Selena Gomez once kept her anti-human-trafficking work quiet; what the organisation she volunteered with actually does

Selena Gomez has spent much of her life in the public eye, but not every part of her work has been about music, acting or fashion. In 2018, the singer revealed that she had quietly spent six months volunteering with A21, a nonprofit working to combat human trafficking.

Gomez said she wanted to understand the organisation’s work before speaking about it publicly. Her involvement also brought attention to the people working to rescue trafficking victims and support survivors.

Why did Selena Gomez keep her work with A21 private

In her October 2018 cover interview with ELLE, Gomez explained that she had started volunteering with A21 in March. The singer, then 26, said she was introduced to the organisation by Christine Caine, its co-founder, through a connection at her Los Angeles church, Hillsong.

Gomez admitted that talking about the work was not easy for her.

“I wasn't going to immediately start discussing it. It's out of my comfort zone,” she told ELLE. “I needed to be fully immersed in it.”

She also knew that some people might assume she was speaking out to attract attention. But Gomez said that was not her reason for going public.

“What a great thing another celebrity is doing… That's not why I want to talk about it. I can't be silent about this.”

After a year of personal ups and downs, Gomez said she wanted to focus on helping others rather than taking more for herself.

“I had been working for so long, and I don't like taking things in my life. I just wanted to serve.”

She also shared photos and videos from her visits with A21, giving her followers a glimpse of work she had previously kept private.

What does A21 do to fight human trafficking

Australian activist Christine Caine, A21 works to combat human trafficking and what it describes as injustice in the 21st century. It was created in 2008. The organization partners with local governments, police departments and other nonprofit groups.

Their efforts involve teaching people about trafficking, assisting officials in bringing victims and offering support to those who have been affected.

As stated in a message A21 shared with Broadly, the organization put 81 traffickers behind bars during its ten years. It also said 134 survivors entered personalised aftercare programmes in 2017 alone, while more than 17,000 volunteers had been trained to identify victims.

The organisation described its mission this way: “We are the abolitionists of the 21st century (hence the name “A21“), and we work with local governments, partner NGOs and others to free slaves and disrupt the demand for trafficked men, women, and children,”

A21 also reported that mere 1% of human trafficking victims are rescued, highlighting the scale of the challenge facing organisations working in this field.

The US Department of Homeland Security defines human trafficking as “modern-day slavery and involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act.”

Gomez uses her platform to draw attention to trafficking

Gomez's involvement placed her among celebrities such as Jada Pinkett-Smith, Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore who have supported efforts to combat human trafficking.

Her decision to speak publicly was not about promoting a new project or fashion collection. Instead, she wanted to bring attention to an issue that she found difficult to comprehend.

“The idea of human trafficking to me is… I’m flabbergasted,” Gomez told ELLE. By sharing her experience with A21, Gomez helped introduce more people to the organisation's work and the challenges faced by trafficking victims. The information is taken from Vice, People and a report by Yahoo Life.