This is an American Issue, a National Issue, a Local Issue

"The actual number of victims in Colorado is unknown...We do know that 1 out of 3 runaways will be approached by human traffickers."

A group of students from the University of Colarado Denver took it upon themselves to inform and educate the public on the issue of human trafficking--a problem that festers right under their noses. "We interviewed two random women in downtown Denver who thought human trafficking meant too many people walking on the street. As we explained to them what human trafficking is and how people don't realize it happens in their neighborhoods, they were shocked and said they never thought it is happening in America."

Clearly, these students' efforts are crucial to the residents of Denver. It is shocking that there are people in the United States who are unaware of what human trafficking truly entails. If there is to be a citizen movement (in the US or globally) people must be informed and educated on the stark reality of the issue. Maybe then, once they discover it is happening in their own backyard, they will be moved to action.

Thanks to the students of UC Denver for putting together this brief documentary. Keep up the good work!



For further information, visit this group's web page at Myspace.
Read UC student Simon Maghakyan's blog here.
To learn how to help in your community go here.

The International Rescue Committee

The IRC is taking action. Are you?



On their website, IRC offers ways for citizens to take action and make a difference. The IRC concerns itself with a myriad of global issues (Congo, Darfur, refugee assistance)--human trafficking just one of those. Help is needed--whether it is donations, volunteer work, or simply staying informed on the issues. There are even careers and internships available through IRC. By signing up for their free e-newsletters you can stay connected and informed.

Don't be passive--be active!

The IRC: a beacon of freedom, hope and renewal.

Kids the Light of Our Lives

After laying low for several weeks, I could not ignore this story (brought to my attention early this morning by a friend). London police made an unbelievable bust (the lengths of which we can only predict right now since the investigation is ongoing). Currently, the number of suspects worldwide has passed 700. And the team of authorities is far-reaching as well: the United States, Canada, and Australia are the top allies out of 35 countries working together. So far, 31 children have been rescued.

The global pedophile ring was traced to an internet chat room perversely called "Kids the Light of Our Lives." Here, viewers could feast their eyes on children subjected to sexual abuse - not only still images, but streaming live video as well.

Here in the U.S., investigations are currently underway in at least 12 states.

Host of the pedophile chat room and kingpin of it all, Timothy David Martyn Cox (27, Buxhall), was arrested last September. Admitting to nine counts of possessing and distributing indecent images, he is presently being held under an indeterminate jail sentence in England under Ipswich Crown Court.

Gordon Mackintosh (a man being referred to as Cox's lieutenant), 33, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to 27 charges of making, possessing, and distributing indecent images and videos.

"Any individual who thinks they carry out such horrific activities undetected is in for a very rude awakening."

Jim Gamble, chief executive at the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center and chairman of the Virtual Global Taskforce

Husband & Wife Save Thai Children

"If it was your child, you would fight the rest of your life for their freedom.
Although they're not our blood, they matter to us and they matter to the heart of God."
Carol Hart, humanitarian


Who? Former assistant pastors, Carol and Michael Hart, are semifinalists in Energizer Keep Going Hall of Fame contest

What? Moved to Thailand to established shelters for children (who are victims of trafficking) through ZOE International Ministries

Where? Relocated from California to Chiang Mai, Thailand

When? Carol Hart started her ministry five years ago

Why? "Distraught by the plight of youngsters and teens ensnared in human trafficking, Hart and her husband, Michael...gave up a comfortable life to travel halfway around the world to intervene."

This California couple is a true inspiration and a model for humanitarianism. Clearly, the contest is not the motivation. The Harts are motivated intrinsically, from their own compassion. However, if the contest does serve to motivate others to acts of charity, so be it. We need all the help we can get in fighting human trafficking and other crimes against humanity. Call me a bleeding heart...

A True Heroine

Lydia Cacho Ribeiro is a name to be revered. She is a strong woman with a mission, who has sacrificed herself to the greater cause. She is a journalist by trade, but human rights activist would be more fitting. In addition to fighting for women's and children's rights, Ribeiro runs a crisis center/shelter in Cancun. Nothing has stopped her over the last twenty years--death threats, abduction, even rape...

In 2005, Ribeiro published the book The Demons of Eden. It is in this book that she unravels the twisted world of child sex tourism in Cancun. She is currently working on a new book, that will hit shelves next year.

A few days ago, I stumbled upon an interview with her by Heather Gehlert at Alternet. It is not too long and definitely worth reading in its entirety. In it, Ribeiro describes her work and the challenges that she has faced as a female investigator and advocate in Mexico. Just this year, she received the Ginetta Sagan Human Rights Award from Amnesty International USA.

Ribeiro on her working environment:

"I travel everywhere in Mexico in an armored vehicle. It's a #7 armor, which is -- I think 9 is like the top armor. It means I cannot open the windows of the car because they are too heavy and the doors and everything. They have to open them for me. So that's how I go about in my country."

More on Lydia Cacho Ribeiro:

English
Español

LIVES FOR SALE: Pounds of Meat

"A new documentary on Immigration and Human Trafficking. Lives for Sale goes beyond the rhetoric to show why immigrants are willing to risk everything - even virtual slavery - for the American Dream."

PBS aired the documentary Lives for Sale in January. The film addresses the causes and what must be done to improve the quality of life in the countries of origin. It also includes interviews with law enforcement officials and members of activist organizations.


Documents the horrific, and lucrative, business of human trafficking . . . . ideal for church and Bible study groups.--Sojourners magazine

Executive Producer: Larry Rich (Maryknoll Productions)
Lives for Sale is available for purchase at the Maryknoll website.

The Power of the Church

"But this is a people plundered and looted, all of them trapped in pits or hidden in prisons. They have become plunder, with no one to rescue them; they have been made loot, with no one to say, 'Send them back.' "
Isaiah 42:22

Throughout history, people have looked to the church to support social justice movements: from civil rights to poverty to today's AIDS epidemic. Well where is the Church on human trafficking? What is its strategy and what is being done now to fight this issue?

Illinois:
The Joliet Diocesan Counsel of Catholic Women is an organization whose ministry is devoted to helping oppressed women around the world. Their work includes supporting legislation against human trafficking and legislation aimed at protecting women and children.

Wisconsin:
St. Victor Catholic Church hosted a lecture and discussion on human trafficking recently. The guest speaker was Sister Stella Storch, a member of the Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes. This international organization's mission is to help end human trafficking. Also mentioned was a 16,000-member coalition of women from 63 countries that worked for the same cause.

California:
Mitch Irion, president of WingClips, brings Hollywood to church sermons. His website provides downloadable movies clips on varying topics that pastors can incorporate into their sermons to help illustrate various issues. WingClips concerns itself with several social justice issue, including human trafficking. "WingClips believes the issues need to be exposed and that the church has a responsibility to address social injustices within the community and across the world." A former pastor, Irion feels is passionate about his work: "We want our site to raise awareness and do our part to help end sex trafficking."

Washington:
A local YMCA held a workshop recently on child slavery. The speaker's, Rev. Eileen Lindner, topic "Child Trafficking Victims: Global Problem – Local Reality" brought attention to children trafficked into brothels and sweatshop. Lindner is deputy general secretary for National Council of Churches, an organization that raises money for Church World Service.

Washington DC:
Gary A. Haugen, founder of the Christian ministry International Justice Mission (IJM), was presented with a National Leadership award from the National Presbyterian Church's Center for Leadership. IJM works in Southeast Asian and African countries to free victims of forced labor and child sex slaves.

Winnipeg:
Mennonite Brethren Church calls attention to the issue and urges the religious community to pray for the victims and advocate for laws and policies to help them. An important note: "The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) is monitoring a motion presented to parliament...calling for the condemnation of the trafficking of women and children across international borders for the purposes of sexual exploitation, slavery, and oppression."

London:
Recognizing that slavery is very much a product of the modern world, Rev Joel Edwards (head of the Evangelical Alliance), appealed to the leaders in big business to help put an end to the heinous human rights violation. Speaking at the Royal Exchange, Edwards summoned the city's top corporations to contribute more of their finances to the fight against human trafficking and modern-day slavery.

Wales:
The Archbishop of Wales directed attention to human trafficking and child labor during his Easter address saying, “We may this year be celebrating the bicentenary of the end of slavery, but sexual trafficking in young people and women is still rife in this country."

New Delhi:
Women of the Catholic Church believe that more should be done to fight social injustice against women and children. On a recent visit to several social service centers in the area, an event organized by the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences' Office of Laity and Family (FABC-OLF), the group witnessed first-hand the plight of the victims (of poverty, violence, trafficking). One inspired woman from Eastern India proclaimed, "I will start a network to raise awareness on trafficking in our diocese."

From these stories and others, it is clear that human trafficking is very much on the minds and in the hearts of the religious community. In the fight for social justice, the Church has been and will continue to be an invaluable ally.

New York's Children

STATEWIDE:
Last year, law enforcement and social service agencies across the State of New York were been busy collecting data on its sexually exploited children. Through interviews, focus groups, and surveys, the state hoped to get a better picture of who these children are and how many of them are roaming the streets. The estimate figured is at 2,000. Westat is the research firm responsible for the two-month study. The (State Legislature-mandated) report was issued by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services on April 20.
(http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/24/nyregion/24child.html)

CITYWIDE:
Another study, being conducted by John Jay College for Criminal Justice, is also taking a census. Beginning last August, researchers have interviewed over 330 children and teens. Doctoral student, Meredith Dank, is managing the project that is scheduled to finish at the end of the year. Upon completion, a full report will be issued including the project's findings along with an estimate on the number of sexually exploited children in the city.
(http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=69058)

SAFE HARBOR ACT:
This new bill proposes important changes:
"The Safe Harbor Act would change the way young people arrested for prostitution are treated under the law. Rather than being charged as juvenile delinquents in Family Court and subject to detention, they would be considered victims of sexual exploitation and provided with counseling, emergency shelter and other services."

While this may seem like an obvious step in the right direction (one that should have been taken long ago), it is still pending approval. Why such a thing needs to be proposed in the first place is beyond me. These children desperately need help and support rather than punishment for "crimes" in which they are indisputably victims. Fortunately some understand this. An additional bill was proposed whose aim is to "stiffen penalties against pimps and others involved in human trafficking."

Rachel Lloyd, former prostitute and currently the executive director of Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS), says it best:
“We’re no longer talking about teen prostitutes, bad girls. We’re talking about kids who are being bought and sold by adults.”

Teen Building School in Cambodia

Georgia high-school student Brittany Entrekin is to be commended. Her noble efforts in the fight for social justice must be acknowledged. Why? Simply put, she is taking action. She is doing more than bringing awareness to intolerable human rights violations--she is tackling them head on. Her mission: to build a school in Cambodia. She hasn't even graduated from high school herself and is devoting her time and energy to raising funds for her cause.

She was inspired after watching a news report on the child sex slaves in Cambodia. Realizing the bigger picture--economics, poverty, (lack of) education--she felt a calling. "I know it's going to be a lot of work. But I'm passionate about this," says Entrekin. Her goal is to raise $27,000--the amount necessary to build the school, buy books, and hire a teacher for the first year. She has been busy fundraising in her community, contacting (former) Time Magazine journalist Bernard Krisher, and even cutting a deal with The Bank of Asia to help finance the project.

This is a story I plan to follow in the upcoming months, hoping that updates will be made available.

Thank you Brittany, for living up to a fellow humanitarian's maxim:
"Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity."
(Horace Mann)

Please Watch

Prostitution is Not a Fairytale

Compare this article to my last post. Often times "art" fails miserably. It sensationalizes, glamorizes, and draws attention away from the real victims. Recently, a new genre of hooker memoirs has produced such classics as Belle de Jour: Diary of an Unlikely Call Girl, Call Me Elizabeth: Wife, Mother, Escort, The Scorpion's Sweet Venom: The Diary of a Brazilian Call Girl, and Callgirl: Confessions of an Ivy League Lady of Pleasure, among too many others. A woman's body, a girl's body is not made to be a commodity. These titles obviously serve their purpose as entertainment material, but what else comes as a by-product? The dehumanizing effect of prostitution (forced or not) and sex trafficking is minimized and brushed aside. Our unhealthy obsession with sex is partly to blame for these problems in the first place. Adding to the mess is morally destructive. As a result, impressionable minds will no doubt become victims (whether they realize it or not). Violence, rape, and sexually-transmitted diseases are not glamorous. Women who own their sexuality do not trade and sell it away. The Daily Mail's Danuta Kean writes:

Publishers who sell this nonsense claim it 'empowers' us girls, showing women sex workers in control of their sexuality and enjoying the work. If it's such a good job, why don't these publishers recommend their daughters take it up?

Penguin editor, Katy Follain, proudly proclaims that these books "will undoubtedly appeal to both curious teenage girls as well as bored housewives." Kean characterizes the publishers as "hellbent on peddling the myth that the Oldest Profession is a path to glamour and eroticism for a certain type of woman." You decide who is right.

The Truth Aint Pretty

This movie isn't new, and neither is sex trafficking. Both deserve your attention. I believe in the power of film (and other arts) to draw attention to global issues. Lilya 4-Ever (2002) is Swedish filmmaker Lukas Moodysson's third full-length film. It tells the story of a young Russian girl who descends into prostitution and is trafficked into Sweden. Moodysson has this to say about the film:

I can only trust my own moral standards. "Lilya" is a statement about human dignity, a quality that is constantly being eroded and corrupted in the world today by forces like political systems and a materialistic culture that allows anything and everything to be bought or sold.

"Lilya seeps into your bones, and it's not easy to shake off."
Charles Taylor

Ending Slavery: Kevin Bales

Kevin Bales, professor and president of Free the Slaves, offers hope for the fight to end slavery. In his first book (which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize), Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy, he explored the global proportions of modern-day slavery, through first-hand research. In his new book, Ending Slavery - How We Free Today’s Slaves (due out in September), he takes a prescriptive approach to the problem, outlining what must be done to combat human slavery from the international level to the individual. Bales is considered the leading expert on modern slavery. The following is taken from a recent article by Bales entitled, "Of Human Bondage."

The good news about modern slavery is that, possibly for the first time in human history, it can be eradicated. With laws against it in every country, and the lack of any large vested economic interest supporting it, slavery can be ended when the public and governments make it a priority. Based on analysis of anti-slavery projects in south Asia and west Africa, the current estimated cost of the enforcement and rehabilitation programmes needed to eradicate slavery around the world is about $15bn over a 25-year period. This is approximately what Saudi Arabia is intending to spend in the UK buying military aircraft.

Money spent on ending slavery is more an investment than a donation. Freed slaves know how to work, and they will quickly begin to build assets, judging by the experience of anti-slavery groups. They will also become what they have never been allowed to be - consumers, buying food, clothing and education for their children. In areas with extensive slavery, liberation leads to economic growth. If we can connect the legal and economic dots, we can reasonably look to a future without slavery. Some of our strongest allies in ending slavery will be freed slaves. As more are liberated they will help guide us to better detection and better reintegration.

Read the full article here

UN Promoting Sex Trafficking?

The accusations are coming from John Miller, a former U.S. ambassador, who believes that UN peacekeepers are responsible for sexual abuse and, furthermore, that the UN is responsible for not taking appropriate action to end the abuse. Miller refers to the UN as, "one of the major promoters of human trafficking in the world." This issue came to light two years ago when peacekeepers gave food and money to girls and women in Congo in exchange for sex.

Yewande Odia, a senior official in the peacekeeping department reports that "the department has set up discipline teams in 10 missions that regulate the conduct of every U.N. peacekeeper. The U.N. has also revised the contract between troop-contributing countries and the U.N. to include prohibitions of sexual abuse...However, the revised contract, which was introduced in December, has not yet been accepted by the troop-contributing countries."

Marianne Mollman, the director of the women's rights division at Human Rights Watch:
"One of the most important things that we must change (is) the attitudes toward victims of trafficking, (so) we don't treat them as criminals."

Miller's op-ed piece in the Times Union: Abolitionists must rise against today's slavery

Kevin Kline in Trade

Kevin Kline stars in the new movie Trade, which follows two girls that have been sold into the sex trade. The film is directed by Marco Kreuzpaintner and is scheduled to be released August 31.



"It was something that I was aware of, but it wasn't at the front of my mind," says Kevin about the little-known crisis. "The movie is not meant to [stimulate] or activate anything more than discussions, awareness, consciousness."
(ETonline)

more info: Yahoo! Movies
official site: http://www.tradethemovie.com/

ENSLAVED

"A riveting illumination of this most underpublicized human rights abuse."
Nat Hentoff (Village Voice)

Enslaved (Oct. 2006) presents narratives of former slaves and one slave owner. These accounts come from around the world: Sudan, Haiti, Sri Lanka, China, and the United States. The foreword is written by women's rights activist, Gloria Steinem. Here is an excerpt:

We can undermined the system of slavery itself by refusing to buy goods whose provenance we don't know; by supporting strong laws that target the slave trade and those who profit from the prostitution of others; by prosecuting even well-to-do and respectable customers who patronize sex slaves; by becoming aware of and willing to report the cyber-auctioning of human beings on the Internet; by spotlighting the sex industry role played by U.S. military bases, United Nations peace-keepers, and tourist agencies; by challenging the dictators who use slavery as a means for control and ethnic cleansing; by supporting anti-slavery activists working in the face of government repression; by offering escape and safe haven to those who have been enslaved; by refusing to excuse slavery in the name of “cultural relativism”; by following our sense of empathy to what free will really means – and so much more.

From Amazon.com:

Nineteenth-century slave narratives compelled changes in social mores and international law when readers were confronted with the stories of the human beings behind the economy of slavery. The editors of this collection hope for similar reactions as they present modern-day slave narratives from people held against their will as sex slaves, house servants, laborers, and migrant workers.

21st Century Slavery

Liora Kasten, co-editor of Enslaved, speaks out against modern-day slavery, offering first-hand experiences of former slaves around the world.




SLAVERY ISN'T HISTORY

Redlight Children Campaign

The last article I posted mentioned this website. I checked it out. From Redlight Children, you can sign up to receive email updates from the site, learn about the campaign, donate to the cause, and soon sign online petitions and create letters to send to elected officials. They also have information on several movies that deal with the issue. I immediately signed up for updates. I look forward to new developments on this site.

CHILD SEXPLOITATION
EXPOSE IT. FIGHT IT. END IT.

Slavery in the US

Although it exists in many forms and in strong numbers, modern-day slavery is hard to imagine because its breadth and depth just isn't publicized, says Hilary Dyer (op-ed for the Liberty Champion). Let's change that, today. From the Liberty Champion:

45,000-50,000 women and children are brought to the United States as slaves every year.

(According to a report published on the Central Intelligence Agency Web site, “International Trafficking in Women to the United States: A Contemporary Manifestation of Slavery and Organized Crime”)

“After drug dealing, trafficking of humans is tied with arms dealing as the second largest criminal industry in the world, and is the fastest growing,” states the United States Department of Health & Human Services Web site.

Sexploitation is the most prevalent form of human trafficking.

Redlight Children is an international organization seeking to expose and end the abuse of children in the sex industry worldwide. According to the organization, there are around two million children who have been trafficked and are being exploited in the commercial sex industry — which is said to gross over $10 million annually. These are large numbers. The difficult thing for the average American is understanding that these numbers represent real, precious human beings, who must bear inhumane treatment and suffering on a daily basis.

Due to media coverage of John Mark Karr last year, many people are aware that children that are being sold and used as sex slaves in Thailand and other Southeast Asian nations. However, the public still remains largely unaware that child prostitution exists in Western nations.

True life stories are documented on numerous Web sites. Panos Pictures (www.panos.co.uk) has photographs accompanied with brief biographies of young women who were victims of human trafficking and the sex-slave industry in the UK. I find that putting a face to the statistics is helpful for understanding and having compassion, love and concern for these women.

After reading this article, I visited Panos Pictures, looked at the photographs, and read the accompanying biographies. This is must read information.

Towards the end of the article, Dyer offers a semi-solution to the trafficking problem. She believes that in order to decrease sex trafficking, we must make prostitution illegal worldwide. I must mention that this writer is of the Christian faith and therefore, writes from that moral perspective. I don't know whether or not criminalizing prostitution would help or hurt. It certainly is a significant point of discussion.

I end with this bold command. For it is the starting place for change.

"As humans...we must let the atrocities and the suffering of souls penetrate our hearts. I believe we must make an effort to make it personal."

American Dream vs. European Dream

Is the American Dream becoming obsolete? Should it be? Is there, perhaps, a more relevant ideal that we as Americans can adopt? Author Jeremy Rifkin challenges the American Dream as the unshakable myth of the "land of the free" in his international best-seller The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream. It is an easy myth to criticize. And in doing so, Rifkin inspires critical analysis of the state of American society and the fate of the global community.

As Rifkin explains the disenchantment that followed the sixties generation, he explores the causes of today's less than ideal society:

It is the cherished American dream itself, once the ideal and envy of the world, that has led America to its current impasse. That dream emphasizes the unbridled opportunity of each individual to pursue success, which, in the American vernacular, has generally meant financial success. The American Dream is far too centered on personal material advancement and too little concerned with the broader human welfare to be relevant in a world of increasing risk, diversity, and interdependence. It is an old dream, immersed in a frontier mentality, that has long since become passé. While the American Spirit is tiring and languishing in the past, a new European Dream is being born. It is a dream far better suited to the next stage in the human journey--one that promises to bring humanity to a global consciousness befitting an increasingly interconnected and globalizing society.

I must agree with Rifkin that our old ways must go--it is high time for change! It appears abstract, but it must begin at the theoretical stage. Societal change must begin with changes in thought pattern.

The European Dream emphasizes community relationships over individual autonomy, cultural diversity over assimilation, quality of life over the accumulation of wealth, sustainable development over unlimited material growth, deep play over unrelenting toil, universal human rights and the rights of nature over property rights, and global cooperation over the unilateral exercise of power.

For some, the American Dream...represents the ultimate expression of the end of history. The new European Dream is powerful because it dares to suggest a new history, with an attention to quality of life, sustainability, and peace and harmony. In a sustainable civilization, based on the quality of life rather than unlimited individual accumulation of wealth, the very material basis of modern progress would be a thing of the past...

The fledgling European Dream represents humanity's best aspirations for a better tomorrow.

The final question is: Will we linger in the past, clinging to our old ways, or will be embrace this new ideal? I'm afraid once again, the Europeans are leading a new wave that is a bit too radical for us Americans to follow. We flatter ourselves, but right now, there's not too much to be proud of. So let's swallow it and commit to change.


"Rifkin is no starry-eyed idealist-he questions the 'thickness' of the European dream and the persistence of European cynicism--and he has studied Europe seriously and with an open mind. His book deserves to be read."
Stanley Hoffmann, Foreign Affairs

There Are Times to Make History

Last week I posted a video featuring author David Batstone. Here is some more info on his book:


Visit the Not For Sale website to download the introduction of this book for free! I have posted a few highlights:

There are times to read history, and there are times to make history. We live right now at one of those epic moments in the fight for human freedom.

Go behind the facade in any major town or city in the world today and you are likely to find a thriving commerce in human beings. You may even find slavery in your own backyard...

Nearly two hundred thousand people live enslaved at this moment in the United States, and an additional 17,500 new victims are trafficked across our borders each year. Over thirty thousand more slaves are transported through the United States on their way to other international destinations. Attorneys from the U.S. Department of Justice have prosecuted slave-trade activity in ninety-one cities across the United States and in nearly every state of the nation.

This book aims to be a handbook for the modern-day abolitionist...It follows the trail of a select group of extraordinary abolitionists into their respective settings. We get a feel for the people around them who have fallen into captivity. We delve into the historical antecedents and social forces that frame their time and place. We learn how the slave traders they resist use power and violence to exploit the weak. And we gain an insight into the specific strategies these abolitionists deploy to bring about emancipation for the captives.

[Modern-day abolitionists] recognize that human freedom stands poised at a crucial crossroads in our time. Powerful forces aim to turn human beings into commodities that can be bought and sold like any other piece of property. To declare “not for sale” affirms that every individual has the inalienable right to be free, to pursue a God-given destiny. To inspire others to join their movement is my overriding purpose for writing this book...

As Edmund Burke presented the challenge so eloquently two
centuries ago,
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men [and women] do nothing.”

Caught Another One

Think it's not in your backyard? Think again...




Just recently, a man from Detroit, Michigan--Robert Lewis Young--was busted for running a prostitution ring that "employed" minors. His sentence: 25 years in federal prison followed by 5 years of supervised release--as it should be. He facilitated the transportation of his operation, that reached all the way to Hawaii, via car and airplane. In the end, he plead guilty to 26 offenses including possession of child pornography, drug charges, money laundering, and racketeering (among many others). The capture of Young led to at least five of his co-conspirators. An FBI investigation is unederway.

To read the rest of the story click here.

Stolen Childhood

Earlier this week, I came across the awareness-raising website/blog Stolen Childhood. This site from India focuses on the abuse and misfortune of children around the world. Reading the stories posted there, I found myself instantly sucked into a world that should never exist--but nevertheless does. "Giving Voice to the Silent Shrieks of Little Angels" is their tagline. On this site, you will also find opportunities to donate to various causes. From their 'About Us' page:

"Children are the most beautiful creations of the God: they are tender, innocent and ever-lovable creations of the Almighty...But unfortunately, right from the day these children make their presence felt on the earth, their share of troubles begin piling up...They are forced into hunger, slavery, ailments, sexual abuses, exploitation, et al!...Since it is not possible for us to reach out to every suffering child physically to help them out, we will be highlighting their plight and cause through our write-ups...We will not just talk about these problems, but also try to offer some practicable solutions to them."

Here is a brief exerpt from one of their current postings:

"Children in Kashmir also show a high level of mental trauma because of the war that they come to interact with since their childhood.

Many - probably a majority - of the children in Kashmir (not the 10,000-odd orphans of militancy, but the average, school going, normal kids) have deep, permanent bruises of the mind. Bruises that have far-reaching consequences, that are now finding reflection in psychic disorders, drug abuse and personality changes."

Read more...

The Power of Words

David Batstone: professor, award-winning journalist, author, activist. Bono calls him "a heroic character." David Batstone is the author of the new book Not for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade--and How We Can Fight It. In this clip, he argues human trafficking as modern-day slavery.



From Batstone's blog:

During the past year I journeyed to five continents to investigate the rise of modern slave trade (human trafficking) and explore strategies how to undermine it...

The journey took me beyond a book project, however. What I saw and experienced really got under my skin. I felt a calling to do more than write a book. So along with my colleagues at Right Reality we are launching...a campaign to end modern slavery:

NOT FOR SALE CAMPAIGN

Visit to learn about the campaign, how to join, where to donate.
BECOME AN ABOLITIONIST!

It's About Time

“The new Initiative will be critical to progress
in combating this global challenge. We urge everyone to
JOIN THE 21st CENTURY ANTI-TRAFFICKING MOVEMENT."
(Melanne Verveer, Co-Founder and Chair of Vital Voices Global Partnership)

In 2003, the United Nations Protocol Against Trafficking in Persons officially made human trafficking an international crime. Clearly, all necessary measures have not been taken in the 110 countries that have signed and ratified the UNPATP. In fact, evidence suggests that it has done more harm than good, by criminalizing the victims. Just yesterday, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) launched The Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking. And come this November, Vienna will host an International Conference against Human Trafficking. The Global Initiative lists raising awareness and improving law enforcement methods among its goals.

In this globalized world, nothing exists in a vacuum. This is a matter as much for the United States as it is for China and Ukraine.

The following are excerpts from a OneWorld article detailing the Global Initiative:

"Data collected by UNODC show that about 80 percent of the victims of human trafficking, most of them women and young girls, are forced into prostitution. The remaining 20 percent, usually the men and boys, face forced labour. About half are under the age of 18."

"A recent UNODC report called 'Trafficking in Persons: Global Patterns' identifies Thailand, China, Nigeria, Albania, Bulgaria, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine among the countries that are the greatest sources of trafficked persons. Thailand, Japan, Israel, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Turkey and the U.S. are cited as the most common destinations."

"No country is immune, whether as a source, a destination or a transit point for victims of human trafficking."