Ask Fox 35 to Report on Human Trafficking

From Polaris Project:

On April 19, Fox 35 Orlando reported that a Sheriff from Polk County arrested “60 alleged prostitutes, pimps and johns” following a week-long undercover bust targeting “escort services”. However, this crackdown was not simply involving alleged escort services, but young girls who - under the control of pimps - performed sex acts for johns.

Polk County prostitution bust targets online escorts: MyFoxORLANDO.com

To read more and take action click here.

No More Dirty Gold

Change.org recently reported on the child labor in the gold industry of Peru. Peru, since the beginning of colonialism in South America, has been exploited for their vast amounts of precious metals hidden in the mountains of the Andes. After the fall of the Incan empire, the Spanish conquistadors were hungry for more wealth and used native people as slaves to mine silver in order to further enrich their empire.

Today precious metals and slavery continue to have an enduring relationship. The Peruvian Sierra region, the main source of gold in the country, is the focus of Change.org's campaign to stop the exploitation of men, women and children who are forced to work in treacherous, inhumane conditions everyday so that we, Americans, can buy cheap bracelets and earrings from our favorite air-conditioned retail stores.

"Children as young as five have been found working in gold mines, and children under 14 are regularly forced to handle dangerous chemicals and perform backbreaking labor," explains the Change.org campaign. In addition to being exposed to toxic chemicals like cyanide, children often are expected to handle dynamite to extract the gold from the mountains.

Peru is not the only country known for slave labor in their gold industries. 17 other countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America force young children and adults to spend hours upon hours mining for gold that is in turn sold to companies in the United States. According to Change.org, gold was "the most frequently named commodity appearing on the US Department of Labor's List of Good Produced by Child or Forced Labor."

As a result, Earthworks organized a campaign called "No Dirty Gold" which encouraged companies to buy gold from sources that do not use child labor or slavery, or cause significant environmental damage. Change.org says that "70 national and international jewelry retailers have signed onto (the campaign)." However, Target has refused to agree to these terms. Interestingly enough their chief rival (and usually a major laggard in human rights issues), Wal-Mart, has already pledged to source their gold from cruelty-free producers.

After "tens of thousands" of letters from Change.org members, Target has publicly agreed to "consider" joining Earthworks' campaign. As we all know, this is a weak statement and another way to avoid changing their routine to buy products that are slave labor free.

Sign the petition and tell Target that you don't support child labor and slavery.

For more information about the "No Dirty Gold" campaign, visit Earthworks: No Dirty Gold.

If we don't act, Target won't either. Each dollar we spend at a corporation like Target is vote in agreement of their practices. The people of Peru deserve better, and we must demand more of our companies and their products.

Launch of the CNN Freedom Project

From CNN:

This year CNN will join the fight to end modern-day slavery and shine a spotlight on the horrors of modern-day slavery, amplify the voices of the victims, highlight success stories and help unravel the complicated tangle of criminal enterprises trading in human life.

iReport Freedom Project Challenge
Think you can't make a difference? Take a stand against human slavery. Submit a photo or video saying “I’m taking a stand to end slavery.”

How to help
The CNN Freedom Project's coverage of modern-day slavery may spur many readers and viewers to ask: How can I help? E-mail freedomproject@cnn.com for more information and find out more

Roll Out Your Yoga Mat on March 12 To Raise Awareness and Help Survivors

From Yoga Stops Traffick:

Wherever you are in the world, get ready to roll your mats out on 12th March 2011 for YOGA STOPS TRAFFICK, a worldwide yoga event to raise awareness about human trafficking. Last year YST brought together 1,500 people in 20 countries, 51 yoga studios, parks, homes, beaches and mountaintops around the world. With your help YST raised over £15,000 for Indian organization Odanadi Seva Trust, to give survivors of human trafficking the chance of a better future.

Following on from the huge success of last year, YST askes you to join them once again to take a stand against human trafficking: all you need is your yoga mat! Discover how you can get involved, and about the work being done by Odanadi. To find out here how the money raised from Yoga Stops Traffick will be spent visit www.odanadi-uk.org.

Teach Your Students about Child Slavery

This is an excerpt from the magazine of Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center. I thought this was an interesting way of trying to broach such a difficult topic with young students. The site also includes a short list of teaching tips as well as more information about the sample coursework described below.

Enlisting Students to Confront Modern Slavery

Organizations like the Frederick Douglass Family Foundation are committing much of their efforts to getting the message out to young people about slavery today. They are teaming with educators to teach students about its current forms, and get students motivated to share their newfound awareness.

Elizabeth Devine is a social studies teacher at William H. Hall High School in West Hartford, Connecticut. She includes a three-week unit covering human trafficking and modern-day slavery in her one-semester course on human rights.

Devine’s unit features films, books and guest speakers to help students relate to and engage the material. She introduces the topic with scenes from the film Human Trafficking, a fictionalized look at the sex trade in Eastern Europe. She invites experts, such as a federal prosecutor who presided over a local human trafficking case, into the classroom. “The kids couldn’t believe [human trafficking] was happening here,” Devine says.

Her curriculum also includes excerpts from Sold, Patricia McCormick’s account of a young Nepalese girl who was purchased by an Indian brothel. The class views segments of the PBS series The New Heroes, which features vignettes of individuals around the world fighting modern-day slavery. Students’ perspectives expand from the individual to the systemic when they read Kevin Bales’ book Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy.

“No doubt it’s provocative,” says Devine, named the 2009–2010 Secondary Teacher of the Year by the National Council of Social Studies. “The high school students can handle it. And I don’t give them titillating things about sex to read. We focus on the difficulties faced by the women.”

The more students investigate, the more they recognize the economic underpinnings of human trafficking. They learn that wherever there is greed and vulnerable people, conditions exist for turning humans into slaves.

Devine guides students in tracking their own attitudes and perspectives as they explore the mini-unit. She has them keep a “dialectical journal,” synthesizing ideas from in-class discussions with their own ideas and personal responses to texts and videos.

To create the journal, students separate a page into two columns. On the left, they record the facts and concepts included in the text or video, including quotations and descriptions of material that affected them. In the right-hand column, they jot down their own thoughts, questions and insights. “They do it after everything we see or read, so they are constantly reflecting on what they learn,” Devine says.

The unit culminates in an “action project.” These projects ask students to research an issue, then perform a related project in the community. Last year, two girls teamed up to collect backpacks and toiletries for women who had been rescued from traffickers and were living in a safe house.

Fair Trade Universities

Human Trafficking Awareness Day 2011

This year, HTP has signed on to a letter produced through a collaborative effort in Boston, Massachusetts to produce a statement in light of Human Trafficking Awareness Day. Today is also your opportunity to find out what is going on your local community, and find a way to get involved. Towards the bottom of the letter are some suggestions. And please remember that we here at HTP are always looking for volunteer writers and submissions.

Dear Boston Area Residents,

We are service providers, faith leaders, teachers, students, law enforcement, advocates, parishioners, civil servants, NGO leaders, business owners, and survivors from the Boston area. We work to combat human trafficking--what many call ‘modern-day slavery.’

We are uniting today, on Human Trafficking Awareness Day 2011, to ask you to learn about and discuss human trafficking and modern-day slavery with your families, neighbors, churches, coworkers, friends, and fellow students.

Human trafficking is widespread throughout the United States today, including the greater Boston area. It is a hidden crime and often goes undetected by authorities and advocates. The lack of public awareness about human trafficking, together with a lack of understanding about trafficking survivors and the services they need, present major barriers to combating it.

Within the Boston area there have been numerous incidents of international sex and labor trafficking, as well as the sex trafficking of U.S. citizens. Sex trafficking of children is sometimes referred to as CSEC (the commercial sexual exploitation of children).

Survivor stories from the Boston area are diverse: a woman from Southeast Asia trafficked into years of domestic servitude, a young Eastern European woman looking for a better life but forced into sexual exploitation, a child from Latin America sent to the U.S. by her family who ended up being exploited for labor, and an American teenager who fled abuse at home and then relied on her “boyfriend” who prostituted her. Women, men, girls, and boys from a variety of backgrounds are being trafficked for sex and labor in our communities today. Many of these individuals can’t see a way out of their situations, and are afraid to speak up for themselves due to threats, coercion, or violence.

Please join the anti-trafficking movement. Your involvement, voice, and skills can make a difference. Below are three things you can do. These action items all begin with educating yourself. Details are available at www.traumacenter.org/initiatives/necat.php.

Talk about human trafficking in your communities and ask others to educate themselves

• Invite a speaker from a local organization to talk to your group
• Read a book, hold a documentary screening, write a blog or an editorial
• Use Google alerts to send news about trafficking and slavery to your email

Tell your legislators to take action - Massachusetts is currently one of five states that has failed to pass anti-trafficking legislation

• Write your legislator

Get involved with a local organization

• Support, volunteer for, or spread the word about a local organization
• Donate or fundraise to ensure the work continues

We, the undersigned, pledge to continue to fight human trafficking and modern-day slavery in greater Boston and beyond. Please join us.

For a full list of signatories, please click here.

For more specific suggestions from signatory organizations, please click here.

Child Marriage

From Talking Points Memo:

On Thursday night, hours before passing the tax cut compromise, House Republicans thwarted a bill that aimed to protect girls around the world from being coerced into child marriage. They opposed it because, they claimed, it might fund abortions.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), was blindsided. After the Child Marriage Protection Act passed the Senate with zero objection on Dec. 1 -- a rare feat these days -- it didn't seem like there was much to worry about.

But just before the vote began, Republican leadership blasted out a "whip alert" to GOP staffers with a message: Vote no. The alert claimed the bill cost too much and that a competing bill, introduced just the day before, would be better.

"There are also concerns that funding will be directed to NGOs that promote and perform abortion and efforts to combat child marriage could be usurped as a way to overturn pro-life laws," the alert read.

And so the bill, which needed a two-thirds vote to pass under the suspended rules, failed. Even some congressmen who sponsored the bill voted no.

McCollum, along with human rights organizations and the State Department, believes that child marriage is a form of child abuse that includes sexual abuse, domestic violence and slavery.

Read the full article here.

Read the bill here.

According to Change.org: Millions of girls are forced into child marriages around the world, sometimes with men over twice their age. In developing countries, child marriage is an incredible problem, with girls' physical and emotional health being endangered by this dangerous practice. From missing out on education to dangerous childbirth at a young age, girls in developing countries are especially at risk because of child marriage.

In response to the House of Representatives failure to pass the bill, change.org has started a petition which can be viewed and signed here.

Picture by Kay Chernush for the U.S. Department of State.

Call to Action: Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act of 2010

From the Polaris Project Action Site: On December 9, the U.S. Senate passed S.2925, “Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act of 2010.” This bipartisan legislation was introduced by Senators Wyden (D-OR) and Cornyn (R-TX) and was passed with unanimous consent in the Senate. With only one week left in the Congressional session, the House must now adopt the Senate bill and pass it by Friday, December 17!

To learn more about what you can do and how to contact your representatives, click here.

According to Change.org:

The Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act of 2010 will improve federal and state government efforts to combat domestic sex trafficking of minors by:

- Authorizing six year-long grants of $2.5 million to state or local governments in regions that have

-- a significant sex trafficking problem

-- demonstrated cooperation between law enforcement, prosecutors, and service providers in efforts to combat sex trafficking, and

-- developed a plan to combat sex trafficking that includes provisions for victims' shelter and services, training of law enforcement and service providers, and prosecution and deterrence of traffickers.

- Providing that a minimum of 25% of grant funds are used to provide shelter and services to victims of sex trafficking.

- Providing for an independent annual evaluation of grant recipients' programs.

- Requiring state reporting of missing children to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and encouraging the Attorney General to change the NCIC to facilitate protection of missing children.

- Encouraging states to enact safe harbor laws that presume a minor found in prostitution is a victim of a severe form of trafficking.

Action Steps from the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation

Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE) recently presented at a national human trafficking conference on effective ways for citizens to Demand Change! This post will highlight steps for you to demand change on international sex trafficking and the commercially sexually exploited children (CSEC). Each action results in a reaction, each reaction hopefully leads to a discussion on ways to end human trafficking. Add your voice to the Demand for Change.

1) Keep Informed: Read up on international sex trafficking on websites such as www.notforsale.org; www.love146.org, www.polarisproject.org, Read blogs on the issues. Knowledge is power. Equip yourself with the power to end human trafficking.

2) Raise awareness. Visit the “Restore and Rescue” campaign for resources to share with your community. (http://www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking).

3) Fundraise for a trusted organization fighting human trafficking. Events could include a benefit concert, movie night, or a 5k marathon to engage the local community. Potential movies include Playground, Very Young Girls, Lilya 4-Ever, or Born into Brothels.

4) Volunteer! Take time to volunteer at a local organization aimed at the abolition of human trafficking. Or donate money to an anti-trafficking organization.

5) Advocate! Be the voice of the estimated 600,000-800,000 individuals trafficked internationally each year.

a) Lobby for international airlines to train their employees on identifying human trafficking victims. A free manual is provided at www.innocentatrisk.org.

b) Ask your representative to support the Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act. (HR5575).

6) Add the Human Trafficking Hotline number to your phone. Take out your phone right now and add 1-888-3737-888. Phone to “report a tip; to connect with anti-trafficking services in your area; or to request training and technical assistance, general information, or specific anti-trafficking resources” (Polaris Project)

The steps outlined are just a foray into the ways YOU can make a difference and make your voice heard!

Posted on behalf of Laura Convery.

Phones4Freedom: Send in Your Old Phone to Help Others Fight Human Trafficking

From Phones4Freedom:

In the developing world, a lack of regular channels to information and resources prevents city-based anti-trafficking advocates from providing adequate resources to rural and at-risk communities. As advocates travel from cities to do outreach education to isolated/vulnerable regions, they are often remain disconnected from those who are in critical need of regular communication. The mission of Survivors Connect Helpline SMS Teams is to advance anti-trafficking networks in underserved communities using innovative mobile technology. Helpline SMS Networks consist of: NGOs, legal advocates, social service providers, law enforcement, and other key stake holders who act as first responders in a trafficking case.

The Helpline SMS Network is able to use this mobile network to regularly stay in touch with rural communities vulnerable to human trafficking, provide regular updates and information at a low cost, and respond to emergencies and prevent trafficking. We're using Frontline SMS, a free open-source platform that enables large-scale, two-way text messaging using only a laptop, GSM modem and inexpensive cell phones.

By using this technique, we are preventing slavery and human trafficking one text at a time!
How will your Phone Make a difference?
By Donating to Phones4Freedom, Survivors Connect will earn "points" or "credits" to purchase the appropriate mobile equipment for Helpline SMS anti-trafficking networks. The average donated phone in the US will allow us to purchase 2-3 phones.

To learn more about what we've done, check out www.survivorsconnect.org/helpline-SMS and http://www.kiwanja.net/blog/2010/01/sms-joins-battle-against-human-trafficking/.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does it cost money?

If you're shipping in the US then absolutely not! The shipping labels are prepaid, thanks to our generous partner The WirelessSource. If you wish to donate from outside the US, email us at hello@phones4freedom.org to explore possibilities.
Does my phone's condition matter?

Doesn't matter one bit. Send us any and all phones, beat up and old. Our recycling partner will take care of them.
What happens to my phone?

We have partnered up with The WirelessSource to recycle and process your phone. They will either refurbish or fully recycle the phone. Phones4Freedom will receive "credits" or "points" for every phone you send it, which will then allow us to purchase appropriate phones for our anti-trafficking advocates and anti-trafficking networks around the world. 100% of the value of your cell phone is used to obtain the right phones for the networks.

How can I start a collection campaign at my place of business, school, place of worship etc?

Email us at hello@phones4freedom.org with details about your ideas. We will send you a kit with everything you need to start your own collection campaign. This will include a unique shipping label for you so we can track how many phones are donated through your campaign. In addition, we'll send a collection box and fundraising kit including handy flyers and images for your use.
I have personal information on my phone, how do I get rid of it?

Removing your SIM chip is step 1. This will remove all contacts. However, you may still have contacts, notes, and pictures saved on your phone's memory. In order to remove it, can follow the instructions here OR The WirelessSource will do it for you!
I have more electronics at home. Can I recycle and donate them?

You sure can! The The WirelessSource has expanded their recycling categories to include laptops, MP3 players, digital cameras, camcorders and gaming systems. You may use the same shipping label to send those as well.. Survivors Connect will receive credits for all electronics donated and recycled.

Phones4Freedom is an fascinating project which, is sponsored by Survivors Connect and partnered with The WirelessSource. Community members send their phones in, free of charge. The Wireless Sources recycles or refurbishes the phones and Phones4Freedom gets credits for them. The organization uses these credits to purchase phones for anti-trafficking advocates around the world. The condition of the phone does not mater and the WirelessSource can even take other electronics.

If you are interested in sending a phone or another electronic device, please visit http://www.phones4freedom.org/donate.php where you can print your shipping label and learn how to properly ship it. In addition, there is information on how to get others involved by printing flyers and starting a campaign at your school/work or place of worship. This is an excellent way to get rid of an old phone, fight trafficking and save the environment at the same time.

Halloween and Human Trafficking

With Halloween quickly approaching, October is a particularly opportune month to raise awareness about the use of forced labor, child labor, and other exploitative labor practices in the chocolate industry. A number of organizations are hosting campaigns to help community members raise awareness about these issues and to encourage the chocolate industry to continue to address these abuses in the industry.

The Dark Side of Chocolate
The International Labor Rights Forum, along with Global Exchange, Green America and Oasis USA, are organizing screenings of The Dark Side of Chocolate all across the country. This new documentary exposes the ongoing use of child labor, forced labor and trafficking in the cocoa industry in West Africa. It is a great resources for increasing awareness of this critical labor rights issue.

As part of the Raise the Bar Hershey campaign, they are asking concerned individuals to host screenings in their communities throughout October 2010, especially during a national week of action from October 25 through October 31.

For more information, please contact Tim Newman at Tim.Newman@ILRF.org or 202-347-4100
To watch the trailer, click Here
To download a community screening toolkit, click Here

Reverse Trick-or-Treating
Ten to twenty thousand groups of children will hand chocolate back to adults during their regular neighborhood trick-or-treating rounds this Halloween. The children will distribute Fair Trade certified chocolate attached to a card explaining the labor and environmental problems in the cocoa industry globally and how Fair Trade provides a solution. The event, Reverse Trick-or-Treating, was launched to raise awareness of the pervasive problem of child labor, forced labor and trafficking in the cocoa fields, to empower consumers to press the chocolate industry for more fair cocoa sourcing policies, to shift the industry toward sourcing Fair Trade certified cocoa, and to inform consumers about Fair Trade companies that are leading the way to industry reform. Fair Trade standards prohibit the use of abusive child labor, contain extensive environmental sustainability protections, and enable farmers to escape poverty.

To learn more, click Here
To order a kit, click Here

Slave Trader Joe's?

Is Trader Joe's Selling Slave Picked Produce?

By Amanda Kloer
September 09, 2010

Trader Joe's presents itself as a hip, progressive place to shop, full of vegetarian options and free from the plethora of hot orange processed snacks found elsewhere. But Trader Joe's refuses to take one very critical progressive step and join the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' (CIW) Campaign for Fair Food. And because of their refusal, you might just be buying slave-picked produce from those friendly, Hawaiian shirt-wearing joes.

Modern-day slavery is a reality for many farm workers right here in the U.S. In Florida, over 1,000 people have been identified as trafficked in fields and on farms, picking the food we eat every day. Farm workers have also been trapped in slavery or seriously abusive conditions in California, Washington, North Carolina, Maryland, and several other states with large agricultural industries. Because the laws governing agriculture are different than those regulating other industries in the U.S., many of these workers don't have the same legal protections the rest of us do.

Trader Joe's is no stranger to dealing with labor and transparency concerns. Two years ago, a 17-year-old girl suffered a fatal heat stroke while picking grapes for Charles Shaw wine, the "Two Buck Chuck" Trader Joe's is famous for. And folks over Change.org's Sustainable Food property are asking the company for better transparency in their organic food sourcing. TJ's has also gotten flack for selling un-sustainable seafood and fish from places like Thailand and Bangladesh, where slavery in the fishing industry is common. That's a pretty poor track record for a company with a progressive, conscious customer base.

This is where you, that conscious customer, come in. As a consumer, you have the power to ensure the workers who grow and harvest your food are getting fair pay for their work and are being treated with dignity. The CIW's Campaign for Fair Food harnesses the purchasing power of the food industry for the betterment of farm worker wages and working conditions. Over the past decade, CIW has used the campaign to get some of the largest food purchasers in the country to support fairer labor standards for farm workers in the U.S., including a zero tolerance policy for slavery and transparent supply chains. Current participants include Subway, McDonald's, and Whole Foods. Now, Trader Joe's has the opportunity to join them and take a stand against slavery and farm worker exploitation.

Please, take a minute to ask Trader Joe's to join the Campaign for Fair Food and ensure that they aren't selling their customers slave-picked produce.

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Trader Joe's has a wide reputation for being a company where people can purchase food and feel good about it. Unfortunately the secrecy of the organization, their unwillingness to join the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' (CIW) Campaign for Fair Food and some of their practices put this feeling into question. One of these practices includes sourcing unsustainable seafood from Thailand and Bangladesh where slave labor in the seafood industry is unfortunately not uncommon. Additionally, the death of a 17 year old who was picking grapes for Trader Joe's wine has also created concern among activist. Please visit this site and click the take action button to sign your name to the petition asking Trader Joe's to ensure fair and safe labor practices. Let them know their customers (and the community as a whole if you are not a customer) care.

Engaging the Corporation for Change

Many people, when they first learn about human trafficking and other forms of modern slavery, are compelled to act. Some people choose to educate themselves. In the process, they usually become aware that some of the products they buy could be tainted by slave labor. It is easy to become overwhelmed by the problem. There is very little a consumer can do to know whether the shirt they buy was produced ethically.

The consumer is not powerless though, and can do something to push for slave/trafficking free products. Companies, by nature, are concerned with their public image and whether or not they will have customers. They must constantly be sure that customers are satisfied with the products the company is selling. The only way companies know their customers are unsatisfied is if customers stop coming to the store or if they tell the company that they are unsatisfied. Too often in the fight against human trafficking and slavery I hear people demonizing and boycotting companies, particularly large corporations for their labor practices, without recognizing that these companies also have the most power to change labor practices within the industry for the better.

We need to engage these companies, not shun them. Companies are incredibly strategic. If a change will positively affect public image and thus customer flow into their stores, they likely will do it. Walmart now sells organic food because they believed it would attract more customers and because people asked for it. We need to use a similar mindset. If a company knows its customers really care about the type of labor used in the production of its products and believe it is negatively affecting their public image, it will likely begin trying to find solutions, though sometimes these solutions do not occur quickly.

There are many different ways to let companies know that you as a customer find their practices troubling and to ask the to take action. One particular method that seems to be popular right now is targeted online petition/email campaigns. These are a few of the campaigns I found and believe could be effective in this process.

General
Chain Store Reaction This is sponsored by Call + Response and allows you to send emails to many major chain stores. While there is already text written for each of the stores, you can also add or delete parts of the email based on what message you want to convey. This might be advisable since some of the emails are quite generic. For example, you could indicate which of their stores you frequent or which source products you are concerned about. The website also posts information on how many emails were sent to that company and whether or not they have responded. There are 767 companies listed on the website.

Chocolate Companies
Here you can learn about the horrific working/living conditions on the cocoa farms of West Africa. Additionally, you can petition companies such as Hershey’s and Mars to take action against these abuses.




Electronic Companies
This site targets the 21 largest electronics companies and urges them to take serious action against conflict materials, which are often used in electronics. The conflict materials are usually obtained at great cost. Rape, war, and forced labor have surrounded the procurement of these materials. Tell companies you will buy their products once the conflict material free versions are available.

Diamonds
This particular petition is directed towards members of the Kimberley Process which recently decided not to ban diamonds from Zimbabwe’s Marange diamond field despite finding severe human rights violations including forced labor of adults and children. This is due to the fact that human rights violations alone are not enough to ban diamonds from a particular country. This petitions asks that this criteria be changed. There are many hurdles companies face in ensuring trafficked or enslaved labor is not in their supply chains. While these challenges are real, we need to make clear to these companies that their customers care. Until they know we care and are serious about this issue, it is likely that little will be done to ensure these companies’ supply chains are free of tainted labor.

California Supply Chain Act, Unfair?

Firms oppose California bill to disclose policing of labor practices
Bill would require large firms to post online what they're doing to ensure that no one in their supply chain violates human rights. Business groups fear it could make them the target of enforcement actions and bad press.

August 13, 2010|By Marc Lifsher, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Sacramento —

California companies say they won't deal with suppliers who use forced labor to dig out gems for jewelry or sew buttons on clothes. But they won't support legislation that would force them to divulge what they're doing to monitor their suppliers' workforce practices.

A bill by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) would require retailers and manufacturers with annual revenue of at least $100 million to post on the Internet what they're doing — or not doing — to ensure that no one in their supply chain violates human rights.

The idea is to give shoppers and investors who want to support companies taking anti-slavery stands an opportunity to spend their money in a socially conscious way, proponents such as British actress Julia Ormond have argued.

Many companies, such as Gap Inc. and Nike Inc., voluntarily police suppliers' labor practices such as mining rare metals in Africa or sewing dresses in East Los Angeles, they said.

But major statewide business groups oppose any state mandate that could make them the target of government enforcement actions and resulting bad press.

"These are the kinds of issues that create great consternation for my companies, which spend a lot of time worrying about their image," said Dorothy Rothrock, a vice president of the California Manufacturers and Technology Assn.

The bill would require companies to reveal publicly whether they hire outside experts to check suppliers' labor practices, whether they conduct independent and unannounced audits of suppliers and whether suppliers certify that raw materials are processed in accordance with local and international labor and safety laws.

There's nothing onerous about the bill, said Steinberg, noting that it would affect only about 3.2% of California businesses. "These requirements seem relatively simple and very doable," he said.

What's more, he said, "it's good business to ensure that workers who make your products are treated with respect and dignity."

The bill, SB 657, passed the state Assembly and is awaiting a final vote in the Senate this month.

"Business has a vital role to play in using their supply chains as the road map to tackling strategically and impactfully the worst forms of poverty on the planet," Ormond testified at a recent legislative hearing. "Consumers need to know their level of engagement so they can make informed choices."

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In case you are unaware, California is in process of considering The California Supply Chain Transparency Act of 2010 (SB 657) and The Slave and Sweat Free Code of Conduct for goods sold to the State of California (SB 1231). The former would require large companies to disclose all efforts to use 3rd parties to check and address the possibility of human trafficking and slavery in their supply chains, in part by independent random audits of the company’s suppliers. The latter bill would lead to prohibition on the Government of California from purchasing items from companies that are believed to used forced forms of labor.

While companies say they agree in principle to not using forced and exploitative forms of labor, they are not okay with the first bill which requires them to publicly state what they are doing to ensure their suppliers are not using such labor. Many companies are very worried about their public image and feel this bill could lead to bad press and increased enforcement on their companies as compared to small companies, which will not be required to report.

The goal is to give concerned consumers a mechanism to learn about what companies are doing and to enable them to make ethical decisions about their purchases.

Despite the companies' concerns, this is a very important step in the fight to get companies to take human rights violations in their supply chains seriously. If you live in California, please contact your Assembly Representative in support of SB657 and SB1231. You can find your representative at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html. If you do not, please sign this petition supported by the Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking, which is targeted to Governor Schwarzenegger.

Craigslist and Sexual Services

In January I attended a non-profit leadership conference where Lynn Lukow, the Executive Director of the Craigslist Foundation, spoke about the charitable contributions made by the website’s partner foundation. He focused his lecture on how Craigslist believes that strong communities are the cornerstone for a better society, how their company wants to do the most good for the most amount of people, how advocating for fair wages and decent jobs should be the focus of what they labeled themselves as the “independent sector.” Lukow also mentioned how Craigslist asks themselves over and over, “Are we doing the right thing?” He said if they find that they are not, then they need to regroup.

During the question and answer period at the end of his speech, I nervously stepped up the microphone and asked why, with all their attempts at building strong communities and their focus on “thinking holistically,” did they continue to allow the buying and selling of sexual services on their website? Did this really fit into their goals toward community development?

For years Craigslist has been under fire for allowing erotic services to be posted on their website. Most recently, the website has been blamed for the creation and growth of prostitution rings – some involving underage girls and boy - in several cities, including my most recent place of residence, Kansas City, Missouri.

Lukow replied, extremely flustered might I add, that Craigslist does not allow illegal activity to be sold on their website. But if illegal services are offered, there is very little they can do to stop the activity because so much is being bought and sold on Craigslist that it is nearly impossible to censor everything.

I asked if this was a moral dilemma for a foundation that prides themselves on utilitarian ideals. He said that Craigslist believes that communities can decide for themselves what should be bought and sold in their communities.

This comment was insinuating – hopefully unintentionally- that if a community decides that it is permissible to sell the sexual services of boys, girls, men and women then they should be allowed to do this through their website.

As one might expect, Lukow was regarded as a complete flop after these rushed, almost incoherent and false statements. His responses were counterproductive and caused an entire conference of 700 young people to think twice before visiting his website.

All across America, people are learning more about the injustices spread through Craigslist. They are boycotting it, using other websites like www.kijiji.com as a replacement. This movement has taken root and is beginning to make profound change.

Today in the news, there is a movement to stop the “Adult Services” portion of the website.

Check it out: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ijE8ghEyZTvfzAddOR1DDMwpU4RQD9HQ6FI80

Sign a petition: http://humantrafficking.change.org/petitions/view/petition_to_end_craigslist_sex_slave_trafficking

Human Trafficking Action & Events

Polaris Project is requesting action to support Ohio HB493, which would be Ohio's first law to criminalize human trafficking. Ohio is one of five states that still does not have a law addressing human trafficking.

The Not for Sale Campaign is accepting registrations for the Global Forum on Human Trafficking, which will be held in Yorba Linda, CA from October 14-15. Register now and receive a free t-shirt or gift certificate to the Freedom Store.

Change.org is asking for signatures on letters requesting that Hilton prevent child prostitution in its hotels by signing the EPCAT Code of Conduct.

Change.org also has a petition asking Craigslist to "make REAL change" in its adult services section, and providing several suggestions.

NOW-NYC is holding a Trafficking Action Network meeting on August 11, at 6:30 pm. For more information, click here.

On September 12, a member of CAST's survivor caucus will be speaking at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. For more information, click here.

Image credit: Avital Gertner

Susan Sarandon Campaigns Against Prosecution of Child Sex Slaves

From the Huffington Post on 3 August 2010:
Susan Sarandon has joined other celebrities and activists -- including Somaly Mam, a sexual slavery survivor and major force in the fight against child prostitution -- in calling for legislative action to protect children forced into sexual slavery.

Though children under the age of 16 cannot legally consent to sex anywhere in the U.S., they can still currently be sentenced to juvenile hall for prostitution. Without the protection of Safe Harbor laws, children involved in the commercial sex trade can be prosecuted for their own abuse and exploitation in almost every U.S. state. Only N.Y., Conn., Ill. and Wash. state have put in place protective sanctions around children under 16 to keep them from being criminally charged with prostitution.

Read the full article here:

The Body Shop's Child Trafficking Petition

The Body Shop just started running a petition in the United States, to promote the passage of "safe harbor" laws which would prohibit prosecution of children under 18 for prostitution, and to instead provide resources for child victims. To sign the petition, click here or on the widget below:

Take Action on the Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act

In his recent article, Sex, Seduction, and Slavery, Nicholas Kristoff wrote "There’s a misperception in America that “sex trafficking” is mostly about foreigners smuggled into the U.S. That exists. But I’ve concluded that the biggest problem and worst abuses involve not foreign women but home-grown runaway kids." As he points out, however, domestic minor sex trafficking tends to be ignored, and its victims tend to be treated like criminals instead of victims.

Awareness of the commercial sexual exploitation of children in the United States is growing, however, as are arrests and prosecutions of the traffickers. Just last week, a Maryland man was sentenced to 37 years in prison for his role in a sex trafficking operation. "This defendant violently preyed upon some of the most vulnerable members of our society. He sought out troubled young girls and, using physical violence, drugs, guns and lies, coerced them into prostitution for his own benefit," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "The Department of Justice will continue to vigorously prosecute these cases."

While arresting and prosecuting the traffickers is vital, efforts cannot stop there. As Kristoff also noted, "Human trafficking tends to get ignored because it is an indelicate, sordid topic, with troubled victims who don’t make great poster children for family values. Indeed, many of the victims are rebellious teenage girls — often runaways — who have been in trouble with their parents and the law, and at times they think they love their pimps." Minor victims have complex needs and have experienced incredible trauma. There is a dearth of services for them, though.

As a Polaris Project Action Alert points out, "Each year, at least 100,000 children are victimized through commercial sex and prostitution within the United States. Particularly vulnerable to sex trafficking are runaway children, an estimated 33% of them are lured into prostitution within the first 48 hours of leaving home. Unfortunately, victims of sex trafficking, including children, are commonly overlooked in most state and federal efforts to respond to the brutal crime. A mere 80 beds in shelters nationwide are available to provide the safe shelter and professional health and social services that these victims need."

Currently, the House (HR 5575 by Rep. Maloney NY14) and Senate (S 2925 by Sen. Wyden OR) are reviewing bills that would provide crucial funding to develop and enhance comprehensive, collaborative efforts to combat the sex trafficking in the U.S. by providing six block grants of $2,500,000 each to state or local government entities who have designed a holistic approach to investigating, prosecuting and deterring sex trafficking, and providing special services and shelter to the victims.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to review the bill on 7/29/2010. Click this link to learn more about how to urge your senators to support funding for fighting trafficking and supporting victims and survivors.