Noteworthy - Roller Derby and Sexual Slavery

At the risk of sounding redundant... I am love, love, loving roller derby.

This past week we have been recruiting women for the next round of "freshmeat training". On Tuesday, I somehow managed to finagle myself into a front and center position for the Sulphur City Steamrollers photoshoot with the Rotorua Daily Post (even though I still have no idea what I am doing and am the least tough and intimidating person on the team).

I channeled my inner mother - put on my best mean face and (as you can clearly see in the photo) "accidentally" pushed my left bicep out with my right hand. Awesome. When I got home I started reflecting on what had just happened...  and got a bit anxious.

So I did what I habitually do when I get anxious or board, frustrated, angry, lonely, unmotivated, etc... check social media (problem. working on it). I got curious about the red X I kept seeing. As it turns out, February 27th was the day designate to "END IT" by shining a light on the fact that there are 27 million men, women, and children around the world trapped in slavery.

If there is something worthy of a REALLY ANGRY face, it is slavery... and perhaps more specifically (in my opinion) sexual slavery. I added an extra does of "crazy" in the photo, for emphasis and dramatic appeal... but in all seriousness - can you imagine anything more horrific than realizing you or your child had been sold into sexual slavery? Let it sink in for just a minute.

There are a lot of ways to get educated on the topic of sexual slavery... but the hardest part is having the stomach to handle the terrible truth of it all. I remember seeing the movie Trade several years ago - shock, rage, horror, disbelief, and physical sickness.

Below is a 40 minute video with personal stories of 3 real-life-human-beings who were slaves and found freedom. Good News. My favorite organization doing work to promote justice in this arena is
International Justice Mission... check it out and END IT!

Read more about "noteworthy".