Fighting Sex Trafficking One Tweet at a Time

By Felicia Mann

A Florida journalist plans to fight sex trafficking one "tweet" at a time by using the social networking site Twitter to mobilize 9,000 people to give $9 on Sept. 9. Diana Scimone, founder of Born to Fly International, a nonprofit child advocacy organization, hopes to raise $81,000 tomorrow to begin printing Born to Fly, a children's book she wrote to raise awareness among children and parents about the sex trafficking industry. "Each year more than a million children are lured into slavery around the world," Scimone said. "Imagine what a dent we can make in the trafficking pipeline if we educate kids and their parents about the tactics traffickers use before they show up at their doorstep." Scimone says the $9.5 billion sex trade industry, which she says has reached "pandemic" proportions both inside and outside the U.S., is built on unsuspecting children whom traffickers entice with promises of "employment." Scimone said she has personally witnessed the power of "twitterthons" to bring awareness to important causes.