OSU students holding fashion show to combat human trafficking

A student organization at Ohio State University is holding a fashion show Sunday evening to combat human trafficking in Ohio.

The Unchained OSU Fashion Show, organized by a student group of the same name, will use fashion to tell the story of a survivor of human trafficking and raise funds for a special scholarship for victims. Featuring student models wearing outfits from three Columbus-based designers, the event will begin at 7 P.M. at the Great Hall Meeting Room in the Ohio Union building on campus.

“We really want to spread the word and raise awareness about what human trafficking is, and get more people out in the community to help out,” said OSU senior Hannah Mayle, 22, the co-president of OSU Unchained, who is originally from Zanesville.

Globally, an estimated 27.6 million people are exploited in forced labor, according to the International Labor Organization. Although trafficking is often associated with sex work, many victims are employed in other settings, from farms to restaurants and factories.

“A lot of people think this only happens in third world countries, but this happens in Columbus too,” said Shiva Induri, 21, of Lewis Center, Unchained's co-president with Mayle. “We have The Arnold (Sports Festival), which is coming up this weekend, and that's a huge hotspot for human trafficking. And there are cases at Polaris mall. … It's everywhere.”

Although the extent of trafficking is difficult to measure because many cases are unreported, the National Trafficking Hotline identified 450 cases in Ohio in 2019 — more than similar-size states Illinois (267) and Georgia (417), according to the nonprofit Polaris Project.

Sunday's fashion show will feature professional designers Destiny Howard and Anjali Phougat, both of whom have previously participated in New York Fashion Week. It will also feature work by Amrita Chehil and Kalpana Bisla, who founded the Indian clothing brand AK Couture.

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The models are all students whom Mayle and Induri recruited last fall.

Proceeds from ticket sales will go to a scholarship for trafficking survivors run by local nonprofit She Has a Name.

Kim Flynn, the founder and CEO of Hilltop-based nonprofit Overcomers on the Move, was previously a victim of human trafficking and helped Mayle and Induri prepare for the event.

During the show, Flynn will read aloud from a narrative she wrote about the experience of being trafficked, as well as healing and “overcoming” — a term she prefers to “surviving.”

“The definition of survivor is someone that lives through things that other people die from. And the definition of overcomer is a warrior, someone that finds strength in their weaknesses, and someone that can see life circumstances like others can't. It's just so much more meaningful and empowering for a person that has went through so much,” she said.

Tickets to the show are available through Eventbrite and can also be purchased at the door.

Peter Gill covers immigration and new American communities for The Dispatch in partnership with Report for America. You can support work like his with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America here:bit.ly/3fNsGaZ.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: OSU students hold fashion show to combat human trafficking