‘Modern-day slavery’: In $66 million legal claim, teen accuses Oakland cops of using her for sex - The Washington Post

‘Modern-day slavery’: In $66 million legal claim, teen accuses Oakland cops of using her for sex - The Washington Post:

Modern Day Slavery: Sex trafficking poses a serious problem in Louisiana

Modern Day Slavery: Sex trafficking poses a serious problem in Louisiana:

Immigration Reform News: Lawyers Helping Mexican Migrants Sue Abusive Employers In The US

Immigration Reform News: Lawyers Helping Mexican Migrants Sue Abusive Employers In The US:

Latino Times

Global slavery mapped | News | theguardian.com

 Source: The Guardian

Modern day slavery directly affects 29 million people in the world today - that's according to a new index which has sought to look at this empirically by measuring the prevalence of slavery by population, child marriage and human trafficking on a country by country basis. You can see their results in this interactive map.

Select a specific region from the list in the top right-hand corner or click on a country to find out the scale of its slavery. Alternatively, click on 'plot' at the bottom of the screen to compare each country in a graph.

Who made this? Walk Free Foundation

http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/interactive/2013/oct/17/slavery-modern-day-global-mapped

Human trafficking must be stopped | National news | The Phnom Penh Post

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012061556817/National-news/human-trafficking-must-be-stopped.html

Source: The Phnom Penh Post

Friday, 15 June 2012

Soma Norodom

Stories of physical and sexual abuse, beatings and starvation by employers of Cambodian maids have recently been in the news. 

Modern-day slavery is alive and well, and it is happening to our Cambodian people.

Human trafficking, the buying and selling of human beings, is a connection of evil, as traffickers perform all acts of cruelty. The International Labour Organization (ILO) puts the global number of slaves at between 10 and 30 million worldwide. The levels of slavery and people-trafficking today are greater than at any point in history.

Human trafficking can be compared to a criminal enterprise; greed, quick returns on investment and government ineffectiveness. 

The United Nation’s Office on Drugs and Crime reports that human trafficking is the fastest-growing criminal enterprise in the world (US$15.5 billion), ranking third behind illegal drugs and trafficking in arms.

People in rural and remote regions of Cambodia are often the victims, as they can be easily kidnapped, with next to no chance of the crime ever being properly investigated, as one of the main problems is the issue of identification of victims.

Because of Cambodia’s image as a “cheap labour” country, traffickers go to the provinces and recruit people in the countryside. 

Poverty and lack of education are the reasons why many of them are easily influenced and agree to leave Cambodia to work in other countries, after being promised by their recruiters that they will make a lot of money.

Organisations like Licadho, the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defence of Human Rights, are one of the main sources of information on human rights in Cambodia.

Their main responsibilities are to monitor, document and investigate human-rights violations and violations made against women and children, and provide assistance through interventions with local authorities.

In addition, Adhoc, the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association, founded by former political prisoners in 1991, provides free legal assistance, empowers people to defend their rights and advocates for human rights.

Halting human trafficking requires the will of governments, and governments around the world.

Last week, the Cambodian government, in co-operation with Malaysian authorities and the International Organisation for Migration, sent four Cambodian maids back to Cambodia. A representative of Adhoc stated that the families of the victims had filed complaints with NGOs.

But there are more trafficked victims, many more, and the government needs to pay much more attention to this issue. 

Why don’t we create jobs in Cambodia, instead of exporting our labour overseas? The prime minister has stated this several times, so why isn’t the government following his orders?

Cambodian maids are being treated like animals instead of human beings. The effects and aftermath of the victims are the concerns, as many are physically and psychologically traumatised.

Many organisations are raising awareness and confronting the injustice of human trafficking, but it takes the government to intervene by creating jobs and vocational training programs in which the much-needed skills in hospitality, construction and maintenance industries can be applied. 

Many can learn these skills and don’t have to go overseas to work. They can stay in Cambodia and be closer to their families and friends.

It’s time to do more and defend our human rights, as people are our country’s most precious commodity.

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The Social Agenda with Soma Norodom
The views expressed here within imply solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Post or any affiliated party


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How to End Sex Trafficking and Modern Day Slavery - Forbes

Rahim Kanani, Contributor

Writer, Advocate, Strategist, & Entrepreneur for Global Social Change

+ Follow on Forbes

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rahimkanani/2012/01/08/how-to-end-sex-trafficking-and-modern-day-slavery-with-siddharth-kara/

In a recent interview with Siddharth Kara, fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard Kennedy School and one of the world’s foremost experts on human trafficking and modern day slavery, we discussed the evolution of his effort, the current landscape of these issues, challenges and opportunities to making progress, and much more.

Kara is also the author of the award-winning book, “Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery,” the first of three books he is writing on the subjects of human trafficking and contemporary slavery. “Sex Trafficking” was named co-winner of the prestigious 2010 Frederick Douglass Award at Yale University for the best non-fiction book on slavery. The Award is generally regarded as the top prize in the field of slavery scholarship, and Kara’s is the first book on modern slavery to receive the award.

Kara currently advises the United Nations, the U.S. Government, and several other governments on antislavery research, policy and law. In addition to several nonprofit board positions, Kara serves on the committee founded by Kirk Douglas that is lobbying the US Congress to provide an official apology for pre-bellum slavery. In 2009, he was selected as a Fellow for the acclaimed TED India conference. Kara has also written an award winning feature film screenplay on human trafficking set for production in 2011. Kara’s ongoing research into slavery around the world has been covered regularly by CNN.

Rahim Kanani: How would you describe your first encounter with modern day slavery?

Siddharth Kara: I first came across child labourers and bonded labourers in various sectors, such as agriculture and brickmaking, when I was a child in India.  These early encounters made an impression on me, but it was probably my encounters in a refugee camp in the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990’s that catalyzed my efforts in this area as an adult.  As an undergraduate, I spent one summer volunteering in a Bosnian refugee camp near the Slovenian-Croatian border and heard numerous tales of genocide and sex trafficking.  A few years later I decided I needed to understand how and why these crimes were occurring, so I set aside my corporate career and commenced what has now become more than eleven years of almost entirely self-funded research into all forms of contemporary servitude around the world.

Rahim Kanani: As you survey the landscape of these issues, what does slavery and human trafficking look like today?

Siddharth Kara: Slavery today functions for the same purpose it has throughout history: to maximize profit my minimizing or eliminating the cost of labor.  Having said this, there are several key differences with modern slavery that make it in many ways more expansive and pernicious than ever before.  First, slaves today can be exploited in dozens of industries that are intricately woven into the global economy, as opposed to just agriculture and domestic servitude as centuries ago.  The costs of acquiring a slave and/or the time of transporting him or her from the point of acquisition to the point of exploitation are miniscule today as compared to Old World slavery.  These and other dynamics make slaves more accessible, expendable, exploitable and profitable than every before.  Whereas the average slave two centuries ago could generate a 15% to 20% annual return on investment for his or her exploiters, that same “ROI” today is several hundred percent per year (over 900% per year for sex trafficking).  This is perhaps the primary reason why there is such demand among exploiters today to acquire more slaves through the practice of human trafficking, or what we used to call “slave trading.”

Rahim Kanani: What are some of the biggest challenges to ending trafficking and other forms of contemporary slavery?

Siddharth Kara: A lack of detailed understanding of how and why slave-like exploitation functions in various sectors of the global economy is a primary barrier to a more effective response.  Much effort in the field of combating modern slavery has focused more on anecdote and sensationalism than on actual analysis of the problem.  A paucity of resources deployed to understanding and combating slavery is another primary barrier.  The US government spends 350 times more money each year to combat drug trafficking than slavery.  This does not mean that we will end slavery by simply throwing money at the problem, but it gives a sense of the anemic level of resources that have been allocated towards this issue.  And by the way, the US government spends more money to combat slavery than most any other government in the world, so that gives you a real sense of how big the gap is globally.  Another primary challenge has to do with the inability of activists in the field to catalyze a more unified grassroots movement to combat the issue.  The antislavery movement remains highly fragmented, and as a result, its ability to mobilize social opinion and lawmakers on the issue has been hampered.

Rahim Kanani: Have we made any progress in the last decade and if so, what’s changed?

Siddharth Kara: Without question we have made progress.  The primary area of progress relates to a massive increase in awareness of the issue.  When I started my research in 2000, very few people knew about human trafficking and contemporary slavery.  Since that time, there have been many films and TV shows about the issue, many new organizations created to combat slavery, many new laws passed around the world to do the same, and an overall increase in general knowledge of the issue.  However, not all awareness is good awareness, and at times the awareness raised has been sensational, inaccurate, and more focused on personal or organizational gain.  Another area of improvement has to do with the engagement of the commercial sector on the issue.  More and more companies in several industries have become aware of human trafficking and have taken modest steps to understand and combat the issue.  This is a good sign that, if continued, promises to be very beneficial to the field.  Finally, charitable foundations and governments have been providing more funding to research and combat human trafficking, and while the gap between supply and demand of resources remains very wide, at least it has closed somewhat in the last decade.

Rahim Kanani: As one of the world’s foremost experts on modern day slavery and human trafficking, what are some of the leadership lessons you have learned over the years?

Siddharth Kara: The main task that I have taken upon myself has been to continue providing the best analysis I can of various aspects of contemporary human servitude.  I believe that my work has helped shift the needle away from the anecdotal and towards the scholarly, which has been an important shift in the field as we try to move beyond general awareness and towards actual detailed analysis and understanding of how to combat these crimes more effectively.  In particular, recognizing that sex trafficking is different from labor trafficking is different from debt bondage is different from organ trafficking, and analyzing how these sectors functions as businesses in the context of the global economy has provided interesting insights into the kinds of policies, laws, and tactics that can be more effective at combating each type of slave-like exploitation more effectively.

Rahim Kanani: With respect to influence and pressure, what have you learned about the world of advocacy?

Siddharth Kara: In a crowded global human rights agenda, the primary lesson for antislavery advocacy has been to base that advocacy on sound research and analysis.  Anecdote is not sufficient to secure adequate resources and move high-level policy.  Many governments that I have met with have expressed a keen interest to do more about the issue and have regretted that lack of reliable knowledge and analysis on which they can base persuasive arguments that certain laws needs to be passed or certain resources need to be allocated, especially during challenging economic times.

Rahim Kanani: If you could point to a few organizations that are truly making a difference and moving the needle on this issue, who would you point to as great case studies of impact?

Siddharth Kara: Some of the most exemplary organizations that operate with integrity and are making a genuine and unique impact on human trafficking and modern slavery include Apne Aap International (New Delhi), the American Himalayan Foundation, Humanity United, HopeNow International (Copenhagen), Maiti Nepal (Kathmandu), Bandhua Mukti Morcha (New Delhi), the New Life Center (Chiang Rai, Thailand), Nomi Network, the Frederick Douglass Family Foundation, La Strada, The Cuff Road Project (Singapore), Girls Power Initiative (Nigeria), and a handful of other local organizations in several countries from Mexico to Malaysia that are doing tremendous work.

Rahim Kanani: Lastly, and looking ahead, what is the way forward, and how can ordinary people contribute to this cause?

Siddharth Kara: The first thing ordinary people can do is to inform themselves of the issue by reading as many books that focus on some level of actual analysis as possible (admittedly, there are not many).  it is also important for ordinary citizens to understand that many products they purchase everyday may be tainted by slavery or child labor somewhere in their supply chains on the far side of the world.  These products could be frozen shrimp and fish, rice, tea, coffee, electronic devices, apparel, salt, matches, cigarettes, sporting goods, and numerous other products.  Catalyzing a consumer awareness campaign around tainted goods and demanding that companies do more to certify that their supply chains are untainted by slave-like labor exploitation are important steps individuals can take today.

Rahim Kanani is a writer, interviewer, advocate, strategist and entrepreneur for global social change. His articles, opinions, and interviews with global leaders can be found at www.rahimkanani.com. In addition, you can follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

Neoliberalism's Newest Product: The Modern Slave Trade

by Ignacio Ramonet

Global Research, August 3, 2011

IPS

PARIS, Jul (IPS) Two centuries after the abolition of slavery we are seeing the reintroduction of an abominable practice: human trafficking. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that 12.3 million people each year are taken captive by networks tied to international crime and used as forced labour in inhuman conditions. In the case of women, the victims are subjected mostly to sexual exploitation while others are exploited as domestic servants. There is also the case of youths who are taken captive through various scams so their body parts can be sold in the international human organ trade. These practices are expanding more and more to satisfy the demand for cheap labour in sectors like the hotel and restaurant industries, agriculture, and construction. The OSCE dedicated two days of its last international conference in Vienna in late June to this subject [i]. Though the phenomenon is international, various specialists asserted that the plague of slave labour is growing rapidly in the EU. Unions and labour groups estimate that in Europe there are hundreds of thousands of workers subjected to the blight of slavery [ii]. In Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, the UK, and other countries of the EU, foreign migrant workers attracted by the mirage of Europe find themselves trapped in the networks of various mafias and working in conditions like slaves of past ages. An ILO report reveals that south of Naples, for example, 1200 homeless farm labourers work twelve hours per day in greenhouses without contracts and for miserable pay, guarded by private militias and living in what resemble concentration camps. This "work camp" is not the only one in Europe; thousands and thousands of undocumented immigrants have met similar fates, victims of a modern slave trade flourishing in any number of European countries. According to various unions, this form of forced labour accounts for almost 20 percent of agricultural production [iii]. Responsibility for this expansion of human trafficking lies largely with the current dominant economic model. In effect, the form of neoliberal globalisation than has been imposed over the last three decades through economic shock therapy has devastated the most fragile levels of society and imposed extremely high social costs. It has created a fierce competition between labour and capital. In the name of free trade, the major multinationals manufacture and sell their goods around the world, producing where labour is cheapest and selling where the cost of living is highest. The new capitalism has made competitiveness its primary engine and brought about a commodification of labour and labourers. Globalisation, which offers remarkable opportunities to a lucky few, imposes on the rest, in Europe, a ruthless and unmediated competition between EU salary workers, small businesses, and small farmers and their badly-paid, exploited counterparts on the other side of the world. The result we now see clearly before us: social dumping on a planetary scale. For employment the result is disastrous. For example, in France in the last twenty years this phenomenon has caused the elimination of more than two million jobs in the industrial sector alone. Certain sectors in Europe where there is a chronic shortage of labour tend to use undocumented workers, which in turn fuels the trafficking of more workers by clandestine networks that in many cases force them into slave labour. Numerous reports clearly evidence the "sale" migrant farm workers. Despite the many tools of international law available to combat these crimes, and despite the proliferation of public statements by government officials condemning them, the public will to put an end to the practice is weak. In reality, the management of industry and construction and major agricultural exporters exert constant pressure on governments to turn a blind eye to the trafficking of undocumented workers. Industry management has always supported mass immigration because it depresses the price of labour. Reports by the European Commission and BUSINESSEUROPE (an association of European industries and businesses) have called for more immigration for decades. But today's human traffickers are not the only ones exploiting slave labour: now a form of "legal servitude" is being developed. For example, last February in Italy Fiat served its workers with the following extortionate ultimatum: either agree to work more, for less money, in worse conditions, or the company will shift operations to Eastern Europe. Faced with the prospect of being fired and terrorised by the conditions in Eastern Europe, with its rock bottom wages and no weekends off, 63 percent of the Fiat workers voted for their own exploitation. In Europe many employers, taking advantage of the crisis and brutal fiscal adjustment policies being imposed, are trying to establish similar forms of "legal servitude". Thanks to the tools made available by neoliberal globalisation, they threaten their workers with savage competition from cheap labour in distant countries. If we are to avoid this form of corrosive social regression, we will have to begin to question the current workings of globalisation - and begin the process of deglobalisation. Ignacio Ramonet is editor of Le Monde Diplomatique in Spanish. Notes [i] Titled "Preventing Trafficking in Human Beings for Labour Exploitation: Decent Work and Social Justice", the conference was organised by the Special Representative and Coordinator for the Fight Against Human Trafficking, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, and her team, as part of the Alliance Against Human Trafficking. [ii] See the report: Combatting Trafficking as Modern-day Slavery: A Matter of Rights, Freedom and Security, 2010 Annual Report, OSCE, Vienna, 9 December 2010. [iii] See the report: The Cost of Coercion, ILO, Geneva, 2009. [iv] Cf. No trabajar solos. Sindicatos y ONG unen sus fuerzas para luchar contra el trabajo forzoso y la trata de personas en Europa (Never Work Alone: Unions and NGOs Join Forces to Fight Against Forced Labour and Human Trafficking in Europe), International Trade Union Confederation, Brussels, February 2011.

Global Research Articles by Ignacio Ramonet

Source: globalresearch.ca

Neoliberalism's Newest Product: The Modern Slave Trade: "Combatting Trafficking as Modern-day Slavery: A Matter of Rights"

Tina Frundt: Slavery Ended in 1865? That Myth Puts our Kids in Danger

Tina Frundt

7/20/11 01:48 PM ET

Anyone who paid attention in a high school history class has heard this story: Slavery ended in the United States in 1865 when Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. It's got all the features of a great story -- patriotism, triumph over evil, and a tall, handsome hero with a penchant for cool hats. The only problem is, the story isn't exactly true.

Slavery didn't end in 1865, it was just made illegal. But modern-day slavery, now called human trafficking, still exists across America. The U.S. State Department estimates up to 17,000 people are trafficked -- enslaved -- in the U.S. each year.

Modern-day slavery is just as horrific as historical slavery -- people are forced to work on farms, in factories, or in the commercial sex industry. They have no rights, no ability to leave, and no control over their situation. And this industry affects school-age children -- one study from the University of Pennsylvania found up to 300,000 American children at risk for modern-day slavery in the form of child sex trafficking. So why do textbooks still teach the myth that slavery ended in 1865?

Incorporating modern-day slavery into school curriculum is important to me as a survivor of modern-day slavery, a mother, and an advocate for trafficked children. That's why I support the Change.org campaign calling on McGraw-Hill, one of the largest producers of history textbooks in the U.S., to amend their teaching that slavery ended in 1865 and include information about modern-day slavery. If we can correct this misinformation in textbooks, we'll be taking the first step toward educating children on modern-day slavery.

On a personal level, this issue matters to me as a person who was enslaved in America long after 1865. I was enslaved by a pimp at age 14, who used the vulnerability an unstable and abusive childhood in foster care had given me as a tool to force me into prostitution. He offered me attention and love, so I ran away from home to be with him. The abuse started almost instantly, and I survived it for over a year before escaping.

Now, as a mother, I've watched children learn about trafficking the hard way. My oldest daughter graduated from a prestigious high school in Northern Virginia. As a teenager, she has referred two of her classmates to Courtney's House, the Washington, DC shelter for child sex trafficking victims I run. As my daughter watched her peers become trapped and enslaved by pimps she asked me "Mom, why don't we learn about this in school?" It was a good question without a good answer.

But it's not just my daughter's high school teaching the myth that slavery in America ended centuries ago. Most high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools in the U.S. teach the same thing. And it's written in most history textbooks that slavery has an expiration date, and that date is far, far passed.
McGraw-Hill has several textbooks, including United States Adventures in Time and Place, World Issues, and Social Studies World History, which directly or indirectly present the end of the Civil War as the end of slavery in America. In doing so, they not only present an untrue statement, but miss a critical opportunity to educate children about how to protect themselves from modern-day slavery.

Kids and teens need comprehensive education about slavery so they can make informed decisions to protect themselves and their peers against would-be exploiters. That education starts with modern-day slavery in textbooks, but also includes the age-appropriate material in curriculum and education for parents. Education about human trafficking is key to preventing it, key to making sure I don't get any more referrals of child sex trafficking victims from my oldest daughter's high school or start getting them from my youngest daughter's middle school.

In less than a month, I'll be speaking to over 10,000 educators about the importance of teaching children and teens the truth about modern-day slavery, giving them the tools to make safe decisions, and educating them about the dangers they and their peers face. I hope to be able to announce that McGraw-Hill is taking the lead and working to set the record straight: that slavery didn't end in 1865, but still happens in America today.

Source: huffingtonpost.com

Thailand is a regional hub for human misery

Source: The Nation
Published on July 1, 201

The authorities must do more to stop human trafficking and the mistreatment of labourers in fishing and other low-paid industries

Thailand is the regional hub for human trafficking. It is a source and transit venue because of its central location in continental Southeast Asia and because it is surrounded by neighbouring countries with a lower level of economic development. For decades, migrant workers from these countries have risked their lives to get to Thailand in search of better living conditions and wages. However, of late, the human trafficking problem in this part of the world has changed. We are now seeing forced labour being smuggled in from countries as far away as Fiji and Uzbekistan.

The worst aspects of modern human trafficking can be found in the Thai fishing fleet, where conditions can easily be described as modern slavery. Thai trawler-owners are generally inhumane and should be put on trial for the illegal practices they regularly get away with.

The US State Department recently issued a report on the state of global human trafficking, and it still lists Thailand in the tier two category along with many other countries in the region including Afghanistan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia and China. The category also includes Argentina, Zambia and Russia.

But this year's report also gave a fair assessment of Thailand's effort in preventing human trafficking and protecting migrant workers. The report detailed the country's legislation and the performance of governmental offices. Two of the biggest problems remain issues related to corruption and weak law enforcement. As such, it is not surprising that those behind human smuggling from Burma, Cambodia and Laos, and the transit of human cargoes to foreign destinations near and far, continue to get away with their crimes over and over again. They must be punished and jailed.

The Abhisit government has been trying hard to cope with this issue as part of its overall stated policy of respect for human rights and human dignity. But somehow the concerned authorities are not cooperating. For instance, the inhumane treatment of Burmese and Cambodian workers employed in the Thai fishing industry, as detailed by the US report, should be thoroughly investigated by Thai authorities. These are serious crimes that tarnish Thailand's image. Quite often we hear stories of how workers on fishing vessels are thrown into the sea or left to die of hunger locked inside trawlers, where nobody can find them. Thai trawler operators who engage in such heinous treatment of foreign migrant labourers must be prosecuted without leniency because they have knowingly killed many helpless workers. Some of these owners are well-known personalities.

It is time that Thailand properly registered foreign workers, especially from neighbouring countries, in order to prevent them being exploited by ruthless employers. Past registration schemes have been full of errors because of official procedures that have led to corruption and collusion among prospective employers and officials. The government has to be mindful of this malpractice because in the future the number of migrant labourers in Thailand is bound to increase dramatically, especially with the ongoing process of Asean economic integration.

Thailand must learn the lessons from the past that any inhumane treatment of migrant labourers will eventually affect Thai society as a whole. In the 1990s we mistreated thousands of refugees who, as a result have never shown any appreciation for Thailand's other more humanitarian face. The same sentiment will prevail among itinerant labourers who work here like slaves for the benefit of the wider Thai economy.

Human Trafficking in Massachusetts: Not Yet A Crime. | Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review

February 11, 2011 

Modern-day slavery is a pervasive issue that involves fundamental human rights violations with dynamics of economic plight and devastating effects on oppressed victims. The famously progressive state of Massachusetts has truly led other states in equality and non-discrimination issues, especially with respect to same sex marriage. But when it comes to protecting human trafficking victims by subjecting the perpetrators to criminal punishment, Massachusetts falls far behind, as one of only 5 states in the country that doesn’t yet have a law criminalizing human trafficking.

A bill to make human trafficking into a state crime, supported by Attorney General Coakley and other law enforcement officials, was introduced in late January.  The United Nations estimates $32 billion in international criminal profits are derived each year from the sheer exploitation of human trafficking. Coakley recognized that “[i]t has been under the radar, but it’s time to shine a spotlight on this crime.” Amicus will continue to follow the developments in Massachusetts’ long-overdue fight against modern day slavery.

For more information on the dynamics of human trafficking both internationally and in the United States, see http://www.humantrafficking.org/ or read Siddharth Kara’s Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery.

Source:  harvardcrcl.org

Human Trafficking in Massachusetts: Not Yet A Crime. | Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review

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• Virginia Legislators on Cusp of Passing Critical Anti-Trafficking Laws (news.change.org)
• Report Recommends Vermont Make Human Trafficking Illegal (humantrafficking.change.org)
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• Nigerian officials arrest 2 human traffickers (sfgate.com)

Sundays for the Soul: Together We Can End Modern Day Slavery « TWO WRITING TEACHERS

Image via Wikipedia

Posted on Sunday February 6, 2011 by Ruth

Did you know most of the world’s chocolate is made from cocoa beans picked by workers who do not receive a fair wage? Sometimes the workers are children and they are hurt if they don’t work fast enough. Other times the workers are not paid at all, making them slaves. With Valentine’s Day a little more than a week away, chocolate is everywhere. I’m reminded of the men, women, and children being forced to work for little or no wage in places far away from me. It makes my heart sad.

Modern day slavery is an important issue that is often not discussed. Today’s Sunday for the Soul is about looking this issue in the eyes and being empowered to change it. Together we can end slavery. (Orange is the color of freedom.)

Here are some links to check out:

Global Exchange hosts a National Valentine’s Day of Action, encouraging educators to spread the word about fair trade chocolate through the Global Exchange’s fair trade curriculum. My friend, Janelle McLaughlin, wove this material in her second grade classroom with much success. (I must put a little note in here because I’m not an advocate for canned curricula. I encourage you to read through the materials and find a way to authentically introduce this within your current structures. For instance, I might use a portion of this for read aloud and discussion during community circle.)

Fair Trade Resource Network offers some ideas for talking about fair trade in your classroom.

International Justice Mission is a human rights agency “that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. IJM lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals work with local officials to ensure immediate victim rescue and aftercare, to prosecute perpetrators and to promote functioning public justice systems.”

Not for Sale Campaign is an organization dedicated to re-abolishing slavery by mobilizing Smart Activists “to deploy innovative solutions to re-abolish slavery in their own backyards and across the globe.”

Find out what Jeffrey S. Brand (board member, Not for Sale Campaign, and Dean at the University of San Francisco School of Law) says it means to be a Smart Activist.

Source: Two Writing Teahers

Sundays for the Soul: Together We Can End Modern Day Slavery « TWO WRITING TEACHERS

Related articles

• fair trade flowers + valentine's day (alternativeconsumer.com)
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The B.C. Catholic Paper - New NGO takes on slavery through education

 

Vietnamese girls, one as young as 8, sit on a bed in a brothel in the Cambodian village of Svay Pak in 2002. A government crackdown on brothels to stop sex trade rackets have failed to put an end to the industry in Cambodia, where sex with underage girls can easily be bought. CNS photo from Reuters27 million slaves in world today, according to AAMS

By Vanessa Santilli
The Catholic Register

TORONTO (CCN)--Modern-day slavery is the most under-publicized human rights crisis of our time, said Karlee Sapoznik, a PhD student in history at York University. So Sapoznik, along with three others with ties to York, decided to take action.

They created the non-governmental organization Alliance Against Modern Slavery, which launched with a fundraising concert and anti-slavery art auction on Jan. 28 followed by an inaugural conference on Jan. 29 at Toronto’s York University.

“Our vision is to combat modern slavery by collecting resources, building programs and creating alliances among a network of local and global partners so that every person has the opportunity for sustainable freedom,” said Sapoznik.

“Although we come to the issue of contemporary slavery from a variety of backgrounds, many of us are educators seeking to raise awareness among all levels of society about modern slavery.”

Along with Sapoznik, the co-founders include Jeffrey Gunn, a PhD student in history at York and elementary school teacher, Mekhala Gunaratne, a bachelor of science student at the University of Toronto, and Valerie Hebert, a history professor at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay.

Sapoznik said there are 27 million slaves in the world today. In Canada, the main forms of slavery are human trafficking for forced prostitution and forced labour, but there are also cases of trafficking for forced marriage, she said.

One of the biggest roadblocks in combatting modern slavery is the lack of public awareness, she said.

The inaugural conference of about 250 people brought together survivors of modern slavery, law enforcement officials, activists, academics and politicians, such as Conservative MP Joy Smith.

Smith, who has been an anti-human trafficking proponent for years, said education is the greatest weapon we have in fighting injustice.

“There is slavery in the 21st century in Canada,” said Smith. “And we thought slavery was abolished in the 1800s.

“The more organizations that really have a heart for this and believe our mission in life is to be our brother’s keeper and take care of each other, the better off we’ll be,” she said.

“The more that we do this and make this education alive and present in Canada, the safer our people are going to be and it spills over into other countries as well.”

What makes the NGO unique, said Smith, is that it is a diverse, multicultural, multiethnic and multilingual organization. The co-founders and executive speak 14 languages and have spent time on all seven continents.

“A lot of us have studied the slave trade or the Holocaust and genocide and it just isn’t enough for us to say ‘never again,’ ” said Sapoznik.

“If people really want to substantiate that or they want to live that then we need to question: if the products we buy, the food that we eat, the T-shirts that we wear, if they’re produced by slavery, are we truly free?”

For more information on the Alliance Against Modern Slavery, see www.allianceagainstmodernslavery.org.

Source: The B.C. Catholic Paper

The B.C. Catholic Paper - New NGO takes on slavery through education

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