UNLIKELY HEROES BENEFIT

PPLA attended the Unlikely Heroes Benefit celebrating survivors and abolitionists for their effort to end modern day slavery. The evening’s honorees included Holly Austin Smith (Child Sex Trafficking Survivor, Advocate/Author & Speaker), Morgan Perry (Abolitionist, Film Producer/Documentarian), Arlene Irion (Advocate/Recipient U.S. Department of Justice Award), and Ben Decker (Philanthropist, President BWD-PR).

The event was created by Erica Greve,  President and Founder of Unlikely Heroes, and featured an award presentation honoring some of the most influential and accomplished anti-human trafficking advocates worldwide. Actress/Philanthropist Katie Cleary hosted the event and celebrity attendess including Hope Dworacyk and Katarina Van Derham came out to show their support.

Greve is a internationally known speaker on human trafficking which is defined as the recruitment, transport, transfer, harboring or receipt of a person by such means as threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, or fraud or deception for the purpose of exploitation. “But it also has another name: modern day slavery. I felt like it was important to honor these modern day abolitionists because they have dedicated their lives to helping the most vulnerable people of society-our children,” said Greve.

There are now more slaves in the world today than any other time in human history and conservative figures suggest that more than one million children are involved in the sex trade each year. Experts believe the true number could be five times that or more. Profits from sex slavery exceed $9.5 billion annually proving this is not just a problem of the developing world: it is a global crisis and includes the United States. Estimates show that more than 100,000 children are sold for sex in the U.S. each year and this organization is fighting to do something about it. Unlikely Heroes dedicates itself to the rescue and restoration of children sold for sex.

Visit Unlikely Heroes to learn more.