Given the multifold security challenges that our world is going to face as climate change takes effect and resources fall short, our societies are reliant on the leadership of rural girls as agents of peace and security. If we rob them of their childhoods in some of the most traumatic ways imaginable, this (and any other) vision for change will collapse. If we want to effectively prevent human trafficking of girls and redesign the peace and security ecosystem of rural communities, a threefold strategy is needed today: investment, education, and enforcement.
Along with my Omnis Institute cofounders, Dr. Aziza Khabbush and Christina Myers, I have talked to over 800 rural Afro-Colombian and indigenous girls in Nuqui about leadership and their power. I have also had difficult conversations with their families, local officials, and local leaders about the reality that many of these girls will have their futures robbed because of trafficking. I believe we can and should do better.