Human trafficking a reality not just in Nigeria

Almost 300 young girls in Nigeria were kidnapped. Many fear that they now might be sold into sexual slavery.

Details emerged on Tuesday about a second mass abduction, adding to the global outcry to bring the girls home. They are between 12 and 15 years old.

Armed men went door to door late Sunday, taking girls from their homes.

Experts say human trafficking is not isolated to Nigeria. It happens everywhere, even in Central Oregon , but there is something you can do to fight it.

“They (kidnappers) take away (young women’s) right to freedom, their right to education, their right to choose anything for themselves,” said Nita Belles, regional director of Oregonians Against Trafficking Humans.

“They become property. And so it’s very important that any time we see that women’s rights being taken that we speak up.”

If you want to help put a stop to human trafficking in Central Oregon and around the world, here’s what you can do:

Oregonians Against Trafficking Humans has a training session coming up on June 7th from 9am to noon at St Charles Bend. For more information, visit their website: http://www.cooath.org/

You can also sign the online White House petition to implore the Obama administration to intervene: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/work-un-and-nigerian-government-bring-home-girls-kidnapped-boko-haram/fFcLj7s2

Belles said local law enforcement has worked extensively to prevent human trafficking here in Central Oregon.

Meanwhile, hundreds of families in Nigeria are still waiting for their girls to return home, as an international outcry grows.