In March through her partnership with Coach, Selena Gomez started working with A21, a non-profit devoted to ending human trafficking and abolishing slavery forever. She recently opened up to E! Newsabout why the cause matters so much to her and what inspired her recent trip to Europe to meet with victims of the $150 billion trafficking industry. She said that while there’s nothing wrong with celebs giving money to fight slavery and human trafficking, she wanted something she could contribute her time to, instead. She also admitted that she feels “a little selfish” about it because she genuinely loves being involved in the cause, which she finds people have trouble talking about. “I take it extremely serious [sic] and my friends are heavily involved with me because it’s not something happening a million miles away. It’s actually happening here,” she said. As for the victims she met recently, the singer, who teared up discussing her trip, explained, “I want them to be seen, you know, so I want to be able to communicate that to them that they are beautiful and I will do everything I can to get their story out.” She added that she’s working on new music inspired by the experiences she’s had with A21. “I’ve wanted to take my time and be intentional with it. I am very proud of it. I think it’s gonna be exciting.”
