AURORA | It was the sheer horror of the stories and statistics that persuaded Kimba Langas to take action.

Langas heard tales of adolescent girls enslaved in countries in Africa and Asia, chained to sewing machines by day and moved to brothels by night. She learned that the same slaves were murdered after serving their purpose, that their organs were commonly sold on the black market for a final profit. Then there were the numbers: Human trafficking is an international trade that claims up to 28 million victims and generates about $42 billion every year. All of it was a wake-up call for this suburban mom from Highlands Ranch.

“I thought we’d abolished slavery long ago,” Langas told an audience gathered at the Community College of Aurora rotunda last week. She spoke at the end of a day filled with lectures and presentations for “Take Back the Night,” a national event held April 18 geared toward increasing awareness about rape and other forms of sexual violence. “You can sell a person more than once. The punishments are not severe enough.

“That’s where we can help in our communities,” Langas added.

That emphasis on the community, awareness and action was a common theme during the “Take Back the Night” event at CCA. Detectives and victims’ advocacy officials from Aurora Police gave presentations about sexual violence. Chris Turnquist of the Parker Academy of Martial Arts gave free self-defense demonstrations, and a poster exhibit by CCA students explored the psychology of gender issues through photos, graphics and numbers.

“This day of free expression encourages members of the CCA and greater Aurora communities to come together and demand an end to sexual assault and violence,” organizer and CCA psychology faculty Jennifer Dale said in a statement.

Langas, an Emmy Award-winning television producer who lives in Highlands Ranch with her family, said it was the sobering toll of the modern slave trade that made her decide to join the cause. Langas and Terpstra wanted to find an effective way to help, a solution that could draw on a wide range of support. As Terpstra asks in the company’s mission statement: “What if we gave the average woman the opportunity to partner with women who have been rescued from human trafficking?”

The answer, it turned out, was all about bras.

The nonprofit collects used bras from donors across the U.S., Europe and Australia and in turn sends the stock to women rescued from sex trafficking living in safehouses. Bras are accessible in the West, but they’re still a rarity in the third-world countries where human trafficking is still such a serious issue. In countries like Mozambique, Kenya and Uganda, bras are a luxury item that can fetch top dollar in second-hand clothing markets. A disposible item in the U.S. can bring in good money for former victims of the slave trade. Langas said the nonprofit sent 32,000 bras to Mozambique last year, and added that women in the program have made up to five times the minimum wage by selling the used clothes.

The effort has drawn global support and international media attention. “Free the Girls” was the focus of a 2012 CNN documentary, and Langas showed clips from the program during the CCA presentation. The push also inspired local contributions – dozens of bras contributed by CCA students and other supporters hung from the rotunda ceiling as Langas spoke.

It was a simple reminder of an epidemic that claims millions every year. For perspective, Langas compared the average cost of a human slave in 1809 to the cost 200 years later. Adjusted for inflation, the average price in 1809 for a human being was $40,000. In 2009, that price was $90.

“A victim need not be transported from one location to another to be a slave,” she said. “They become disposable people.”

Reach reporter Adam Goldstein at agoldstein@aurorasentinel.com or 720-449-9707