents. Texas, Florida and California led the nation, but the states that Quad Citians call home also report a significant number of cases. In 2021, for example, Illinois ranked eighth in the nation with 243 recorded cases. And Iowa ranked 30th with 86 cases, according to the National Human Trafficking Hotline. Overall, in 2021, more than 10,000 cases of human trafficking were reported to that national hotline.  Closer to home, since 2016, the Quad Cities organization Braking Traffic has reported aiding more than 69 human trafficking survivors in the Quad Cities and surrounding areas. “That is a lot in a span of seven years,” Ms. Trone told Rock Island Rotarians recently. “I thought, how can I help my grandchildren, nieces, nephews and the community become more aware and understand the dangers of trafficking and exploitation?” she said. “It is a $150 billion a year industry; what can I do about it?” Her journey began with the global Rotary Action Group Against Slavery. RAGAS bills itself as “a global, action-driven network of Rotarians dedicated to freedom fighting, justice, seeking, problem-solving, and advocating for basic human rights working together to abolish modern slavery.”  Ms. Trone also joined the Rotary District 6420 Task Force Against Slavery, which she now chairs, and began researching the problem. It was then that she found A21.  The global campaign takes its name from its overarching goal to abolish slavery in the 21st Century. Its equally ambitious mission is: “To see a world where women are no longer sold for sex. Where men are no longer sold for labor. Where children are no longer taken from their families and exploited.” Their work galvanized Ms. Trone to action. “I went through every bit of training they offered and attended an in-person training with RAGAS,” she said. Later, she added, “Our (6420) task force was looking for an awareness project and the A21 worldwide walk was a perfect fit. Our task force is speaking at all 43 of our District Rotary Clubs this year and is hopeful that more members will join us to help spread the word. Our motto is Education for Eradication.’ Freedom is a basic human right and it is time that we make sure everyone is free.” Participation in the walk is free but special T-shirts are available for purchase and to support the cause when participants register at A21.org/moline.  It will step off at the base of the walkway in Moline. Walkers can either walk the two-mile round-trip to Bettendorf and back to Moline, opt to do only the one-way walk to Bettendorf or jump on only the Bettendorf to Moline leg. The upcoming walk is garnering attention these days, but there are other local organizations working to eradicate human slavery. “My personal goal is to partner with other great organizations like Braking Traffic and Family Resources on the lowa side so that we can spread awareness in communities all around the QC,” Ms. Trone told the QCBJ. “I’ve encouraged those on our task force to do the same.” Braking Traffic grew out of anti-trafficking efforts by former Iowa state Sen. Maggie Tinsman. She sponsored 2006 legislation that made human trafficking a felony in Iowa and provided social services to victims and training for law enforcement. The Bettendorf Republican also founded Braking Traffik, which is still at work raising awareness and advocating for victim services and ensuring traffickers are brought to justice. Since leaving the Statehouse she has continued to advocate for tougher laws to protect victims.