St. Peter’s Cathedral hosted the first annual Christians Against Trafficking Summit Friday, 15 October & Saturday, 16 October. Over 300 individuals representing 31 different area churches of various denominations attended the Summit. The Summit welcomed Gwen Adams as keynote speaker. Photos from the weekend and the recorded keynote sessions may be viewed below.
About the Summit
Human trafficking, also known as modern-day slavery, is a crime that involves compelling or coercing a person to provide labor or services, or to engage in commercial sex acts. The coercion can be subtle or overt, physical or psychological. Sadly, the victims are often children. Although there is no defining characteristic that all human trafficking victims share, traffickers frequently prey on individuals who are poor, vulnerable, living in an unsafe or unstable situation, or are in search of a better life. Trafficking victims are deceived by false promises of love, a good job, or a stable life and are lured or forced into situations where they are made to work under deplorable conditions with little or no pay. These horrors are happening frequently within the Big Bend Region. With Tallahassee and surrounding towns and cities being located off of I-10, traffickers live and operate within our own neighborhoods. Law enforcement, State Attorney Jack Campbell and his team, and local non-profits have done an exceptional job in working to pursue these crimes. However, each has indicated a desperate need to better engage the community at large in joining this fight. As we know, God calls His Church to stand strong against the evils of this world. The Christians Against Trafficking Summit was designed to bring our community together to learn more about the horrors of trafficking in our own community and to explore how we can best join in the work to eradicate trafficking together.