Making modern-day slavery a thing of the past

Church, college students will host documentary screening
by Erin Wisdom

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Two centuries ago, British abolitionists showed what slavery looked like with a sketch of a ship carrying Africans crammed inside shoulder-to-shoulder.

This image sparked the abolition movement, and in most of the world today, such inhumane treatment of humans is deemed undeniably wrong — which may be why it comes as a shock to so many that it’s still happening, and in more than a few isolated incidents.

“Two hundred years have passed since we sat down with Britain and said, ‘How do we end the slave trade?’” says Beau Walker, the teaching pastor at Make12 Church in St. Joseph. “Now we’re having this conversation again. You’d think it would be over, but it’s not.”

It’s not over because more than 30 million children, women and men around the world still live in slavery, despite laws against it. It looks different than it used to, playing out in brothels in the Philippines and brick kilns in India rather than on U.S. plantations, but it’s still slavery — and people in the St. Joseph area will have a chance to see it for what it is next week, when Make12 and Missouri Western State University host a screening of “At the End of Slavery,” a documentary created by International Justice Mission (IJM) that is narrated by Danny Glover and includes music by Moby, Johnny Cash and Trentemøller. The screening is free and will begin at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 11 in rooms 218 and 219 of Missouri Western’s Blum Union.

The reason Make12 partnered with Missouri Western, Mr. Walker says, is that college students have a lot to bring to a movement against modern-day slavery.

“When you want to get something done, you go to people who are full of energy, because they’ll make things happen,” he adds. “These are the young people who have the potential to end slavery in their lifetime.”

Holding the event on campus meant finding a student organization to sponsor it, which Make12 found in Campus Crusade for Christ. But although the screening is backed by Christian groups, its appeal is broader, says Kayla Hedrick, a Missouri Western student who has been instrumental in bringing the documentary to the university.

“It’s not something that’s just religious,” she adds. “This is humanity. This (slavery) is something everybody should be against.”

But that’s not to say there isn’t a Christian mission behind IJM; Mr. Walker notes that the organization connects people it rescues to local churches. There’s also a strong biblical tie to the work IJM does, he adds.

“God is about justice; Exodus tells about how he delivered the Israelites out of slavery,” he says. “They were making bricks, and there are still people making bricks against their will today.”

Many people trapped in this kind of work are in bonded slavery, meaning that they took out a loan — perhaps when faced with an emergency — that has an interest rate so high they’ll never be able to pay it back or work it off, says Andrea Comfort Martinez, an attorney who spent time right out of law school working for IJM by prosecuting child sex offenders in Guatemala. She will speak at the screening about her experiences during this time and also will answer audience questions.

Also at the screening, those in attendance will have a chance to sign petition cards that will go before the U.S. government, urging it to encourage other countries to enforce the laws they’ve put in place against sex trafficking and other forms of slavery. This “encouragement” can come in the form of refusing to trade with them or offer other assistance unless they do so — and when countries actually enforce the laws they already have on the books, it really is effective, Ms. Martinez says.

“In some cities, you can’t find sex trafficking in the area anymore,” she adds. “ ... I know it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the numbers and just give up, but I say, ‘Remember the one.’ If one person is set free because of your involvement, it was worth it. And people are being freed from slavery every day.”

Lifestyles reporter Erin Wisdom can be reached at ewisdom@npgco.com.

http://www.stjoenews.net/news/2009/nov/07/making-modern-day-slavery-thing-past/?diem

Baylor University || The Lariat Online || News

Nov. 10, 2009

By Caty Hirst
Copy Editor

A social work class is working together to raise awareness about human trafficking.

Students in Dr. Kim Kotrla's human trafficking class are showing a documentary Sunday released by the International Justice Mission and are urging football fans to wear purple armbands Saturday at the Baylor v. University of Texas football game. International Justice Mission is a human rights service organization that rescues men, women and children from human rights violations. One of their primary focuses is human trafficking.

"I think that we are a Christian university and as such we take advantage of [the] opportunity to show that we value those things that are in line with God's heart," said Kotrla, assistant professor in the School of Social Work. "Our God is a god of justice, and this is a justice issue."

The documentary "At the End of Slavery, The Battle for Justice in our Time," will show undercover footage about modern-day slavery and give first-person testimony from former slaves, according to the International Justice Mission Web site.

Human trafficking is a global issue that affects millions of people every year. According to International Justice Mission Web site, as the world's third largest criminal enterprise, the market value of human trafficking is in excess of $32 billion.

In 2004 alone, more people were trafficked as slaves than during the entirety of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. In 1850, a slave cost about $40,000 in modern currency. To purchase a slave today is $90. These people come from all over the world, though the majority are women and children.

More than 2 million children are trafficked into the sex trade every year and there are 27 million people living in slavery today.

Since the UT game will be covered nationally by Fox Sports Net, the students hope they can raise awareness about human trafficking on a large scale.

Pensacola, Fla., graduate student Saleta Hopkins is leading the project.

"Come to the game and wear the armbands," Hopkins said. "It is such a big game. I would love to have them pan around the audience and [have them see] everyone wearing these purple things. The curiosity will spark."

Kotrla requires her students to take on a communitywide service project of their choice.

"There were a lot of people in the class who wanted to take this on as their project, to not just raise awareness in the churches, but in the community," Kotrla said.

Hopkins stressed the need for students to be aware of the products they buy that are inadvertently promoting human trafficking. An easy way to avoid buying from companies that support human trafficking is to buy from companies that are Fair Trade certified. TransFair USA is a non-profit organization that is an objective third-party organization that certified companies based on labor standards, fair price and other standards, according to the TransFair USA Web site. Some products that have the Fair Trade certification include sugar, chocolate, vanilla, tea, rice and coffee.

"Every aspect of our life is touched by human trafficking and we don't even realize it sometimes," Hopkins said.

The students in Kotrla's class will be tailgating at the football game to answer any questions fans may have about human trafficking.

Some student groups have also agreed to sport the purple armbands, including the cheerleaders, the band and the freshman line.

"We have an opportunity at this moment to really raise awareness in a unique way about this issue," Kotrla said. "This is an issue that we are really just beginning to tackle. When you are just beginning to confront an issue as big this, it begins with raising awareness and educating people. I would challenge people to say 'Yeah, I'll wear an armband.'"

International Justice Mission representatives will be present for the showing of the documentary. Christa Hayden, regional director of church mobilization for International Justice Mission also plans to speak to the human trafficking class.

The social work class will show the documentary from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday in A108 Baylor Sciences Building. There will be another showing from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Antioch Community Church. Both showings are open to the public.

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Film Uncovers Dark Underworld of Modern-Day Slavery

By Michelle A. Vu

Christian Post Reporter

Thu, Oct. 01 2009 02:48 PM EDT

Some call it trafficking, others bondage, but the people behind a new documentary want to call it slavery and talk about the 27 million slaves that exist in the world today.

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  A scene from the documentary ''At the End of Slavery'' at its premiere in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009.
  
  
  
  
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  A Q&A panel session followed the screening of the new documentary ''At the End of Slavery'' that included experts on human trafficking from the State Department and the producer of the film, Holly Brukhalter (center) on Sept. 30, 2009 in Washington, D.C.
  
  
  

At the D.C. premiere of “At the End of Slavery” Wednesday night, Ambassador Luis CdeBaca said, “For policy reasons and for feeling better about ourselves, we have tended to hide behind euphemisms.”
CdeBaca, who spoke briefly to support the film that was produced by International Justice Mission, said even though he is the ambassador of the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, he doesn’t want to talk about trafficking.

“I want to talk about slavery because I think trafficking is a word that allows us a little bit of comfort, but this is not something we should feel comfortable about,” CdeBaca said.

The 30-minute documentary “At the End of Slavery” takes the audience into the world of human trafficking through interviews with former slaves and a hidden camera interview with a slave owner, and by exposing the factories and rooms where slaves are exploited for the owner’s profit.
A 14-year-old Indian boy appears at the beginning of the film telling viewers that he was forced to labor at a brick factory since he was seven years old. He said the factory's supervisors tortured so much that he didn’t have time to think about anything else but work.

Many child laborers his age are forced to work for 12 to 14 hours a day, seven days a week at factories because their parents were tricked into an unfair agreement with money lenders, IJM explains.
IJM, a human rights agency that rescues victims of slavery and works with local governments to prosecute perpetrators, said it is currently working on human bondage cases in India, where slave laborers have no hope of paying off debts they're working to clear. If a man in the 1920s had borrowed the equivalent of $5 to $8 today, for example, his grandchildren would still be working as slave laborers to pay off the debt because of the unfair interest rate.

Ted Haddock, the film’s director, said a unique element of the documentary is that it presents the rule of law as an important tool in fighting bondage slavery. IJM and its team of international lawyers combat slavery by using a country’s justice system to prosecute those who sell or buy slaves.
IJM leaders say that once a few offenders are convicted and sent to jail, a powerful message is sent to the community that the government will not tolerate this practice and those who exploit people should get out of the business.

At the end of the event, each of the nearly 300 people who attended the screening received a “Party-in-a-box” kit that includes two screeners, postcards to send to their representatives in Congress, and donation commitment cards.
The human rights ministry hopes to mobilize a grassroots movement in the United States using the film to tell lawmakers that they want the human trafficking issue to be higher on the nation’s policy agenda.
More than 50 churches have already signed up to receive the kit and show a screening of the documentary to their congregation.

http://www.christianpost.com/article/20091001/film-uncovers-dark-underworld-of-modern-day-slavery/index.html

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