Three LexisNexis US employees climb Mount Rainier to create greater awareness of human trafficking
The practice of human trafficking is a $12 billion industry and the fastest-growing organized criminal activity in the world. An estimated two to four million young women and children will be sold into prostitution every 12 months and many children, as young as five years old, are sold into sexual slavery for as little as $10.
LexisNexis is committed to helping eradicate this practice by providing monetary support and legal and technical advice to organizations, such as the Somaly Mam Foundation, which work at a grass-roots level to rescue victims and offer them shelter, safety, counselling, education, vocational skills and assistance transitioning back into society. Somaly Mam is a former victim of the Cambodian slave trade and one of the most prolific activists in the fight against human trafficking today. She has rescued and successfully rehabilitated over 4,000 young women and children.
Andy Prozes, CEO, LexisNexis Group has stated that "Where human trafficking exists, the Rule of Law cannot exist." The absence of Rule of Law, the basic principle that no one is above the law, provides a breeding ground for human rights atrocities such as human trafficking. Jeff Bodem, Kate Gruber and Tony Monaco, all part of the same business unit for LexisNexis US Legal Markets, climbed Mount Rainier and unfurled the Somaly Mam Foundation banner from the summit.
"In addition to raising awareness, we hope to inspire others to take action by writing their legislators to protest human trafficking and ensure the presence of the Rule of Law," said Gruber, a LexisNexis Client Manager. “If we pressure governments to enact new or more severe legislation against the practice and ensure allocation of adequate resources toward enforcement of those laws, we can wipe out industry demand.”
Bodem, Gruber and Monaco spent the 12 months preparing for their summit attempt of Mount Rainier, the highest peak in the Cascade Range, at 14,410 feet. Rainier is the most extensively glaciated volcanic peak in the contiguous United States. Most climbers require two to three days to reach the summit and about half of the attempts are successful, with weather and conditioning being the most common reasons for failure. About three to five mountaineering deaths occur each year due to rock and ice fall, avalanche, and hypothermia associated with severe weather.
"Somaly Mam and LexisNexis’ efforts have inspired us, and we have an opportunity to create additional awareness to a cause we all agreed was worth the risk," said Bodem, a LexisNexis Manager. “As a father of three young daughters, I struggle with teaching them how one person can make a difference. I now realize there is no better way to teach our children and inspire others than through action.”
"It’s been both challenging and rewarding pushing yourself to your physical limits in dangerous places where help is not around the corner," said Tony Monaco, a LexisNexis Practice Management Specialist.
The trio’s preparation included training climbs in the North Carolina Appalachian range, Arizona and Colorado. Monaco said, "We have sacrificed a lot of personal time preparing, but it makes it all that much more rewarding to take this opportunity to create greater awareness for this cause."
"We want to inspire our families, children, co-workers and others that they can make a difference. It’s easy to get self-absorbed today, to tighten your wallet, to turn away from everything going on in the world. We just want to do our small part along with LexisNexis to raise awareness and to help others in need. If one person reads this and acts, we have accomplished much more than just summiting a mountain," said Bodem.