Name:Ā Melissa Villalta
Year: Sophomore
Major: International Affairs
Hometown: Stewart, FL
Relationship Status: Single
Photo By: Annie Grafe
Her Campus (HC): Can you tell me a little about yourself?Ā
Melissa Villalta (MV): Iām a sophomore at FSU and my major is International Affairs. Iām a Christian and my faith is really important to me and defines who I am. It goes into every part of my life, including human rights advocacy. I just really want to base my life off of serving others and I think thatās how a Christian should live, and thatās who I strive to be.
HC: What do you hope to do after you get your undergraduate degree?
MV: I hope to go to law school and to one day work with IJM (International Justice Mission) which is a human rights organization. But other than career things, I want to travel and visit other countries.
HC: Youāre the president of Freedom at FSU. Can you tell me more about the organization?
MV:Ā We are passionate about the cause and specifically we want to target college students to help raise awareness of what human trafficking is. Weāre trying to work on events that will promote the club so people will actually know about the crime and how severe it is and that itās not just happening abroad. Weāre trying to do as many events as we can; creating ideas and implementing those ideas, so people will know more about human trafficking.
HC: Do you have any events that are coming up that you would like to talk about?
MV: Yes, weāre planning a Human Rights RSO fair hopefully this upcoming month, but I will keep you updated.
HC: What are some of the typical things you discuss in a meeting?
MV: We have a presentation about some form of human trafficking every meeting. So for example, some things weāve done in the past are talk about human trafficking from a specific country. Thereās a town in Mexico where they basically raise boys to be pimps. Itās this machismo culture where men are told that they have to dominate women, and they lure them into human trafficking. Weāve also done topics on organ trafficking, or case studies about women in different countries.
HC: Youāve talked about all these things that are happening abroad, but is human trafficking something that affects the United States as well?
MV: Yeah, it definitely does. It happens everywhere, even here in Tallahassee. We have a Center for the Advancement of Human Rights here at FSU and I know that the director, Terry Coonan, has talked about certain cases in Leon County and I think some surrounding counties as well, about people that were being trafficked and exploited. I know that there was a domestic service case where a woman was trapped inside a home and forced to work for a family for a while. She finally escaped because a neighbor noticed that she was trying to bathe herself outside. After a couple months went by, she went to that neighborās house and escaped. She couldnāt speak English so the neighbor helped her and she realized that she was being forced to work against her will and was also a victim of human trafficking. Another case was when homeless men in Tallahassee were being forced to use drugs by some pimp. The pimp, who was selling them, kept giving them these drugs until they became addicted. This was the way that the pimp had control over them. They were forced work in some way to get the drug. These are all local cases. Even on I-10 Iāve heard of cases where truck drivers have been found carrying children in the back of their trucks. So this is definitely something that is prominent here in the United States and even Tallahassee.
HC: After hearing such terrible cases like this, are there more ways that people can get involved? How can people involved with Freedom?
MV: We have a Facebook page called Freedom at FSU and we update that a lot. Students can go on to Nole Central and find Freedom at FSU. Iām the primary contact listed there, so students can find my information and email me. If you request membership, I can add you to our roster. Coming to the meetings is a great way to get involved.Ā If you canāt come however, donāt feel like you canāt be involved. Weāre trying to implement events so come to those of you can or volunteer if you can. There is also The Center for the Advancement of Human Rights so I would contact them if you have any questions about how to get involved as well.
HC: That sounds like a lot of ways to get involved! I have one more question for you though. If you could say one last thing to the Her Campus audience about human trafficking and how important it is to stop it, what would you say?
MV: I would say that the first step is caring. Try to become more aware of what is going on in the world. Trafficking happens everywhere, including Tallahassee, so just know that this happens so close to home. This is an issue thatās really affecting people negatively, but the fact that we live in Americaā¦ weāre so blessed. We have the ability to help people. Even as a college student, do your part and tell people about it. It could even be something as simple as sharing an article on Facebook.Ā Just try to be an advocate. You donāt have to be a āsuperā advocate but doing your part can go a long way.Ā Every part is significant so donāt get discouraged by the fact that youāre only a college student.
Freedom at FSU meets every other Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Strozier Library (room numbers change each week).Ā