The shocked faces stared back as Leanne Rhodes, Abolishon’s CEO, shared stories of human trafficking.  Everyone gathered there that day at Bookafe had heard of human trafficking before, but that wasn’t why they were shocked. 

It was the stories and statistics of how traffickers had operated in their city that they hadn’t heard before.  The audience slowly came to understand that trafficking doesn’t happen somewhere else in the country.  It happens right there where they were raising their families.

The day was October 18, EU Anti-trafficking Day.  NGOs and activists gathered all over Europe to promote 'Freedom Sunday’, a collaboration of events to raise awareness of human trafficking.  Abolishion were invited to speak at Bookafe and tell of their experiences locally. 

"Our hope is that those who attended now understand how traffickers work in their communities and are able to protect their families as well as identify those who are enslaved in this horror.”, says Leanne.