The hashtag #RealMenDontBuyGirls has joined forces with the “Bring Back Our Girl’s” campaign in response to the attack in Nigeria that involved the Boko Haram militants kidnapping more than 200 school girls.
According to BBC News , the hashtag #RealMenDon’tBuyGirls has been trending in the US, Nigeria, Spain, the UK and elsewhere and is being used alongside the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls to draw more attention to the situation in Nigeria.
While the “Real Men Don’t Buy Girls” campaign has been quickly gaining supporters over the past few days, the campaign was actually started back in 2011 by Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore according to Yahoo News . The campaign was started as an effort to fight human trafficking, particularly the trafficking of children into the sex trade.
“The issue of sex slavery is more monumental than most people realize, and we’re trying to get the word out. Even though slavery was abolished hundreds of years ago, more people are slaves today than ever before and the numbers are soaring,” Kutcher said in a statement. “Men, women and children are enslaved for many purposes including sex, pornography, forced labor and indentured servitude.”
Much like the “Bring Back Our Girl’s” campaign, the “Real Men Don’t Buy Girls” has many followers, including the everyday individual and the well-known celebrities. Stars such as Ashton Kutcher, Justin Timberlake, Jamie Foxx and Drake have all joined the campaign, many sharing photos of themselves holding signs that read “Real Men Don’t Buy Girls” and “Stop Human Trafficking.”
The story behind the #RealMenDontBuyGirls campaign http://t.co/t0QHve8eLI #BringBackOurGirls pic.twitter.com/74GVCEtWb9
— BBC Trending (@BBCtrending) May 8, 2014
Reports state that many of the images popping up around the internet are from the original “Real Men Don’t Buy Girls” campaign, and are being recycled by the average twitter users in order to help show their support for the “Bring Back Our Girl’s” campaign. Many believe the campaign fits the situation at hand considering the leader of the Boko Haram has threatened to sell the Nigerian girls as sex slaves.
Other big names who have joined the “Bring Back Our Girl’s” campaign include Michelle Obama , Reese Witherspoon, Kim and Khloe Kardashian, Jessica Biel and Naomi Campbell according to E! News .
Heartbreaking #bringbackourgirls http://t.co/TbmkEQAnC3
— Kourtney Kardashian (@kourtneykardash) May 8, 2014
this is heartbreaking. please help raise awareness! let’s #BringBackOurGirls http://t.co/S0WCFgiHZ7
— Kendall Jenner (@KendallJenner) May 8, 2014
Thank you FLOTUS for joining #BringBackOurGirls and may this be the beginning of end of terror in Nigeria.
— rachael ray (@rachaelray) May 8, 2014
Empowering our youth through education is the TRUE key to hope-let’s use our voices,innovation&collective power to #BringBackOurGirls NOW!!!
— ian somerhalder (@iansomerhalder) May 7, 2014
[Image via UN Women Twitter Feed]
