Less than a month ago, a young dynamic group of professionals launched a social media campaign to present a series of events during Black History Month aimed at saving Atlanta’s historic Auburn Avenue. On February 1, 2014, the Sweet Auburn Experience launches with “Justice for Girls:  A Sweet Auburn Journey to Prevent Child Sex Trafficking”, an exciting 1-day adventure bringing awareness to this very serious social emergency and providing life changing opportunities for young girls.
 
A team of concerned community groups including the Sweet Auburn Experience, SCLC’s Justice for Girls initiative, Mamie Till Mobley Foundation and the Apex Museum among others will unite to present girls, ages 10 – 17 and from diverse demographic and geographic backgrounds, to a vast array of historic, cultural, ethnic and social themes as an avenue to help tackle current problems that expose our young girls to child sex trafficking.  
 
Child sex trafficking and exploitation is a major human rights violation affecting more than 100,000 Americans under the age of 18 in the United States. The average teen is lured, coerced, or forced into this billion-dollar sex trade between 12 – 14 years of age.  Many victims are runaway girls who have been sexually abused or vulnerable to self-defeating behaviors and environments.  Atlanta, Georgia, along with other metropolitan cities, has been identified as a major hub for this underground world, which is responsible for the exploitation, demoralization, and theft of innocence of our young girls.  
 
Components of the Justice for Girls: Sweet Auburn Journey event include walking and guided tours of significant historic locations on Auburn Avenue and surrounding areas, informative discussion sessions, and an engaging lunch session among many other planned activities.
 
Victoria Pannell, a 15-year-old Emmett Till Ambassador and staunch youth advocate against human trafficking, who is also participating in this event, states,“Trafficking is so lucrative because you can sell a girl over and over again but drugs you can only sell once.”  Watch Victoria’s PSA for FairGirls.org

In the coming days, the Sweet Auburn Experience will announce several more events in the areas of Civil and Human Rights, Technology, Business, Education and more and are urging the community to get involved and join in these efforts as they strive to make a difference through their various initiatives.

For more information, to join the Sweet Auburn Experience, and/or to become a sponsor of this event, Please Visit: www.sweetauburnexperience.com  or Email: info@sweetauburnexperience.com