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The movie 12 Years a Slave depicts an awful scenario: a free man kidnapped and sold into bondage. The events of the film are disturbing, but in the minds of many, theyre also remote and more than a century old.

Yet slavery is a much larger part of our world than most Americans particularly, Southerners would like to admit. And sadly, its still very much a reality.

Modern slaverys driving force is the same as its always been: money. It comes in many forms, and preys on the most vulnerable: a teenage girl forced into prostitution; an immigrant blackmailed by an employer holding the deportation lever; a debt-burdened worker kept underwater by a crooked boss.

Last month, President Barack Obama proclaimed January 2014 National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. Citing the Emancipation Proclamation, the president said that modern-day slavery is a global tragedy that requires international effort to combat.

On Jan. 25, the city of Orlando, the Greater Orlando Human Trafficking Task Force and the Florida Abolitionist Group are giving citizens an opportunity to unite locally against modern-day slavery during Human Trafficking Awareness Day at the amphitheater in Lake Eola Park.

The event runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a Break These Chains freedom walk from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Information booths, live entertainment, food and childrens activities will be featured, and proceeds go toward assisting human trafficking victims.

This venue is apt for the Sunshine State, which, according to the Florida National Organization for Women, has one of the highest rates of human trafficking in the nation, along with California and New York.

State Department figures estimate the total number of people enslaved in the world at 27 million the highest in human history.

Perhaps it wont take a gory civil war to end modern slavery, but anyone who wants to be part of a solution should try making it out to Lake Eola on to support the efforts against todays most heinous criminal enterprise.

Tags: human trafficking awareness, Lake Eola, modern slavery, Orlando

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Human Trafficking Awareness Day at Lake Eola Park on Jan. 25

Claims of human rights violations following the Christchurch earthquake are about to be put under the international spotlight at the United Nations.

The day-to-day challenges of life post-quake have slipped from international headlines, but now the United Nations wants to know how people are coping.

Justice Minister Judith Collins will present a report on New Zealand's human rights record for other countries to critique.

Ms Collins is currently in London for meetings and will travel to Geneva, where she will present the first update on human rights in New Zealand since 2009.

"The Human Rights Commission have been reasonably critical of some of the work that has gone on there, so that is certainly something I will be speaking on," says Ms Collins. "[I] hope to bring [a] reality check about what happens when you have 11,000-plus earthquakes over [a] matter of two years."

Christchurch residents group CanCERN lodged a formal complaint with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development last month over hundreds of alleged human rights violations, including poor health as a result of delays with the Earthquake Commission and insurance companies.

Ms Collins says she wonders "how it could" amount to a human rights violation, "given that we aren't in charge of the earthquakes".

An area Ms Collins admits New Zealand can improve on is its figures on domestic violence and social inequality for Maori - the focus of New Zealand's last human rights review.

"It's not something we should say we're completely proud of our record. What [we] can say is [we are] very proud of the steps we've taken and that we are very honest about the situation."

After Ms Collins has presented the report, United Nations member countries report back with recommendations for New Zealand to improve human rights. However, the recommendations are not legally binding as it's effectively just suggestions.

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Collins puts NZ human rights under the spotlight