On Nov. 20, a group of students from the “Feminism in the Bible” class will be hosting an event to raise money for International Justice Mission (IJM) and to raise awareness for human trafficking, specifically in the Salem community, group member Delila Carter said. The event will incorporate music, poetry and art, and a human trafficking survivor will share her story.
Each student in the class is required to work on a group project that will somehow encourage women in the local communities or around the world. This group has decided to pair up with the Stinky Bagels poetry club to bring awareness to sexually abused women and domestic violence.
This group consists of Delila Carter, Daniel Patterson, Kory Grell, Lexi Mitzel, and Carlie Clauson. They have partnered with IJM in hopes of raising money for their cause, Clauson said. The group wants to get the word out globally — encouraging people to talk about the issue and come together as a voice for the oppressed.
“Justice needs to be fought for these women,” Clauson said. “There are some broken women out there, and they need a voice. And that’s where we come in.”
“There are many issues such as this one that I feel we neglect because it isn’t real to us,” Delila Carter said. “But what people do not realize is that Oregon is one of the biggest hubs for human trafficking.”
On Nov. 20, the group hosted an event to raise money for IJM and to raise awareness for Human Trafficking specifically in the Salem community, Carter said. The event incorporated music, poetry and art, and a human trafficking survivor shared her story.
Stinky Bagels will be writing some poems for these women who have been sexually abused. According to Emily Trout, poetry club president, these poems will be sold to raise money for IJM. Trout is anticipating that this project will bring courage to those afflicted and open the eyes of those who are not. She hopes these enlightened people will want to take action against the problem.
“The aim of the poems is to convey both the brutality of abuse and the hope for healing and restoration,” Trout said. “I am hoping that students’ eyes will be opened to the reality outside of our Corban-bubble. There is a broken world out there, full of broken human beings who need to be shown the love of Jesus Christ. I hope they will also recognize the hardships that perhaps even fellow classmates or faculty have endured.”
Despite the weight of this enormous issue, these students are confident in the cause.
“We want to see students come together as a force against injustice,” Clauson said. “Honestly, it has been a stressful process because of how massive this topic is, but we are excited to pursue it. It has been encouraging to see how excited our fellow students are to be able to be involved in this project with us.”
“I think there are a group of subjects that Corban does not like talking about, one being this sexual slavery issue,” Carter said. “It is super uncomfortable to hear because it scares and angers people, but that doesn’t mean it is not happening. Corban can make a huge impact on this issue; we can change lives through this. By taking this first step of being aware of what surrounds us, we can help stop this.”