When human trafficking makes the news, law enforcement and policymakers often take center stage as leaders and heroes in anti-trafficking. But, with far less fanfare, one unexpected group has been implementing successful programs to not only prevent trafficking but to rehabilitate survivors: nuns. Talitha Kum, which loosely translates from Aramaic to "young girl, arise," is a Sister-led coalition that has been operating since 2009 and is present in 92 countries. January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month. Girl Friday asks: What can we learn from nuns around the world?

Today, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service released troubling data: 2020 tied 2016 as the two hottest years on record and 2010 to 2020 was the hottest decade on record. Temperatures in 2020 were 1.08 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the average temperature from 1981 to 2010. Why is this happening?

Wishing you and your families, friends, and communities a very happy new year! Thank you for joining me on this Girl Friday adventure.

Enacted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on September 4, 2020, the national eviction moratorium will end on January 1, 2021. The moratorium was designed to help slow the spread of COVID-19 using housing as a means of social distancing, but even this nationwide health policy did not successfully prevent all evictions. Who is tracking evictions and what can we do to advocate for fair and inclusive policies? Girl Friday thinks these questions are worth investigating.

On November 23rd, Pope Francis called an unprecedented meeting with several National Basketball Association (NBA) players and National Basketball Players Association officials to discuss their ongoing work regarding social justice issues. The group included Jonathan Isaac, Kyle Korver, Sterling Brown, and National Basketball Players Association representatives Michele Roberts, Marco Belinelli and Anthony Toliver.

After a 17-year hiatus, in the summer of 2020, Attorney General William Barr announced that the U.S. government would resume federal executions. Two people, Brandon Bernard and Alfred Bourgeois, were executed the week of December 7, 2020 as a result of this federal action. Three more people face execution before President-Elect Biden assumes office in January 2021. In a nation conflicted by issues of racial justice, freedom, and the protection of civil liberties, several questions have emerged: What is the threshold for the death penalty? Is it the commission of a crime? Simply being present at the scene of a crime? Hiding evidence? Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative says, “I think the threshold question is, ‘Do we deserve to kill?'”