Memorial design for 21st century slavery

Memorial

Global human trafficking, and especially human sex trafficking, is a pervasive form of modern-day slavery. Throughout the world, on all six inhabited continents, women are bought and sold into slavery, trafficked illegally like guns, drugs, and other contraband, and condemned to a life of misery and abuse. As Kristof and WuDunn point out in Half the Sky, even when women are rescued from their captors, they find it difficult to reintegrate to the community because they have no ties to friends and families. The situation is a global humanitarian crisis warranting attention and decisive action.

The film Carved from the Heart demonstrates the way that physical memorials are public places and spaces that can commemorate the past while paving way for the future. A memorial can anchor the public consciousness on a specific issue, such as human trafficking. When a memorial is large, placed strategically, and promoted through tourism and education, and it can become a powerful visual reminder of suffering and motivator to initiate change.

This is a proposal for a memorial to those who have suffered and continue to suffer as the result of human trafficking and sex slavery. However, this memorial is also about hope, change, and taking action. It is a large-scale and ambitious memorial project with the ultimate goal of having the same memorial erected on six continents -- with at least one memorial on each. This is because human trafficking is a global problem and therefore must have a global solution. The first location will be constructed in New York City, and represent North America. Because New York is a microcosm of the world, and because it will enable high profile visitation, we believe this is the ideal place for the first human trafficking memorial. We intend to have a memorial in London to represent Europe; in Sao Paulo to represent Brazil; in Mumbai to represent Asia; and in Cape Town to represent Africa.

The overall design of the memorial is complex, highlighting the complexity of the problem we are addressing. It will be a grand memorial project on a scale not unlike those of Holocaust memorials, which often take up public spaces the size of city squares. In this case, the memorial will certainly serve as a surrogate public square -- a place around which people from all backgrounds can gather and contemplate the issues related to human trafficking. The goal is to maximize interaction with the public space and memorial, to encourage deep awareness and motivation to take action.

One of the central symbols embedded in the memorial to human trafficking will be based on one of the most ancient goddess symbols in the world, that of the double axe. This symbol represents female empowerment and has been used in women's movements before. Thus, it should be a recognizable symbol. The double axe will be carried by a large female figure who triumphantly takes a step forward. One foot is in the air, signifying movement. Her body is muscular and her eyes have a look of strong determination on them. She is depicted larger-than-life, on a scale about that of the Statue of Liberty. This woman is surrounded by smaller life-size figures of women and girls, as well as some boys to acknowledge the fact that human trafficking does affect all children. The children surrounding the woman are holding hands and moving in her direction. She is a figurehead, a positive role model for change. In its entirety, the memorial represents the empowerment of individual women and of women collectively. The memorial suggests that as we have more powerful female role models, we can achieve the goal of a global egalitarian society that does not tolerate or tacitly condone any type of human trafficking.

Several of the children in the memorial sculpture are depicted holding books. Their books represent education, and the power of information to transform lives. We project that sponsors of and donors to the memorial can inscribe their names and the names of their institutions on the books. This will alert visitors as to which organizations are committed to change. Because the memorial is located in public spaces, visitors can arrive any time of day or night to meditate on the plight of those who continue to be bought and sold into slavery. At night, the memorial is skillfully and tastefully lit to allow for contemplation.

The memorial will have a multimedia component, as there will be a QC symbol for scanning with smartphone. Visitors can scan the symbol for updates in the global quest to eliminate human trafficking and sex slavery. The visitor can learn about what he or she can do to help. The links also allow the visitor to explore some of the success stories of people who have extricated themselves from slavery. Also, the visitor can use the multimedia interaction to learn about the symbol of the double axe and other symbols of female empowerment. Other ways that visitors will interact with the memorial is by being able to physically engage with the sculptures by walking around them and through all the children. The impact will be astounding, because the artist will render the children in a lifelike manner. They are surrounding the main woman bearing the double axe. When the visitor walks around the memorial, one is offered different views of the larger-than-life woman who stands about five stories high.