The trench of conscience

The author recounts arriving at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in February 2013, a time marked by significant student unrest stemming from curriculum reforms and expulsions. Despite the turmoil, the vastness and vibrant atmosphere of UNAM's "Las Islas" campus, filled with young people not just learning professions but also discovering themselves, instilled a profound sense of freedom.

This period at UNAM was characterized by the immense power of its youth, who actively engaged in struggles, opposition, resistance, questioning, reflection, and collective decision-making. The author experienced a powerful sense of community, feeling embraced by the university's environment and committing to it.

Invited by a Law School academic, the author presented on human trafficking, a then-emerging and often invisible issue in Mexico. The General Law on the subject had been enacted only a year prior, in 2012, and the public agenda was just beginning to acknowledge this extreme form of contemporary violence akin to modern slavery. The presentation sparked intense discussions and growing indignation, revealing the true scale of the problem.

The author praises UNAM's unique virtue: its refusal to remain silent. The university fosters daily conversations often suppressed elsewhere. UNAM was not immune to the burgeoning crime of human trafficking, but the pursuit of justice and human dignity ultimately overcame silence and discomfort. This collective spirit led to the formation of activist groups like "Uno a Uno Movimiento contra la Esclavitud" (One by One Movement Against Slavery), both independently and within the university.

UNAM profoundly shaped the author's voice and spirit, transforming them into a social activist. This experience provided a new platform for struggle, which later propelled them into roles such as a popular representative in the Chamber of Deputies, collaboration with Operation Underground Railroad founder Tim Ballard, and driving initiatives to combat human trafficking, raise awareness, and understand it as the new slavery of the 21st century.