We recently received the following message: "your readers have submitted and voted for your blog at The Daily Reviewer. We compiled an exclusive list of the Top 100 slavery blogs, and we are glad to let you know that your blog was included!"
Thank you for the support and for helping to spread the word about HTP on the Internet and beyond!
As always let us know what's on your mind and if you want to get involved or if there is something that you have always wanted to see on the site get in touch, we are listening.
Location: Toronto, Canada Date: Friday, October 9- Saturday, October 10, 2009 Direction: Robert Gill Theatre, Koffler Student Services Centre, 214 College Street, Third Floor *Free and open to the public Our very own Elise Garvey and Renan Salgado of Farmworker Legal Services of New York (an IIB Trafficking Victim Services Program Task Force Partner) will be co-authoring a paper and presentation on the trafficking of farmworkers from Southern Mexico to Western New York at a conference entitled, “The Commodification of Illicit Flows: Labour Migration, Trafficking and Business” which will be held at the University of Toronto from October 9th to October 10th
Location: Lincoln, Nebraska Date: Friday, October 29- October 31, 2009 Direction: 1040 P Street, Embassy Suites Hotel * Early registration is $295 before October 2, after this date registration is $350
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is proud to host The First Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking. The purpose of this conference is to bring together researchers from many disciplines, as well as government and non-governmental agencies who have responsibility for anti-trafficking efforts, to develop a research agenda.
Elise Garvey will also be giving a presentation at this conference on the topic of Utilizing Scholarships and Service Programs to Conduct and Facilitate Research on Human Trafficking.
On Thursday, October 1st, the Nomi Network is hosting a launch party to officially debut their "Buy Her Bag, Not Her Body" totes. The totes are made are made by survivors who earn a livable wage for their work. The bags, which are made from sustainable materials, also raise awareness about the issue of sex trafficking, and the money from purchases helps fund education, training, and counseling for sex trafficking survivors in Cambodia.
The Nomi Network started approximately two years ago as an effort to provide long-term, sustainable employment for survivors of sex trafficking in Cambodia. According to their website, the Network's name comes from a young child who is a sex trafficking survivor. Nomi (the name has been altered to protect her identity) "is an eight year old Cambodian girl who delights in running, laughing, and playing with her friends. . . Not that long ago, Nomi was held against her will in a brothel and forced to have sex with men for money. Now, she is finding hope and a renewed life in a Christ-centered rehabilitation home for formerly sex-trafficked children in Cambodia, where she is discovering her own strength and resilience. Nomi's life, however, has been permanently altered by her past sexual exploitation; those traumatic experiences as a sex slave have left her permanently mentally disabled."
Alissa Moore and Diana Mao began the Nomi Network with the aim of eradicating such sexual slavery by using fashion and the marketplace to provide economic options for sex trafficking survivors and people at risk of sex trafficking. Rather than inadvertently supporting slavery with what we buy, Moore and Mao wanted to leverage our purchases to address this human rights abuse.
Mao first visited Cambodia as a student at the Wagner School of Public Service to research Microfinance. After seeing the effects of sex trafficking firsthand, she came back to the United States impassioned about finding a way to make a difference. Mao teamed up with Moore. Together, they had the idea of finding a way to bring the goods women produced in Cambodia to US buyers.
They visited Cambodia together and met with local NGOs who were already working with sex trafficking survivors, providing them with counseling, education, and job training. Mao and Moore learned that one of the main obstacles facing these organizations in their efforts to help the women find economic stability and living-wage work is the need for demand for the products women produce. The Nomi Network aims to address this need for demand by designing products that can be produced in Cambodia that will appeal to a broad market in the US, rather than just to the segment of the market that will buy products for a cause.
Moore sums up the aims of the Nomi Network as working to address the needs and gaps between what other anti-trafficking organizations can provide. Currently, the Network is addressing gaps in the design aspect of products and in ensuring that products the women produced will have find and reach a Western market. The Network is also working to educate retailers about ways stores can easily and without cost supply socially-responsible products, and they are creating a map of New York stores that sell fair-trade or slavery-free products.
Looking to the future, the Nomi Network wants to increase capacity of their work. They also want the women they work with to gain increased educational and economic opportunities so that they can enter other careers if they so choose or can manage their own businesses rather than be dependent on the Network.
In addition to attending the launch party or ordering a bag via their website, Moore and Mao encourage people to spread the word about their organization and the products they sell. People who want to get involved on a deeper level who have business or technical skills can also contact the Network at info@nominetwork.org. They are also looking for people involved in the fashion industry, particularly buyers.
The launch party will be held on Thursday, October 1st, at 7pm at White Saffron Boutique in New York City, located at 232 Mulberry Street, New York, NY, 10012. Esosa Edosomwan, award winning actress, writer and “directress," will be the keynote speaker.
Kevin Bales, author of The Slave Next Door, recalls a life-changing epiphany that occurred over a meal of "jumping shrimp" with a young Thai sex worker.
Description: Free the Slaves is currently seeking a dynamic, organized, detail-oriented and highly-motivated candidate to fill the position of Major Gifts Director, a new position created due to organizational growth. He or she will work closely with the President, CEO and COO to support the acquisition, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship of major donors—whom Free the Slaves sees as key partners in combating slavery. The Major Gifts Director will also work closely with the Executive Producer/Communications Director and the Communications team to integrate consistent messaging throughout the organization’s external communications. This position will be based in the DC headquarters of Free the Slaves. Domestic and some limited international travel will be required.
Specific Responsibilities Include: • Lead the cultivation, solicitation and stewardship of major donors and major donor prospects, including preparation, execution and follow-up for all visits. • Oversee donor communications to major donors and major donor prospects, in conjunction with Communications team, including cultivation and stewardship materials as well as donor acknowledgements • Plan and execute events for major donor cultivation, as appropriate • Coordinate donor field visits with senior staff to Free the Slaves’ overseas programs, joining and participating as needed. • Integrate efforts into larger development strategy, working with other members of Development team to build annual membership program as well as leverage national volunteer base. • Develop and implement systems for managing relationships, including but not limited to effective use of the database • Establish quarterly and annual goals, as well as tracking mechanisms to allow highlight progress • Prepare and monitor major donor program income and expenses
Requirements: • Passion for ending slavery • At least 3 years of relevant experience; professional development experience within a nonprofit environment is strongly preferred • Exceptional oral and written communication skills • Demonstrated success using writing and presentation skills to increase revenue-generating opportunities, preferably for a nonprofit organization • Ability to successfully initiate and cultivate relationships with a wide variety of constituents • Strong organizational and time management skills with exceptional attention to detail • Strong computer skills; experience with Raiser’s Edge a plus • Enthusiasm for contributing to the strategic direction of a growing organization • Ability to work in a high-pressure, fast-paced environment while maintaining a sense of humor • Bachelor’s Degree, or equivalent experience
In order to attract and retain professionals at the top of their fields, Free the Slaves provides a generous compensation package, including competitive salaries, vacation, personal time and employer-paid health insurance for the employee.
Free the Slaves is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action Employer committed to workplace diversity.
Organization Overview: Free the Slaves is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to ending modern slavery worldwide. Founded in 2000, Free the Slaves is a dynamic, growing organization that has its headquarters in Washington, DC and satellite offices in Los Angeles, Delhi, Accra and Kathmandu. It has programs in Brazil, Ghana, Haiti, India, Nepal, Sudan and Uganda in addition to its work in the United States. See www.freetheslaves.net for more information.
How to Apply: Applicants should send a resume, thoughtful cover letter, and one writing sample (preferably development-related, under 3pp) to careers@freetheslaves.net with ‘Major Gifts Director Search’ in the subject line. The closing date is October 23, 2009.
Bill Clinton speaking on the Today Show. Please watch until the end where trafficking is highlighted.
Today marks the final sessions of the Clinton Global Initiative's Annual Meeting 2009. Former President Bill Clinton and the Clinton Global Initiative have announced that this year CGI will be bringing human trafficking on the agenda as part of their efforts to empower women and girls and build human capital. You can watch the previous sessions as well as today's live sessions here as webcasts.
You can also visit their website to see the resources they are encouraging people to explore as part of the Action Areas on Building Human Capital. The links included are from Free the Slaves, UNODC, End Human Trafficking Now, the ILO, the International Cocoa Initiative, among many others.
While CGI is working towards efforts that end all types of trafficking, one highlighted partnership includes that with the Body Shop. CEO of The Body Shop International, Sophie Gasperment, unveiled a new report addressing the global issue of child sex trafficking on Thursday:
The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) this year is offering a unique opportunity to bring world leaders together to recognize the importance of tackling child sex trafficking, an issue, by its very nature, affecting every country around the world. At the CGI, Ms. Gasperment will unveil an innovative 'Progress Card System' which paints a global picture of how the world's governments are taking action and assesses their progress in their efforts to tackle child sex trafficking in more than 40 countries worldwide.
An alliance against human trafficking and forced labor wants companies to examine whether they are indirect sponsors, with leaders at the Clinton Global Initiative saying on Thursday it could even boost business.
Julia Ormond, founder and president of the Alliance to Stop Slavery and End Trafficking, said her organization was seeking to team up with three companies willing to examine their supply chains for any abuses and to share the resulting knowledge widely. She said consumers often seek out products that are made using ethical sources and demand could increase.
"The public will rally behind purchasing product from a clean supply chain," Ormond said.
On ASSET's website, you can take a first step as a consumer to buy products free of slave labor by signing the Consumer Pledge, which not only pledges your commitment to support corporate efforts to free their supply chains of slave-made goods, but also signs you up to receive updates on these efforts and therefore make it easier to live up to this pledge.
While we frequently discuss the trafficking of women and girls, or that of children, the trafficking of men is a less commonly explored subject. A few years ago, I worked as a research assistant at the Institute for the Study of International Migration (ISIM) at Georgetown University. One of the duties I was tasked with was creating an annotated bibliography for an anti-trafficking study that included academic literature on the trafficking of men. I was shocked at the paltry amount of academic literature on the trafficking of men for work other than prostitution. True, there is a significant amount of grey literature but the academic studies and resources on the trafficking of men are vastly overshadowed by those on the trafficking of women and children. I always wondered if this was because in many societies across the globe there is a notion that men are more in charge of their destinies; are less in need of protection. It is easy to forget that there are so many circumstances that can intertwine to result in conditions of modern slavery for millions of men around the world.
Trafficking of men feeds a number of industries, such as agriculture, service, and construction. In a Huffington Post article posted on September 15th, Cameron Sinclair explores the darker side of the construction industry, focusing on the situation in the UAE. According to Sinclair, there are more than 1.1 million indentured construction workers in the UAE, mainly from India, Pakistan, and Nepal. Once they arrive in the UAE, as in many other countries, they find themselves in labor camps with inadequate food and even worse housing. Frequently, these men have their passports and other documentation taken away and receive meager wages, if they are even paid. As the global economic downturn has put over $300 billion in construction projects on hold in the UAE alone, indentured construction workers are often the most severely impacted. Without status in the UAE, they have no access to services or assistance and, without documentation or passports, they cannot return home.
As it has become increasingly imperative, even trendy, to "go green," Sinclair reminds us that we must look at not only our environmental footprint, but also our ethical footprint. What does it really mean if we construct an environmentally friendly building if we use exploitative labor practices? Can we laud such a structure when it was built on the backs of people who are living as modern slaves?
In a recent search I conducted, I found that there are more academic resources available today than there were three years ago on the trafficking of men. However, this remains a fertile avenue for further research and exploration.
