LatinaLista — An unique call-to-action campaign uses historical archival footage of famous human rights events and asks viewers “If you believe you would have been there then, Be Here Now.”
The Be Here Now campaign, funded by a GOOGLE grant is a collaboration project by Made In a Free World, International Justice Mission and the Polaris Project. It lets viewers upload images of themselves to be inserted into the archival footage.
The young student facing down the tanks at Tiananmen Square or the March on Washington with Martin Luther King Jr or the fall of the Berlin Wall are no longer just events in history, but by inserting themselves into the footage, the Be Here Now creators hope that each event becomes a little more personal and inspires people to take a stand on today’s human rights issue — modern-day slavery/human trafficking.
Forced-labor and sex trafficking are illegal, but these crimes are too often overlooked. UNICEF estimates that nearly 2 million children are exploited in the global commercial sex trade. The U.N. Development Fund for Women estimates 1 in 5 women is a victim of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime.
This violence against the poor and vulnerable must stop.
In addition to having the opportunity of being a ‘part of history,’ visitors to the campaign’s site can follow through with any of the three organizations collaborating on the project to see what can be done to combat modern-day slavery/human trafficking.
