traffic.

Whenever I watch Slumdog Millionaire it makes me cry when the little kids have their eyes cut out so that they can make more money singing and begging, money which of course goes to the 'boss' - the person who blinded them in the first place for a little more profit. And Taken makes me feel so sick when Liam Neelson finds his daughter's friend, captured for sex and forced into being a herion addict.

According to a source on the internet an "estimated 2.5 million people are in forced labour, including sexual exploitation, at any given time as a result of trafficking". 2.5 million. Are you fucking kidding me? Here we are complaining about our boring jobs or our annoying boyfriend or our stupid sister and little girls all over the world are being sold, often by their own parents, to "please" richer men. Little boys are being forced to work in factories with deadly chemicals and no protective gear.

I understand that in some countries families are so poor the children have to work. I understand that I can't possibly understand what they're going through and how extreme their situations must be. I know that a lot of the time children are stolen and forced into trafficking. But I also know that often the parents give consent. Selling your own daughter to be raped over and over, that I can't understand.

And whenever someone says human trafficking, your mind automatically jumps to Asia. This is fair enough, considering 56% of trafficking occurs in Asia. But stats say 161 countries are affected by human trafficking, an industry that makes an annual US $31.6 billion in profits worldwide. It's not just under-developed countries. We can't just shrug it off and say "it doesn't happen here". It's everywhere. It amazes me how that sort of shit can be going on in countries we consider privileged. How have we not moved past this? How do the people in this industry think this is ok? Is there just no ounce of respect for these victim's lives at all?

I have no idea what to do to help this situation. And I know that sounds pathetic. Here I am feeling fucking sick to my stomach over it, yet not doing anything to stop it. It's completely over-whelming, I wouldn't even know where to start. I read an article about a guy in America who was in a Thai restuarant and he found it odd that all the staff barely spoke to him and never made eye contact. When he asked them what they did outside of work "fear gripped their eyes". He said "the man I assumed to be the manager looked at the actions of the staff not as an employer but as a slavemaster". The area this restaurant was in is now being looked at (http://istoptraffic.com/). One guy, noticed something suspicious and told someone about it. It might not be much, but it's better than nothing.

We take so much for granted in our lives and we push so much aside because it's too hard to deal with, to sad and sickening to think about, too far away to help. We all do, I do. Tonight I'm going to say a prayer for all the people forced into something so inhumane and be so absolutely grateful that I was born in Perth, Australia.

twenty-one.

I’ve had a lot going on in the past month (which clearly explains why it’s taken me this long to write). Travelling to Melbourne, watching the amazing Eminem perform, planning and celebrating my 21^st birthday and writing off my car in a crash. It’s my birthday that holds precedence in my mind though. Twenty one is supposed to be the big one – something about officially becoming an adult. In a way that’s very true, though legally we’re all adults at 18, the maturity you gain between 18 and 21 is huge. People can grow up more in those three years than the rest of their lives. 

At 18 you’re just out of high school, you’re still getting your head around being at the bottom of the food chain again (like when you went from being the king of primary school  to a lowly year eight) and taking on the ‘real world’. By 21 you’ve hopefully made some sort of decision about where you want to go in life and some sort of move to get you there. In my case, you’ve graduated uni (again, starting at the bottom … does that never end?). You’ve either gotten closer to the friends you made in your teen years or you’ve moved apart and moved on, hopefully for the better. In my case, I know the people who mean the most to me and I was lucky enough to spend my birthday with them. A lot of people want a big blow out for their 21^st … I just wanted the people I actually care about. I have some truly amazing people in my life and they all managed to spoil me for my birthday, too.

I also realised this was the first birthday I’ve been single for in five years. A friend asked if I was happy about that, to which I had to stop and think because the question never occurred to me before. It might have been nice to have someone stand up and tell everyone how much they love me … though maybe that’s just because my favourite part of 21^st’s is the speeches. In all honesty, I couldn’t be happier right now. I love being selfish with my time and I kind of love that out of nearly all my groups of friends I’m the only single one. I’ve never particularly liked following the crowd.

I really just want to take this time to thank everyone who makes my life what it is. My parents, my family, my friends, my bestfriends, you’re all incredible and I love each of you for making my life as enjoyable as it is. It’s been a great 21 years so far.