Angie de Luna has traveled thousands of miles in search of justice against human trafficking.
“If I can change one person’s life, the work I do is justified,” says Angie, Development Manager at A21 LATAM.
She recently disembarked from Argentina where she worked and organized efforts against domestic violence.
Angie De Luna has worked in the private sector for more than 12 years, including in the automotive and white goods industries. Simultaneously, she has volunteered in the social sector with organizations focusing on human rights.
Angie is a woman who tirelessly continues to work in Latin America to create a more just society.
“It’s not about me, it’s about the millions of people living oppressed lives with deplorable justice conditions.”
Angie speaks of a concept that may seem very simple but terribly cruel: fast fashion.
“There are many products sold at a much higher value than their actual cost. The people who produce them earn pennies on the dollar of their final cost, and that’s a problem,” she adds.
A part of the problem lies in habits and marketing.
“Yes, sometimes I wear Hermes and I shouldn’t do it. I’ve done it because it’s what our culture imposed on us. We have to change it; we have to raise awareness about this,” she says.
De Luna, along with A21 Latam, is part of a campaign to hold each person responsible for what they consume and wear.
“Recognize and be alert to signs of human trafficking in my surroundings,” saids their campaign.
“We’re not playing around; lives are at stake. We have to take practical and viable actions,” she says.
“We have to seek real change, not just point out the problem of domestic violence,” she says.
“It is very regrettable how we take these problems as normal and even become part of them. We unconsciously participate in them. There are hundreds of thousands of children begging, and instead of trying to remedy this problem, we give them money, thinking that we are helping them solve their lives,” says Angie de Luna, Latin America director of the organization A21, which seeks to abolish human trafficking at all levels.
This organization fights against the illegal trade of human beings; it’s the recruitment, control, and use of people for their bodies and labor. Through force, fraud, and coercion, people everywhere are being bought and sold against their will–right now in the 21st century.
“If communities don’t fight, don’t defend themselves, and don’t take risks, it’s not possible to change things. Each one is responsible for taking a step to do this.”
The OIT states that more than 170 million children are engaged in child labor in textile factories, which contributes to producing fast fashion trends.
“We have to stop and do something,” says Angie.
“We have normalized the exploitation and trafficking of people”
