When Beth Lash read the book “Half the Sky” by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, her view of the world changed.

The Bowling Green woman learned about A21, “a campaign to abolish injustice in the 21st century,” Lash said.

“(‘Half the Sky’) is about turning bad situations into an opportunity for good. It tells a lot of stories about sex trafficking of men, women and children who came out of it and still managed to have a good life,” she said. “The book was mentioned in a daily devotional I was doing. I definitely believe it was God at work. The book just broke my heart. I looked up A21 and had to get involved.”

Lash will host an A21 Walk for Freedom, a worldwide campaign designed to bring attention to trafficking of sex, organs and forced labor, on Oct. 15 at Kereiakes Park at Saint Joseph Lane. Registration will be at 1:30 p.m. Participants can also pre-register at A21.org/bowlinggreen. The event will be from 2 pto 5 p.m. The walk will start at the park, go to Kroger on U.S. 31-W By-Pass and back, a little more than 2 miles.

Participants are asked to wear black shirts. They can purchase a shirt on the website or wear their own. Organizers will have stickers to put on their shirts.

“The way the A21 walk is different is that it is silent and single-file and people wear black,” Lash said. “A lot of people choose to put tape over their mouths to represent the 27 million people who don’t have a voice.”

Participants will also get an opportunity to write letters to survivors, Lash said.

“Another great thing about A21 is that they have recovery homes for physical, mental and emotional repair,” she said. “There will be an opportunity to write a letter of encouragement.”

A21’s goal is to raise $1 million to restore the lives of 2,000 human trafficking survivors, according to a news release.

“One step at a time. One dollar at a time. One life at a time. We will abolish modern-day slavery,”  A21 founder Christine Caine said in a news release.

Bowling Green has an “at-risk population,” Lash said.

“We have (Western Kentucky) University and the International Center (of Kentucky). Being on (Interstate) 65 makes us a high-risk population. Some people have no idea things are going on under their noses,” she said. “In October of last year, there was someone arrested for human trafficking in Bowling Green. A lot of people think of human trafficking as something that happens … halfway around the world.”

Lash wanted to find out more about A21.

“I went to Fishers, Ind., to go to the walk there,” she said. “I was determined to have a walk here.”

Stopping human trafficking was even more important to Lash because she works in child care.

“I brought it to my boss’ attention. We are on the front lines,” she said. “We may be able to identify kids who are in this situation. There are some parents who may not be able to pay for drugs and pass around their children as payment.”

Lash wants everyone to know about human trafficking, and the Walk to Freedom is a way to do to that.

“My hope is that the walk is an annual thing for Bowling Green,” she said. 

— To learn more about Walk for Freedom, email bgfreedomwalk16@gmail.com.

— Follow features reporter Alyssa Harvey on Twitter @bgdnfeatures or visit bgdailynews.com.