Calling All Bloggers

If you have a human trafficking blog, or are a blogger interested in writing about human trafficking, HTP would like to connect with you! HTP is currently brainstorming about potential ways to increase networking with our anti-human trafficking allies. If you are interested in connecting, and would like to hear our ideas, or have ideas of your own, please shoot an email to meg@traffickingproject.org. We look forward to hearing from you!

Human Trafficking: 2009 In Review

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Urge Secretary Clinton to End Child Trafficking

Plan International USA, Inc. has created a petition urging Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to work to end child trafficking in 2010. The petition thanks Secretary Clinton for her support of anti-trafficking work to date, and aims to encourage her to continue to make ending slavery a priority. The petition, which has already gathered over 20,000 signatures, will close on January 31st.

Plan International is a child-centered NGO that operates in 48 countries around the world. According to Plan International, "This year 1.2 million girls and boys were victims of child trafficking. That means they were taken from their families. Sold into slavery. Forced to work 7 days a week with dangerous equipment. They endured beatings, malnutrition, and other abuse. Girls are especially exploited: sold as “mail order brides,” forced into prostitution, and brutalized and raped by their “employers.”

As Plan International notes, Secretary Clinton has expressed support for anti-trafficking work. The petition urges Secretary Clinton to "continue [her] important work to protect children from human trafficking by; spreading awareness of human trafficking by including it as a key part of upcoming speeches and responding to tragedies in the news, encouraging the work of organizations and countries that are making progress in ending human trafficking, discussing this issue with key leaders of countries who are known for human trafficking violations and insisting that these leaders follow the recommendations in the 2009 Trafficking in Persons Report."

Upon the release of the 2009 Trafficking in Persons Report, Secretary Clinton wrote in a piece published by the Washington Post, "Human trafficking flourishes in the shadows and demands attention, commitment and passion from all of us. We are determined to build on our past success and advance progress in the weeks, months and years ahead. Together, we must hold a light to every corner of the globe and help build a world in which no one is enslaved." Plan International's petition aims to encourage Secretary Clinton to continue her commitment and strengthen her leadership in shining this light.

Announcing the Fair Trade Winner

Congratulations to Avra Cohen of Fight Slavery Now!

Late last month, Amanda with End Human Trafficking and I challenged our readers to find slavery-free options for two lists of products. Avra Cohen supplied the most comprehensive response for both lists. According to Cohen, FightSlaveryNow.Org investigates products and awards a "Freedom Seal" to items that have not been made utilizing modern-day slavery.

In response to our challenge, Cohen wrote, "Since we had a head start on many of these product categories, I thought this would be a challenge easily met. It was not. But it has been fun and enlightening. . . For some products it was easy to find a large selection of Fair Trade alternatives, while for other products there were few or none." I think it is worth considering why some products have many fair-trade options, whereas other items that we use daily seem to only offer questionable options at best.

Cohen went above and beyond the directions of our challenge, including a variety of sources that in addition to being fair-trade and slavery free, also met eco-sustainability standards and are free from animal cruelty. Many products also directly support the original maker of the product, and many support social justice issues.

As Cohen noted, "there is nothing better than supporting your local craftspersons, farmers, and merchants. Ask about the materials involved and if applicable, about the labor practices that attend production. This has the double benefit of raising awareness about these issues, and expanding the market for slave-free sustainable goods."

Enjoy the list!

Couch: close...
closer...
bingo!

Stereo.

TV: Well, almost...

Flowers.
According to Cohen, this product provoked some controversy.

Rug.

Lamp.

Rice.

Curtains.

Coffee Table

Coffee. Several options, including Veronica's Cup.

Football

Chocolate Bar: The world's first slave-free chocolate bar and another delicious option.

Underwear and a bonus video "Eco-Boudoir, More Than Pretty Knickers."

MP3 Player (one option).

Pencil with bonus pencil box and sharpener.

Strawberries: As Cohen points out, this raises questions about fair trade vs. food miles; Cohen advocates supporting your local greenmarket and joing the Community Supported Agriculture Movement. Or plant your own!

Lipstick/Lip Gloss

Pillow: Many options.

Water Bottle (too many good choices, according to Cohen, though this one won for product, value, and overall philosophy).

Wallet: Again, many options.

Extra Credit:
Sneakers and USB drive.

Also, check out the Ethical Superstore for a wide variety of Fair Trade Products if you are looking for something not on our lists!

Finally, Cohen leaves us with another challenge: Who will make the first slave-free mobile phone? Read "Blood Tantalum' in your mobile phone" and "Murder, Rape, All for Your Cell Phone."

Again, congratulations to Avra Cohen for this incredible list. Please consider supporting socially conscious options whenever possible, and let the companies you patronize know that you want them to be slavery-free.

HTP and Change.org Team Up: Slavery-Free Product Challenge

The Reality: Slaves are making the goods we as consumers buy. Human Trafficking Project blogger Jenn Kimball and I addressed the issue of slavery being used to make the products we buy this month. And now, we’re challenging you to do something about it.

Increasingly, there are a number of tools we as consumers can use to find the most slave-free items on the market. As of yet, there is no 100% guaranteed slave-labor-free label, but there are some guidelines you can use.

• Fair Trade: A Fair Trade label indicates that the item was produced sustainably and that workers were paid a living wage to produce it. It doesn’t necessarily guarantee slave-free supply chains, however.


• Made in the USA: We all know people are trafficked in the U.S., but better labor regulations and higher wages mean that fewer factories full of trafficked workers are operating in the U.S. than in some developing nations.


• Ethically Produced/Sustainable: Unlike “Fair Trade” and “Made in the USA,” phrases like ethically produced, ethically sourced, and sustainable don’t have certified criteria associated with them. They can sometimes be an indicator, however, of a company that’s paying attention to its supply chain.


• Country of Production: Some countries have had a longer history of slavery in certain industries, so knowing common forms of labor trafficking in different countries may help you avoid buying products from that industry made in that country.

The Challenge: Find the 10 most slave-free ways to acquire the items below (you don’t actually need to buy them). Where would you buy them? What brands would you choose? What labels or guidelines would you use to make better consumer choices? Here’s my list, and you can read Jenn’s list over on my blog:

1. Football

2. Chocolate bar

3. Underwear

4. MP3 Player

5. Pencil

6. Strawberries

7. Lipstick/Lip gloss

8. Pillow

9. Water bottle

10. Wallet

Post your finds to the comments section of this blog.

The Reward: The person who comes up with the best, most creative list of the most slave-free sources will be published and credited on both blogs. Plus, you’ll help inspire other consumers to make better choices about the items they buy.

While we may not have a 100% slave-free guarantee as consumers, we can make a lot of choices that go a long way to ending human trafficking just by buying the right items.

-Post written by Change.org's Amanda Kloer

Job Opening with Safe Horizon

From Idealist.org:

Safe Horizon
Sr. Case Manager-Anti-trafficking

Salary: $30,441- $34,246.full benefits, 4 weeks vac

Education: Bachelor (BA, BS, etc.)

Location: Jackson Heights, New York, 11372, United States

Posted by: Safe Horizon
Job Category: Direct social services

Language(s): Spanish

Job posted on: April 13, 2009

Area of Focus: Crime, Safety, and Victims’ Issues
Type: Full time

Last day to apply: June 12, 2009

Description:

Using an intensive case management model and human rights based approach, Safe Horizon operates a comprehensive, community-focused social and legal services program for survivors of human trafficking, many of whom have experienced and witnessed physical and/or psychological abuse, survived torture and other forms of organized violence.

Essential Job Functions:

• Provide intensive case management support, client accompaniment, advocacy, information, and linkages with community service providers and local, state and federal law enforcement, on behalf of victims of human trafficking.
• Offer crisis intervention, short-term counseling, accompaniment and referrals.
• Collaborate and coordinate services with external partners to provide a continuum of care for clients.
• Advocate for clients’ rights to protect the best interest of the client.
• Conduct outreach and presentations to identified communities and providers, informing them about the services the Anti-Trafficking Program provides, and generate referrals.
• Maintain accurate and thorough case records, advocacy letters, database entries and agency documentation as required.
• Prepare narrative and case management reports on a monthly basis for funders.
• Ability to clearly and concisely articulate case issues and opposing viewpoints.
• Participate in community forums, community working groups, and trafficking task force work as required.
• Active participation in weekly staff meetings with a small and dynamic team.
• Complete additional tasks as required by the Anti-Trafficking Program.

Additional Qualifications:

• BA and at least 3 years experience working with trafficking survivors or similar population or MA/MSW and at least one year of experience working with trafficking survivors or similar populations.
• Counseling experience with survivors of physical and emotional abuse or crime victims who are immigrants and refugees or similar populations.
• Cultural competency and linguistic fluency.
• Second language required. Spanish a plus; Russian, Korean, French or Chinese desired.
• Excellent and effective writing skills, organization and communication skills required.
• Must be familiar with a wide range of social justice, immigration, refugee issues; the underlying social issues effecting survivors of human trafficking, violent crime, domestic violence, torture, flight from persecution in other countries, and those seeking basic family re-unification; and human rights based approaches to combating trafficking.
• Prior experience organizing and executing group trainings and information exchanges is preferred.
• Ability to work independently and manage multiple tasks.
• Computer skills.

How to Apply:

Please email resume and a cover letter addressing the knowledge, skills and abilities required to Fiona Mason, Supervising Social Worker, Anti-Trafficking Program. Resumes without a detailed cover letter will not be considered. atpjobs@safehorizon.org

For other positions available with this organization, please click here.

UN.GIFT Expert Group Initiative on Stakeholder Cooperation with Law Enforcement

From UNGIFT:

1 April 2009 - In the framework of the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT), of which the International Organization for Migration is one of the Steering Committee members, IOM Vienna hosted last Monday, an Expert Group Initiative (EGI) on Cooperation between law enforcement institutions and stakeholders to effectively combat and prevent trafficking in human beings.

The purpose of the Conference was to present, discuss and disseminate the ''Guiding Principles on Memoranda of Understanding between Key Stakeholders and Law Enforcement Agencies on Counter-Trafficking Cooperation'', developed under this Expert Group Initiative.

Some of the topics addressed were the benefits and challenges on formalized cooperation between stakeholders to counter trafficking in human beings as well as some existing practices on institutionalized collaboration at regional, national and international levels.

Formalized cooperation, such as Memoranda of Understanding (MoU), clearly identifies the driving principles of such cooperation, and contributes to the building of mutual trust and the development of a common understanding on the objectives and policies of the different parties.

While the conference generated much dialogue on a wide range of topics, discussions on the Guiding Principles took centre stage. The Guiding Principles are a practical reference tool for counter trafficking experts from law enforcement agencies and stakeholders on how to build Memoranda of Understanding on cooperation between those institutions on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings as well as on protecting the trafficked persons.

The Conference also served as a platform for counter-trafficking experts to exchange their knowledge and experience.

IOM invite all counter-trafficking actors to make good use of the Guiding Principles and will gratefully receive feedback on the Guiding Principles as well as will happily support any related counter-trafficking initiatives.

In conclusion, there was a general consensus amongst participants that MoUs will guarantee formalized continuity of cooperation and reinforced preventive and combative anti-trafficking practices.

Guiding Principles

This is a small, but targeted and specific step for international law enforcement cooperation to continue to improve. The nature of the international crime inherently requires international law enforcement cooperation in order to combat the crime effectively, but the formalization of policies and procedures between countries has been slow to develop. Hopefully with more readily accessible tools such as this, progress in the best interest of the victims and of justice can occur faster.

Position open in San Francisco

Posted on Idealist.org:

Trafficking Program Coordinator, Case Manager

Education: No requirement

Location: San Francisco, California, 94103, United States

Posted by: SAGE Project Inc.
Job Category: Counseling, Grants administration

Salary: DOE

Last day to apply: February 23, 2009

Last updated: February 6, 2009
Type: Full time

Language(s): English

Job posted on: February 6, 2009

Area of Focus: Crime, Safety, and Victims’ Issues, Human Rights and Civil Liberties, Immigration

Description:
Provide case management to trafficked individuals through ongoing assessment of client needs and appropriate referrals to meet client needs. Act as client advocate when circumstances dictate. Collaborate with other community agencies to provide services to clients. Complete periodic reports for submission to funding agents. Co-facilitate outreach and education presentations to potential trafficking victims, community agencies and institutions, social service providers, government agencies, and the larger community to educate them about human trafficking and the identification of trafficking victims. Coordinate volunteer requests and supervise volunteer activities. Attend all SAGE staff meetings and other agency duties.

Additional Qualifications:
Ability to assess a client’s specific needs and plan solutions; to understand and relate to behavior of individuals; to support the objectives of the Agency and meet the requirements of good case management. Good interviewing, organization and assessment skills a must. Knowledge and experience in the field of human trafficking. Knowledge of San Francisco services and resources for victims of trafficking, violence, and women re-entering the community from criminal justice settings and/or substance abuse treatment programs required. Bi-lingual strongly preferred, especially Cantonese, Cambodian (Khmer), Korean, Mandarin, Spanish, Tagalog, Taiwanese, or Vietnamese.

How to Apply:
To apply, please contact Mollie Ring at mollier@sagesf.org. No phone calls please.

Position open in Los Angeles Anti-Trafficking Organization

From CAST's website:

The Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST), established in 1998, has been a pioneer in the anti-trafficking movement in the United States and works exclusively with trafficked persons. CAST is a multi-ethnic human rights organization whose mission is to assist persons trafficked for the purpose of forced labor and slavery-like practices and to work toward ending all instances of such human rights violations. CAST has provided training and technical assistance to thousands of NGO and government personnel and represented the United States at international events on human trafficking. CAST is a grantee of the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services and, as one of the leading anti-trafficking organizations in the U.S. , has extensive expertise to deliver quality training to participants.

From Idealist.org:

Purpose of the position:

Under the general supervision of the Associate Director, the Office Administrator is responsible for the management of administrative, bookkeeping, and facilities functions for CAST. Supervises the Administrative Assistant and any office-related staff or volunteer positions. The CAST office is highly technological and requires that the Office Administrator be comfortable and knowledgeable of the latest technological advances in order to maximize both inter-and intra-agency efficiency and communications. Full-time, exempt position.

Essential duties include tasks in office management, administrative management, supervision, policies & procedures, office equipment and services, administrative support, bookkeeping, accounts receivable & cash receipts, accounts payable & cash disbursements, payroll, human resources, among additional duties.

Last day to apply: January 31, 2009
For the full profile of the position and requirements, click here.

Remitt Resume (word,txt formats) to info@castla.org. Enter Office Administrator in the subject line. No phone calls please.

Post on Dipnote from Mark Lagon

This is a post from Dipnote, the official blog of the U.S. State Department:

About the Author: Ambassador Mark P. Lagon is Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State and Director of the U.S. Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.

I have recently visited two major powers in the Middle East -- Egypt and Saudi Arabia -- quite different from one another in the context of trafficking in persons (TIP). I came away with striking impressions from my visits and dialogue.

There are some promising efforts in Egypt. Amendments to the child protection law last June define for the first time crimes of trafficking of children. This includes the most serious TIP vulnerability in Egypt: children (especially street children) exploited as domestic servants or in prostitution.

Since ratification of the UN TIP Protocol four years ago, discussion of crafting a comprehensive anti-human trafficking law has seemingly accelerated. The Egyptian anti-TIP interagency group (like the one I chair in the United States) is consulting with UN agencies on the law's content, and we hope it will cover internal, as well as transnational (e.g. through Egypt to Israel), TIP.

Notably, a rising generation of key government officials has a clear interest in fighting the gross exploitation which constitutes TIP. 

Nonetheless, it was clear from our visit to Cairo that Egypt needs a system for identifying victims and for referring them to social services. Although drop-in centers for vulnerable street children exist, we hope the Government of Egypt and civil society will band together to make these centers safe havens for all children exposed to forced begging, sexual exploitation, and other harm on the streets.

Sexual exploitation of young people is taking some troubling forms in Egypt. We learned of Sudanese refugee girls and young women lured into prostitution by gangs. This is a sorry fate for those fleeing Sudan. Moreover, sex tourists are increasingly going to places like Luxor and Alexandria to abuse Egypt's young. I stressed how the United States has enacted and enforced laws to punish child sex tourists who commit crimes abroad, and is urging European nations to follow suit. One particular horror is Saudi and other Gulf visitors acquiring (and I use that word purposefully) youth brides in so-called "temporary marriages." 

It was, in fact, the Gulf and Saudi Arabia which we flew to next. I had very direct dialogue with the Ministries of Interior, Labor, and Social Affairs, sharing our steady, though not perfect, experiences in confronting TIP at home.

The sponsorship system in Saudi Arabia -- tying migrant workers to a single employer -- is rife with vulnerability to human trafficking. This system, which is seen throughout the Gulf, is compounded in Saudi Arabia by the disproportionate power given to employers of housemaids, construction workers, and agricultural laborers in the form of exit permits. A migrant worker cannot leave the country without the okay of their "sponsor." This gives unscrupulous employers devastating leverage should they subject workers to abusive conditions or withhold their pay. We heard countless testimonials of this kind of abuse.

One potentially positive initiative is discussion of reforming this sponsorship system. We were told by senior officials of serious discussions to create large labor companies in the Saudi Kingdom to more flexibly manage the placement of workers. If adopted this could do much to reduce the vulnerability of migrant workers, and indeed offer momentum to similar changes throughout the smaller states of the Gulf.

We visited two shelters -- one run by the Ministry of Social Affairs and one by the Embassy of the Philippines. The contrast between the two was marked. The Government shelter is limited to serving female domestic workers who are not met by employers at the airport, as well as short-term guests near resolution of contract disputes in court. But there is no systematic or broad referral of victims to this shelter. 

By contrast, the Philippines is as active on behalf of the welfare of its migrant workers in the Kingdom as it is worldwide. We met with housemaids compelled to flee employers. One woman was in two leg casts after leaping to escape from a window. We heard of employers' repeated violence, and the squeezing of every hour of the day and ounce of energy from these survivors. One such survivor described the brutality of the employer who kicked, pushed, and punched her for the slightest mistake. Facing years of court battles if they brought their cases to the court, many of these women opted dejectedly to simply return to the safety of their home countries.

The stories of these victims drove home the violence and desperation women and migrant workers face in Saudi Arabia and many other countries, at the hands of people who treat them as less than human. States must step up to the responsibility of protecting the helpless on their soil. The United States devotes diplomacy to this cause every day.

Sensitisation of officials: a must to curb human trafficking

From the Press Trust of India:

New Delhi, Nov 15 (PTI) The fight against Human trafficking crimes would require sensitisation of law enforcement officials and other stakeholders, the Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan said today, pressing for an intensified action to curb the social menace.
"We need sensitive police officers, prosecutors and magistracy," he said, adding that it was the only way of improving the quality of justice delivery in such crimes starting from registration of cases to investigation and to the delivery of justice in such cases.

"We have a lot of talented people and we just need to increase the creed of fine prosecutors and judicial officers," he said, inaugurating a colloquium on Justice Delivery in Human Trafficking Crimes here.

Linking the social problem with attempts to give it a colour of religion in some states, the Chief Justice said "It is not merely an economic problem but is also associated with superstition...People need to be made aware of the problem and we, through NALSA, are trying to sensitise people on their rights." Trafficking is a complicated problem and it requires a co-ordinated and interdisciplinary response. "It touches on the domains of human rights protection and gender justice while posing some difficult problems for law-enforcement officials," the CJI said.

Releasing a resource book on the Legal Framework for Anti-Human Trafficking measures, Chief Justice Balakrishnan said "This book is meant for use by law enforcement officials and other stakeholders with the aim of sensitising them about effective role that they can play." PTI

Human trafficking on the rise in Mekong countries

From Xinhua:

HANOI, Nov. 6 -- Human trafficking in the six Mekong countries is expected to increase due to growing migration within the sub-region, the Laos newspaper Vientiane Times reported on Thursday, citing the Anti-human Trafficking Committee Secretariat Head Kiengkham Inphengthavong as saying.

"Trafficking in persons nowadays is increasingly acute and dangerous. It operates in a very intricate manner, and comes in many forms, and is therefore very hard to monitor and control," said Kiengkham Inphengthavong at the sixth Senior Officials Meeting held in Vientiane on Wednesday as part of the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking (COMMIT).

Annually, the number of people trafficked from and within the region is estimated at between 200,000 and 450,000, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

The meeting brought together government officials from the six Mekong countries - Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, China, Myanmar and Cambodia - to share their experiences and decide on appropriate responses to the increase in human trafficking.

"The purpose of human trafficking is not only for sexual exploitation but also labor exploitation in factories, sweatshops, domestic work, begging and in the fishing industry. The problem is far more widespread than many would think," he added.

According to the Laos' Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, from 2001 to 2008, 1,229 trafficked people, mostly women and girls, have been repatriated to Laos from Thailand under the Lao-Thai memorandum of understanding on human trafficking.

Laos is developing victim protection guidelines to ensure a more holistic and rights-based approach to the provision of care and assistance to victims of human trafficking, Khiengkham said.

Craigslist to crack down on sex ads

craigslist

From the AP:

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Under the watchful eye of law enforcement in 40 states, Craigslist pledged Thursday to crack down on ads for prostitution on its Web sites.

As part of Craigslist's agreement with attorneys general around the country, anyone who posts an "erotic services" ad will be required to provide a working phone number and pay a fee with a valid credit card. The Web site will provide that information to law enforcement if subpoenaed.

Jim Buckmaster, Craigslist's CEO, said the deal will allow legitimate escort services to continue advertising, while providing a strong disincentive to companies that are conducting illegal business.

"We don't view it as a penalty, we view it as raising the accountability," he said. "A legitimate business should have no problem with that. They should have no problem providing a phone number or credit card credentials."

Craigslist filed lawsuits this week against 14 software and Internet companies that help people who post erotic service ads to circumvent the Web site's defenses against inappropriate content and illegal activity.

Craigslist, which posts 30 million ads every month for everything from apartment rentals to jobs in hundreds of cities, will also begin using new search technology in an effort to help authorities find missing children and victims of human trafficking.

Police across the country have been arresting people for using Web sites like Craigslist to advertise the sexual services of women and children.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who brokered the agreement, said his office contacted Craigslist after receiving several complaints from users late in 2007 about photographs depicting nudity on the site. He said Craigslist cooperated fully and there was never a need to threaten legal action against the company.

"The dark side of the Internet must be stopped from eclipsing its immense potential for good," Blumenthal said.

He added: "I am fully convinced that Craigslist wants to stop this activity as much as we do."

For the rest of the article, please click here.

Trafficking Victims Services Program Assistant Vacancy in Buffalo, NY

The International Institute of Buffalo is looking for a Human Trafficking Victim Services Program Assistant

Our Human Trafficking Victim Services department is working to grow and solidify comprehensive support services for recently rescued or escaped victims of human trafficking. In order to help meet this growing need, they are looking to hire a Program Assistant. This is an Americorps VISTA position.

Job Duties include:

Program Development: Assist in growing a system within each of the 8 counties that provides a seamless flow of services for victims of human trafficking including medical, legal, mental health, housing, education and safety planning assistance. Minimal direct client service responsibilities will be involved to accurately assess program needs.

Volunteer Recruitment/Management: Coordinate training and support for volunteers who provide housing, interpretation, and/or transportation to trafficking clients.

Resource Development & Fund-raising: Conduct community-based outreach for solicitation and distribution of funds and or items to support client household and personal care needs.

Grant Writing & Reporting: Assist in federal and state grant writing and reporting for TVSP.

Recommended Skills

The Program Assistant should possess the following skills:

1. Flexibility

2. Initiative
3. Ability to multi-task and thrive in a crisis-oriented organization

4. Demonstrated passion for working to end specific injustices that foreign-born trafficking victims encounter including poverty, racism, sexism, and class-ism.

5. Excellent oral and written communication skills

6. Experience as both an independent and team worker

7. Excellent interpersonal skills

8. Ease in working with and for individuals from various cultures
9. Access to personal vehicle

To apply, contact Lissa Piper at Americorps VISTA - lpiper@wnyamericorps.org

I have worked for this organization in the past. In fact, my time with the IIB was what initially brought my attention to the problem of human trafficking and it was where I was able to connect with international professionals in the field before beginning my research in Ukraine. IIB was a great pleasure to work for, and my colleagues were passionate and skilled. This is a terrific opportunity to work for an organization that contributes a great deal of time, effort and results to the field of counter trafficking.

Global Online Competition to End Human Slavery

From Ashoka's Changemakers:

Ending Global Slavery: Everyday Heroes Leading the Way

Join Humanity United and Ashoka's Changemakers in a global online competition to identify innovative approaches to exposing, confronting and ending modern-day slavery.

We believe in the value of human dignity. At Humanity United, we recognize that the most powerful solutions spring from building coalitions of dedicated individuals, which is why we have joined with Ashoka, a leading innovator for social change, to launch "Ending Global Slavery: Everyday Heroes Leading the Way".

Since its inception, Humanity United has invested in the power of ideas and individuals, bringing together the best in research, policy, and public pressure to activate local and global solutions to modern-day slavery. We are now proud to partner with Ashoka and use its unique Changemakers platform to cast a wider net in the community of innovators.

Ashoka is a non-profit support network for social entrepreneurs – people around the world who develop innovative solutions to the social problems that most urgently demand them. To further this goal, Ashoka’s Changemakers.net website provides an online, interactive forum that encourages collaboration and discussion, along with competition, to draw out the most effective ideas.

Humanity United and Changemakers are launching a global online competition to identify innovative approaches to exposing, confronting and ending modern-day slavery. We hope you will join us. Between April 2nd and July 14th, 2008, we invite you to propose ways to end this worldwide crisis and create a universal standard of human dignity.

You don't need to submit a proposal to join the dialogue. Visit the online Changemakers community to make suggestions and recommend resources that will help refine and strengthen the strategies presented by competition entrants. Tell us what surprises you, how you view the field, and where you imagine the challenges and opportunities lie.

We’ll need your input again in July 2008 to vote for three winners from the 12 finalists who will be selected by our panel of judges – a group of influential leaders in the field of solutions to modern-day slavery.

With your help, we have the potential to shape holistic solutions to one of the fastest-growing and most obscured social problems in the world. We encourage you to invite others to the competition as well, so together we may make good on our shared responsibility to respect and protect the value of human lives.

Click here for the entry form and the tips for success:

• Read the guidelines and criteria before sharing your innovation; this will help you to define your ideas and work.
• Be as detailed as possible in explaining your innovation.
• Add videos and documents to your blueprint at the bottom of the page. Bring your story to life!
• Invite your network to provide feedback on your blueprint and then revise and refine your blueprint with the feedback you receive.
• Remember that the Changemaker's unique open source format makes your blueprint viewable online by the entire community and public.

The sooner you share your innovation the more exposure and insight you gain through the community!

Massage Parlor Arrests in Western New York

Before I left for Ukraine, I had heard a bit about the problem of human trafficking in my home area of Western New York and had met with the head of an anti-trafficking task force at the International Institute of Buffalo who works with the government and law enforcement to help tackle the problem. I know that one of the first cases in the U.S. brought under the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act of 2000 was carried out in WNY.

News coming out of my hometown now reveals that a task force of local, state and federal law enforcement officers have arrested four in a case dealing with forced prostitution of immigrants working in local massage parlors. The article is definitely written by someone who skeptically approaches the investi

gation, arrests, and basically the whole nature of the problem, but provides information from both sides- both the government and some people who believe these victims weren't really victims. The opening sentences of the article immediately set a tone of dubiety for the reader-

One prostitute was a former elementary school principal. Another lived in a house on Grand Island. Another lived with her husband in an apartment in Niagara Falls.

The three were among nine Asian women federal agents say they "rescued" from indentured prostitution when they raided four massage parlors in Erie and Niagara counties last month.

The fact they're automatically labeled as prostitutes indicates the author believed they gave absolute consent to providing sexual services to parlor customers, and the word "rescued" being put in quotations signifies the author's belief they weren't in an untenable situation. I'm not positive what the first sentence is all about. I'm assuming he meant an elementary school teacher in China because none of the victims had fluency in English.

This hits on an important point. While most victims lived in poverty in their home country, it doesn't mean that necessarily all of them were or even that they're uneducated. In fact, in Ukraine we've been finding that even people with advanced university degrees have become victims of trafficking. Its not solely a matter of education, awareness, and poverty. While all of these things matter, and improvements in those situations would definitely help curtail the problem, its also a matter of demand and fraud.

Erie County Sheriff's Deputy Elizabeth Fildes, who helped work on the case, described the process fairly well.

A man or a woman [by the way, I'm glad she said either/or], sometimes living in poverty overseas, is told of a job opportunity in the United States. The job is described as a legitimate position. The victims are charged a fee in exchange for getting to the new place, a fee that must be repaid.

When they finally arrive, they don't get the job they were expecting.

And the workers' debt isn't going away. In most cases, they have a limited education, and they don't know anyone in this new place. More importantly, they don't know whom to trust.

Sometimes women are promised jobs in legitimate massage parlors. They're told the work wouldn't involve performing sex acts, but their need to pay back their debt often means they end up engaging in illicit activity.

And guess who helps to make sure the illicit activity is available? The parlor owners, who then get an enormous share of the money made off of the transaction.

The issue of trust is a particularly important point as well. This is something that might be hard to imagine unless you've been outside your own country in a place where you don't understand the language very well and only know a handful of people, namely your traffickers and the other victims. You obviously don't know the laws, and you don't know who will believe and protect you, and who will abuse you or deport you back to the situation you've sacrificed so much to get away from.

And rightly so. The court papers indicate in this case that three of the victims' customers were a judge, an immigration official, and a police captain.

The author then cites a woman who does work as a prostitute in California, and advocates on behalf of a sex workers union who shockingly (and I say that with sarcasm) questions that these women were victims of any sort. Apparently from her experience, even though she is not familiar with this case, immigration and prostitution together hits a "panic button" that cause people to automatically label it as trafficking. Good to know there are people like this woman to keep a level head.

However, as Taina Bien-Amie of Equality Now puts it in the article:

"You don't have to have a gun pointed at your head or be chained to a radiator to be a victim of human trafficking," she said. "Under federal and state anti-trafficking laws, saying the women gave their consent is not a legal defense."

When Handouts Keep Coming, the Food Line Never Ends

Rethinking how to make a difference

From the Washington Post:

By Mark Winne, former director of Connecticut's Hartford Food System

How can anyone not get caught up in the annual Thanksgiving turkey frenzy? At the food bank I co-founded in Hartford, Conn., November always meant cheering the caravans of fowl-laden trucks that roared into our parking lot. They came on the heels of the public appeals for "A bird in every pot," "No family left without a turkey" and our bank's own version -- "A turkey and a 20 [dollar bill]."

Like pompom girls leading a high school pep rally, we revved up the community's charitable impulse to a fever pitch with radio interviews, newspaper stories and dramatic television footage to extract the last gobbler from the stingiest citizen. After all, our nation's one great day of social equity was upon us. In skid row soup kitchens and the gated communities of hedge-fund billionaires alike, everyone was entitled, indeed expected, to sit down to a meal of turkey with all the fixings.

And here we are, putting on the same play again this year. But come Friday, as most of us stuff more leftovers into our bulging refrigerators, 35 million Americans will take their place in line again at soup kitchens, food banks and food stamp offices nationwide.

The good souls who staff America's tens of thousands of emergency food sites will renew their pleas to donors fatigued by their burst of holiday philanthropy. Food stamp workers will return to their desks and try to convince mothers that they can feed their families on the $3 per person per day that the government allots them. The cycle of need -- always present, rarely sated, never resolved -- will continue. Unless we rethink our devotion to food donation.

Read the full article



The author discusses several key points that are relevant to the larger discussion of addressing socioeconomic issues in general, beyond hunger and poverty.

1) As sociologist Janet Poppendieck made clear in her book "Sweet Charity," there is something in the food-banking culture and its relationship with donors that dampens the desire to empower the poor and take a more muscular, public stand against hunger... It may have been that a donor-recipient co-dependency had developed. Both parties were trapped in an ever-expanding web of immediate gratification that offered the recipients no long-term hope of eventually achieving independence and self-reliance. As the food bank's director told me later, "The more you provide, the more demand there is."

True we can donate and hand out food to alleviate hunger, but doesn't the Chinese proverb "give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime" also apply here? What is the risk of the food bank approach? Does it create a form of dependency, whether it be emotional dependency and fulfillment on the part of the donors and volunteers or nourishment for the hungry?

2) Food banks are a dominant institution in this country, and they assert their power at the local and state levels by commanding the attention of people of good will who want to address hunger. Their ability to attract volunteers and to raise money approaches that of major hospitals and universities. While none of this is inherently wrong, it does distract the public and policymakers from the task of harnessing the political will needed to end hunger in the United States. The risk is that the multibillion-dollar system of food banking has become such a pervasive force in the anti-hunger world, and so tied to its donors and its volunteers, that it cannot step back and ask if this is the best way to end hunger, food insecurity and their root cause, poverty.

One theme rings true from my experience in the non-profit world: it is not only about having the ambition and heart to make a positive difference in the world, but knowing how to do so that counts. It is amazing to see the support and resources offered to address issues like hunger and human trafficking, but at the same time it behooves us to take a step back and understand the forces that create the problem so we know that our efforts are truly making a difference and empowering people to improve their lives.

For example, it is great to see that many countries have adopted anti-human trafficking laws in the past few years, but what type of legislation will most effectively support trafficking victims and put offenders behind bars? Do we offer victims services only if they cooperate with law enforcement to pursue a case against the trafficker? If we tighten immigration, does this decrease the flow of migrants or simply increase the number of those who migrate illegally because of the scarce economic opportunities that exist at home (Latin America, Asia, Africa, take your pick...) and are thus susceptible to exploitation? These are questions that need to be addressed. Creating an anti-trafficking law is a good start, but considering the issues involved in trafficking so that the law can best support survivors and prosecute traffickers is something that still needs work.

My point is, simply because something is being done, doesn't necessarily mean that that something will ultimately help defeat the problem. Whether discussing hunger or human trafficking, if it doesn't focus on empowering the vulnerable, we run the risk of perpetuating a dependence on hand outs and not truly putting an end to the issue.

3) The author comments on watching a food bank van unload cereal and fresh produce in a poor neighborhood: No one made any attempt to determine whether the recipients actually needed the food, nor to encourage the recipients to seek other forms of assistance, such as food stamps. The food distribution was an unequivocal act of faith based on generally accepted knowledge that this was a known area of need. The recipients seemed reasonably grateful, but the staff members and volunteers seemed even happier, having been fortified by the belief that their act of benevolence was at least mildly appreciated.

The author responds:

I often wondered what would happen if the collective energy that went into soliciting and distributing food were put into ending hunger and poverty instead. Surely it would have a sizable impact if 3,000 Hartford-area volunteers, led by some of Connecticut's most privileged and respected citizens, showed up one day at the state legislature, demanding enough resources to end hunger and poverty. Multiply those volunteers by three or four -- the number of volunteers in the state's other food banks and hundreds of emergency food sites -- and you would have enough people to dismantle the Connecticut state capitol brick by brick.

But what we have done instead is to continue down a road that never comes to an end. Like transportation planners who add more lanes to already clogged highways, we add more space to our food banks in the futile hope of relieving the congestion.

My thoughts:

This is a critical point in the context of human trafficking. Trafficking is an issue that touches on economics, politics and culture. It is a product of under achieving economies and the criminal elements that move in to monopolize on the desperation of the vulnerable. It is a product of governments whose laws formerly arrested trafficking victims on charges such as illegal immigration and prostitution. It is the product of a culture of corruption that results from low pay and tempting bribes. It is the product of gender bias and the feminization of migration as a result of the growing demand from industries like domestic work and entertaining where the risk of exploitation runs high.

Anti-trafficking laws are good, but it cannot stop there. Law enforcement task forces are good, but it cannot stop there. Non-governmental organizations' efforts to rehabilitate and reintegrate survivors are good, but it cannot stop there. Trafficking is ultimately an issue of poverty and the lack of opportunities to provide a stable livelihood. People need jobs. This is where the private sector can step in. This is where development of local, stagnant economies becomes key. The presence of human trafficking in a country that is a source for victims is really an indication of economic under achievement.

At the end of the day, I am grateful to have worked with organizations that support survivors of trafficking. Without them, so many victims would be worse off and never have received the help or support they deserve. At the same time, serious consideration needs to be given to the economic situations that create trafficking. In the words of the author Mark Winne, without addressing poverty and unemployment we will ultimately be creating more lanes on an already clogged highway.

It is in our best interests to once in a while take a step back and analyze where our efforts are leading us. The need to understand the context and act accordingly with issues such as poverty and human trafficking is critical. Otherwise we run the risk of acting without truly addressing the issue. Otherwise people will still go hungry. Otherwise people will still be enslaved.

It is not only about having the ambition and heart to make a difference in the world, but knowing how to do so that counts.