Slavery still exists. We just don’t live face to face with it anymore. Human trafficking, the actual trade of people, has ensnared hundreds of thousands of South African girls in unspeakable horror. Millions around the world. It’s difficult to imagine how one human being could inflict such an evil on another, yet it happens. And Tabitha Lange has had enough.
Appalled by the revelation that close to four million Africans are enslaved by forced labour, Lange started the human rights NPO Hope For Women (HFW). Working with police, schools, corporations and churches, the organisation is combatting the atrocity on multiple fronts. From educating police officers on the nuances of the environment they are dealing with, to supporting survivors, HFW is leading the South African movement to eliminate human trafficking.
HFW has committed to building a safehouse for survivors as a facility for their restoration programme. As a fundraising venture, the NPO teamed up with the You Are Here initiative to set up a biennial photographic exhibition, with local photographers donating their work to raise funds. Lange realises that creative means of raising support are vital to the cause. The war will be long. And victory will require the full buy-in of communities of volunteers, as well as imaginative methods of attack against the opposition. She is determined to see it through to the end.
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