The heartbeat behind Red Light Rebellion is to equip students with all the tools/resources they need in order to join the fight against sex trafficking. We truly believe that this generation is going to create change for justice in ways no other generation has before them. They have technology and opportunities that never existed before.

A couple months ago we got a request from a group of students at Cesar Chavez High School. They are a part of an ASU program called Spirit of Service Scholars. The cause they chose to focus on for the year was anti-trafficking, and decided they wanted to partner with Red Light Rebellion for an awareness week. We coordinated very little with the group, but were given updates from their teacher sponsor about how progress was going getting approval from admin, etc.

We showed up the first day for their awareness table at lunch and were blown away!  The students took full command of that thing! Not only was it being used to pass out RLR fact sheets to increase awareness, but they were having students sign up for a documentary screening the next day during study hall. They were getting so many sign ups that, finally at 110, their sponsor had to force them to stop – the room they had requested only held about half that!

The students were smart and intentionally signed up more students than could fit in the room in case some forgot or just didn’t show up. The next day for the Chosen documentary screening, they packed out the room with 60 of their peers! The sponsor came up to me in amazement saying, “This is not the typical demographic of students we have that come to this kind of thing. Usually it’s the academics, but most all these students are jocks or involved in drugs and parties. This is amazing!”

It was interesting to see how protective the young men were of the 13 year old in the documentary. They had a hard time understanding how her friends and family didn’t know what was going on, or do everything possible to keep her safe. Their hearts were touched, and I pray it extends into their actions. That they would begin looking out for a girl’s safety before anything else, and truly be her advocate.

 

But the week did not end there! The next day that same group of students had planned for a full day of classroom presentations for all the student leaders on campus! We were able to help them understand sex trafficking on a deeper level, learn how to identify potential trafficking situations, and how to join the cause themselves.

The health department learned about what was going on even requested us to come back and present to every health teacher’s classes for a full day of 7 back-to-back presentations on May 6th!

A small group of 5 students learned about sex trafficking and wanted to do something to try stopping it. With a simply table at lunch, documentary screening, and day of classroom presentations, 5 students reached over 350 of their peers with awareness in only matter of 3 days!

And what did we do? We simply showed up! The students coordinated all logistics, presented to their principal for approval, coordinated with teachers, and talked their friends into showing up. What a humbling experience it was to give presentations because of the dedication and hard work of those students!

This is what Red Light Rebellion is designed to be!