The City of Boston and Boston Mayor Martin Walsh will be hosting GIFT Box, a walk-in exhibit to raise awareness about human trafficking, while educating the public and encouraging them to get involved in the fight against it, a Tuesday press release stated.
Boston Mayor Martin Walsh announced Tuesday that the city will host GIFT Box, an exhibit to raise awareness and educate visitors about human trafficking. PHOTO FROM GIFT BOX
GIFT Box is an initiative created by STOP THE TRAFFIK, the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN-GIFT) and the Committee to Stop Trafficking in Persons (CSTIP). The exhibit is being brought to Boston in partnership with the Mayor’s Public Safety Initiative and the Mayor’s Office of Women’s Advancement.
GIFT Box is presented as a large, colorfully wrapped exterior, with an interior that tells the horrors of human trafficking through photographs and survivor stories. The exhibit is also complete with contact and outreach information for victims of human trafficking seeking help.
In the release, Walsh said GIFT Box is a unique way to approach a widespread and extreme problem for the nation and the world.
“Human trafficking is a worldwide crisis that is happening here in our backyard. This practice is illegal and exploitative, and it often goes undetected,” Walsh said in the release. “GIFT Box is a unique way to raise awareness about sex trafficking and how we can work together to end this demeaning crime.”
Ruth Dearnley, CEO of STOP THE TRAFFIK, shared a statistic in the release demonstrating how great an effect human trafficking has worldwide, while describing how GIFT Box adds a human factor to that number.
“The U.S. State Department estimates that 27 million men, women and children are trafficking victims worldwide at any given time,” Dearnley said in the release. “The GIFT Box reminds the public that behind any statistic is a face — a person who has a price tag hung around their neck.”
Susan Lee, a master lecturer of social science in Boston University’s College of General Studies, said human trafficking is an issue that is present in the local community, even if it doesn’t always seem like it.
“Human trafficking is a huge problem in our area. People think it’s overseas, but it exists right here in Massachusetts, right here in Boston, and often we don’t see it. I think that Mayor Walsh trying to raise awareness is a really good development,” she said.
Lee also described the situations for victims of human trafficking and said many of them badly need help.
“People get hidden away in homes, and they’re exploited. They sometimes don’t have money. They don’t have relatives in the area. They don’t have documents,” she said. “Often, they’ve been tricked into coming into the U.S. or they’re sometimes even American minors that have been taken.”
GIFT Box will be at Faneuil Hall in Downtown Boston as part of its New England tour, running from May 4 to May 14. The tour will also take the exhibit to Boston College, University of Massachusetts Lowell and University of New Hampshire.
Several residents said the exhibit is a good addition to the city, but it won’t accomplish as much as the City officials might be intending.
El’cid Shahroozi, 66, of Boston, said Walsh is pursuing too many new projects to have any of them be effective.
“If it is in the name of the mayor, it won’t get anywhere,” he said. “The way he’s going, trying to do so much, it has a negative effect for him.”
Keith Richards, 56, of Roxbury, said the severity of human trafficking is a problem that needs to be brought to the forefront, but unless it’s relatable to people, awareness won’t gain ground.
“It’s a common problem around the globe, but awareness in this country is so media driven that it also seems limited,” he said. “It can’t hurt, but unless these things touch close to home, the majority of the public will stay unaware of it.”
DJ Steele, 23, of Allston, said that rather than an exhibit, the City of Boston should be putting funding toward stopping human trafficking rather than hosting an exhibit.
“There is so much more Boston can do if they worked on their budget,” he said. “Money can do more than awareness, unfortunately.”
Monique Avila contributed to the reporting of this article.
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