Two speakers from a non-profit, anti-trafficking organization, Out Of Darkness, will speaking at Piedmont College on Feb. 26 at 4:30 p.m.  Out Of Darkness works to rescue and restore life for women and young girls who have been illegally sex trafficked in the metro Atlanta area.  Tammy Kennedy and Joy Grant from the organization are excited to come out to the North Georgia Mountains into Demorest to educate and bring awareness about this major issue in our state. 

Kennedy and Grant will be speaking about the reality of the Atlanta sex trade.  Kennedy will be sharing her testimony as well.

Atlanta is currently the number one hub city in the world for sex trafficking.  In 2014, 20.9 million people were victims of sex trafficking.  Each month there are 300 girls sex trafficked through Atlanta according to a study done by Urban Institute.  Xandy Green, a senior Piedmont mass communications major, will be hosting the event as part of her capstone.

Green encourages students, faculty, and the community to come out to learn how to help these victims.

“These women and children are helpless victims if we as a society continue to ignore a problem as detrimental as this.  We cannot assume that every woman we see on the streets of Atlanta choose to be a prostitute by her own free will.  The first step in helping them is to become educated, and Ms. Kennedy and Ms. Grant are going to help us become more aware,” she said.

The speaking event will be on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015.  Refreshments will be offered from 4:30 pm to 6:30 p.m. in the Brookside Dining Room, which is the dining hall underneath the Nelson Dining Hall.