The Central Missouri Stop Trafficking Coalition and MU’s Stop Traffic organization co-sponsored the second “Freedom by Fashion” event Sunday.

The event, held in Jesse Auditorium, centered around a fashion show featuring student and locally designed fair trade clothing.

In addition to the runway event, local fair trade businesses sold jewelry and accessories, and local restaurants served samples. There was also a silent auction.

Stop Traffic, MU’s anti-human trafficking organization, has been promoting human trafficking awareness in central Missouri for years. In 2008, the group hosted a conference in Columbia that sparked the formation of CMSTC, a community coalition against human trafficking.

CMSTC also used the event to celebrate several milestones in Missouri anti-trafficking legislation.

“We’re also using the event to highlight some of the successes that we’ve had in the past year,” CMSTC co-chairwoman Deb Hume said.

Hume is also the faculty advisor for Stop Traffic.

In July 2011, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon signed legislation that will expand the legal definition of human trafficking in Missouri.

“It also provides a framework for how the state is going to develop a plan for dealing with human trafficking,” Hume said.

Some CMSTC members, including Hume, testified in front of the Missouri state legislature as advocates for the bill.

Missouri was also recently recognized by the Polaris Project, a national organization that works to prevent human trafficking, as a leader in human trafficking legislation.

In addition, Kansas City was selected as one of six locations in the country to be designated as an Anti-Trafficking Coordination Team by the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Labor. The program is part of a nationwide anti-trafficking effort.

Human trafficking, as defined by the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, is a “modern-day form of slavery.” Human trafficking victims might be forced or coerced into performing labor or sexual acts against their will.

“Human trafficking is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world,” Stop Traffic Treasurer Kelsey Saragnese said in an introduction to the runway event.

Saragnese is also the student representative for CMSTC.

During her introduction, Saragnese urged patrons to consider purchasing fair trade products.

“By buying fair trade you are ensuring that whoever made that good was paid a living wage and was treated with dignity and respect,” she said.

Elizabeth D’Agostino of CMSTC also introduced the event, raising awareness about human trafficking and why it is so prevalent throughout the world.

“Simply put, humans can be sold again and again,” she said.

D’Agostino also recognized the importance of the date of the event: the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

“I say that this is the perfect day to remember that we all deserve freedom,” she said.

Guest speaker Caroline Germann discussed her advocacy efforts after years as a sex-traffic victim.

“People really do make it out of this lifestyle,” she said during her speech.

Together, the two organizations co-hosted the event for the second time. This year, organizers tried to raise student awareness about human trafficking.

“Last year we had (Freedom by Fashion) off-campus,” Stop Traffic President Sarah Mason said. “This year we really wanted to vamp it up and get students involved.”

All proceeds from the event went towards CMSTC and Stop Traffic’s anti-human trafficking efforts.