On November 13, Sister Mary Ellen O’Boyle joined the whole eighth grade at our school in a conversation about sexual trafficking. We had organized for Sister Mary to visit at our previous interview with her, but we had never discussed what she was going to talk about with our class. This made us a bit nervous, especially because sexual trafficking is such a complex topic and some of the material is quite heavy. My group members and I had already set up the room where she was going to speak and we waited anxiously in the lobby for her arrival. Once she had arrived, we gave her a warm welcome and introduced our teachers. After Sister Mary was situated, we told her that it would be great if she could explain what sexual trafficking is and her personal influence on the issue for. As our whole class sat down with Sister Mary, who was seated in the front of the room, everything started coming together. My social justice group and I had no idea what to expect, but from this point on, we knew there would be a positive outcome. Sister Mary started of the conversation by briefly introducing herself and the topic sexual trafficking (just liked we had hoped for). What really intrigued the audience was when Sister Mary starting giving us statistics such as, “Sexual Trafficking is a thirty two billion dollar industry.” Mary also left the whole class pamphlets, newspapers, and web links with more information about individual states, countries and cities, for example, the New York annual report. Mary really showed her gratitude when she gave the whole class chocolate and a book to keep published by the government about sexual trafficking. The chocolate we recieved was significant because it was safe chocolate, meaning, no labor trafficking was involved in its makings. Although my social justice group is focusing on sexual trafficking, labor trafficking is still a world wide issue that needs to recognized and addressed by the public. When Sister Mary was done speaking, we gave her a big round of applause and thanked her for coming and and sharing her ideas about something that is so important.
Sister Mary is a talented and moving speaker. She condensed such a complex topic into a forty five minute conversation that almost everyone understood. Looking back, Mary must have been nervous as well, for she had never spoke to kids and didn’t really know how we would react to her presentation. However, there was a sense of connectivity throughout the whole class, including teachers. As I was watching my peer’s faces when Sister Mary spoke, they seemed fascinated. Mary had lifted a veil that was hiding the true risk thirteen year old women must withstand. Classmates gained knowledge about knowing safety and how crucial it is that we change this matter. Mary hadn’t really gone into depth about the abuse given to a victim by a pimp or a john, but she gave enough statistics for us to realize this is an issue that needs to be acted upon. Listening to Sister Mary once again, taught me more about sexual trafficking, and also showed me the qualities of a powerful, perservering activist.
