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The Lion's Roar

The Official Student News Media of Southeastern Louisiana University

The Lion's Roar

The Official Student News Media of Southeastern Louisiana University

The Lion's Roar

    Miss Southeastern advocates to end human trafficking

    The Lion’s Roar / File Photo
    Miss Southeastern 2016 Alexis LaPlante will be representing the university at Miss Louisiana 2016. Her platform “Trafficking Hope” advocates to abolish all forms of human trafficking throughout the world.

    Every year, participants in the Miss Louisiana beauty pageant choose a platform in order to raise awareness, money or implement a program to help various causes. Since before she was crowned Miss Southeastern 2016, senior kinesiology major Alexis LaPlante has been hard at work promoting her platform “Trafficking Hope.”

    LaPlante picked her platform in order to fight human trafficking and hopes to spread awareness of this horrendous issue while supporting the recovery of former victims. 

    “I chose this platform because these victims are just like me,” said LaPlante. “They have dreams and hopes for a future just like we all do. I couldn’t imagine my whole life being stolen from me just like it has been for every person in the trafficking business. I am tired of being apathetic to the injustice going on in my community, state, nation and world.”

    Through transition homes called Hope Houses, women who were victims of a horrible social injustice can find hope and restoration in their lives again. 

    LaPlante emphasizes that being aware of the issue of trafficking is one of the most beneficial ways to fight trafficking.

    “Awareness is the best weapon we have in this fight,” said LaPlante. “One of my biggest concerns is educating as many people as I can about the prevalence of human trafficking. The more knowledge a person has about this, the less of a chance they will fall victim to a trafficker.”

    Miss Southeastern 2016 also encourages people to stay safe with whom they trust on the Internet and in life.

    “Human trafficking does not discriminate,” said LaPlante. “Where there is an Internet connection, there is trafficking, and it doesn’t matter who you are or where you’ve came from. Most people like to think that people are kidnaped into this life, but traffickers are much smarter than this. They know exactly what to do and what to say to seduce you into a life that you believe will be great and wonderful. Once they have you and you realize what’s really going on, it can be too late. I need my fellow lions and people in the community to be careful who they put their trust into, especially if it’s a friend online.”

    LaPlante has been promoting her platform to the Hammond community and the university to not only raise awareness but also cause a positive impact. 

    “If I could save just one person from becoming another statistic, then my mission as Miss Southeastern would be complete,” said LaPlante. “I have hosted an awareness event at the SLU baseball game to not only raise money for Hope House, but also to promote education on this subject by handing out flyers and information brochures. Just recently I also held a clothing drive to collect donations for the women at Hope House, so that they may have beautiful new summer clothes to choose from. I have also visited local organizations to share more information about human trafficking and educate their directors about signs of a human trafficking victim.”

    The title of Miss Louisiana is more than just a crown, and LaPlante hopes to show by example what it would mean to fill her shoes. 

    “By hosting these events and visiting local organizations, I believe I am promoting exactly what Miss Louisiana is all about: service,” said LaPlante. “It’s the job of a title holder to be a title doer, and to serve her community to the best of her ability.”

    Though the title of Miss Louisiana changes from year to year, LaPlante plans to continue promoting her platform after participating in the Miss Louisiana 2016 Beauty Pageant taking place Jun. 23 to 25.

    “I believe I will always be connected to this platform, no matter if I have a crown on my head or not,” said LaPlante. “This is so much bigger than a beauty pageant or myself. It’s about freeing the captive. It’s about speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves. While I cannot say specifically how I will be involved with Trafficking Hope in the future because so many things are at work in my life, I will always be the loudest voice for those in destitution and an advocate for change.”

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