If you are currently busy with last minute shopping or struggling to find something for that hard-to-shop-for person on your list, consider one of the following ways to support anti-trafficking work with your purchases.
The Nomi Network has launched the "Buy Her Bag, Not Her Body" campaign. You can order a tote and help raise money for survivors of sex trafficking, while raising awareness about sexual slavery.
Made By Survivors offers a variety of products, from jewelry to holiday items to clothing. A special line of products also helps support the NGO GEMS, which works with minor survivors of sex trafficking in New York. Made By Survivors sells products made by survivors of trafficking and people at high risk for trafficking, in order to provide them with a stable, sustainable, living wage and fair working conditions. While Made By Survivors has stopped shipping for the year, you can order items to be shipped on January 4th or gift certificates.
You can also give the gift of awareness and education. Books about trafficking include Kevin Bales and Ron Soodalter's The Slave Next Door, Ben Skinner's A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern-Day Slavery, David Batstone's Not For Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade and How We Can Fight It, and Somaly Mam's autobiographical book The Road of Lost Innocence.
For the people who are really impossible to shop for, you can make a donation to an anti-trafficking organization in their name. The Somaly Mam Foundation, Free the Slaves, and Polaris Project are just a few of the many worthy organizations available.
Finally, as you are preparing holiday cookies and other goodies, consider purchasing chocolate, sugar, and other supplies from Equal Exchange or a local, organic source.
Thanks for reading and supporting the Human Trafficking Project in 2009. We look forward to an exciting year with you in 2010!
Also see http://www.free2work.org for slavery free products!
ReplyDeleteIn their words:
The Free2Work pledge is a public stance by a company demonstrating their willingness and efforts to eliminate forced labor and increase transparency within their supply chains.
Each company is rated on an A to F scale, including +/-. The rating scale reviews each company’s corporate policies, code of conduct implementation, employee empowerment, response to child labor and transparency. Additionally, companies that operate in industries which have a high risk of labor abuse will be evaluated on how they address the specific issues within that industry.