The Definition

Another track off my forthcoming album, Beat Down Human Trafficking.



Artist: J Nice
Album: Beat Down Human Trafficking
Genre: Hip Hop
Subject: Human Trafficking
Due Date: October 2007
Format: CD & downloadable
*Available through the official Human Trafficking Project website coming in October!
________________________________________

Song Title: The Definition
Vocals: J Nice (USA), Artstrong (Philippines)
Production: James Brown (USA)
Engineer: Artstrong (Philippines)

Download Here

Kangaroo Courts, Trafficking & Corruption

Leandro Despouy, the special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, seen here in 2006, expressed concern about the trial and sentencing in Bangladesh of a fellow UN expert on corruption charges.

UN investigator of human trafficking hit with corruption charges

From the Agence France-Presse:

Sigma Huda, who served as the UN special rapporteur on human trafficking, was sentenced to three years in jail by a Bangladeshi anti-graft court on corruption charges, along with her husband who was a former minister.

Leandro Despouy, the special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, said in a statement that he had "received information indicating that the right to legal representation and the independence of the (Bangladeshi) court were severely affected" during Huda's trial.

"The atmosphere during the trial was reportedly intimidating, with military and police presence both outside and inside the courtroom," Despouy added.

Read the full article

Young Entrepreneurs for Sustainability

From the Inquirer:

Entrepreneurs typically measure performance in terms of financial profits, but a new breed called social entrepreneurs apparently care more about the impact of their enterprise on society and the community.

DHL Express Philippines, the local presence of the Deutsche Post subsidiary, recently selected its top social entrepreneur through the DHL Young Entrepreneurs for Sustainability (DHL YES) Awards.

The award seeks to recognize and support young community leaders as part of its thrust for social responsibility. DHL defined the social entrepreneur as an individual who conceptualizes, innovates and implements programs to help improve the lives of his or her countrymen in line with the millennium development goals.

Read the full article

More on Illac Diaz, a social entrepreneur who has created several successful ventures in the Philippines including temporary housing facilities for seafarers, a peanut sheller, and a device that grows coral at four times the normal rate.

Read about Mr. Diaz here

Immigration Clamps Down on Trafficking

Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Source: Corbis)

From the Inquirer:

MANILA, Philippines -- Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan has ordered his officers and agents in different airports and sub-ports to intensify the campaign against human trafficking.

"This is a very serious problem and we in the Immigration bureau, being the country's chief gatekeeper, should do our part in stopping this human trafficking menace from victimizing more of our countrymen," Libanan said after the United Nations reported that one in four of humans trafficked across the globe were Filipinos.

Read the full article

Get Up, Stand Up

Source: Washington Post

From the Washington Post:

They'll change the diapers, wash the clothes and cook the dinner. But nannies want a little respect.

They don't need "Nanny Diaries" luxuries. But a contract would do. So would minimum wage, paid vacation, sick leave and overtime pay. And notice before firing. That's the message a group of nannies in the Washington region wants working parents, companies and local governments to hear.

"We don't mind the work -- we just want to be paid for it," said Janet Osorio, who became so fed up with the long hours and low pay working as a nanny that she now works for a cleaning company. "And the opportunity to have a life."

Read the full article

Why I Work

A trafficking survivor in the Philippines hides behind her doll at a halfway house run by the Visayan Forum Foundation, Photo by Kat Palasi

The Issue
According to the U.S. State Department, 800 thousand people are trafficked around the world each year for the purpose of prostitution, forced labor, and other forms of exploitation. This does not include trafficking within a country’s borders. An estimated 17,000 victims are trafficked into the United States each year. The International Organization for Migration estimates there are 250,000 women and children trafficked every year in Asia.

Human trafficking is connected to poverty, corruption, unemployment, and migration. It evokes strong emotions. It can be overwhelming.

Creating a Connection
Because of the massive scope of the issue, it can be difficult to think about and connect with the actual people who are victimized. It can be hard to imagine the real people who are enslaved and forced into prostitution or forced to work in a factory. Although the issue itself raises eyebrows, if people cannot connect with actual victims it makes it easier for them to forget, to move on, to change the channel and live another day ignorant of the reality of modern day slavery.

It is important that people connect not only to the issue, but also to the people it victimizes. Only then will the need to create change fully present itself. Then we will no longer be able to turn our backs because the issue has been personalized.

In human rights work, building this personal connection between the victims and the public is crucial to creating long-lasting change. Without it, someone might still be motivated to give money, but without a personal tie to the issue the support will fade over time.

Lasting Change
We need the public to wake up to the truth behind trafficking. We need to recognize the misery and suffering and acknowledge the lives that hang in the balance while we live in our comfortable, air-conditioned bubbles. Only then will we be motivated to create long-lasting change. Only then will we take serious action to end modern day slavery.

Money plays an integral role, but we also need life-long advocates and supporters who understand what’s at stake, who understand the degree of evil and injustice at work.

The Organization
The Human Trafficking Project will forge this personal connection between victims and the public by creating trafficking-related art that presents the massive issue of trafficking through the eyes of the very people it affects. Think music, film, photography, clothes, blogs, and more- this is the Human Trafficking Project.

The art projects will be merchandised and sold to the public to raise awareness. All profit will go towards anti-slavery work.

Specifically, profits will be used to:

• Develop further trafficking-related art projects to raise awareness
• Fund educational scholarships for trafficking survivors
• Operate the Human Trafficking Project

Guest relation officers, or hostesses and sometimes prostitutes, are typical in bars across the Philippines. The commodification of women contributes to an environment where trafficking flourishes, Photo by Veejay Villafranca

The time to act is now.

Help stop modern day slavery! Help defeat human trafficking!

To get involved e-mail justin@traffickingproject.org

This Week in Trafficking

Trafficking and migration related articles from around the web


Source: Corbis

Senator says the annual quota of Filipina nurses to Japan is not enough
Taking up the cudgels for thousands of health practitioners, Senator Loren Legarda on Friday questioned the "highly restrictive" quota-based deployment of Filipino nurses and caregivers to "the land of the rising sun" under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA). "We definitely would have preferred the market demand-driven deployment of Filipino nurses and caregivers, instead of a prohibitive quota system," said Legarda, chair of the Senate committee on economic affairs. "There is a huge pent-up demand for foreign healthcare workers in Japan due to its rapidly aging population. The (Philippine) government is duty-bound to secure for Filipino professionals the greatest opportunity to cover this demand," Legarda stressed. According to a study by Nomura Capital Management Inc., Japan’s population is aging faster than that of any other country. The study said Japan would soon have only two able-bodied workers for every retiree.

New Jersey women fined $78,000 for enslaving nanny
Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw announced that a Filipino woman residing in West Windsor , N.J. pleaded guilty Thursday to forcing a young Filipino woman who came to the U.S. as a nanny to instead care for her ailing husband and do her housekeeping for two years. The young woman's passport and visa were taken away, and she was told not to leave the house without family members because she would be arrested. She was paid only a small fraction of what she was supposed to receive for coming to work in the U.S.

Proposed mandatory social security for migrants draws criticism from migrant NGO
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s endorsement for mandatory Social Security System coverage of overseas Filipino workers is just "another extortion scheme" aimed at OFWs, a Hong Kong-based Filipino group said Thursday. “The unbelievable greed of the Arroyo administration for the money of OFWs is again shown by its effort to corner our earnings through the SSS coverage," said Dolores Balladares, chairperson of the United Filipinos in Hong Kong (Unifil-Migrante-HK) in a press statement. The newly-imposed deployment guidelines exact from OFWs additional fees for retraining and other requirements. There is the membership fee for the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration. Add to these the rising value of the peso that continues to erode dollar remittances, Balladares cited. According to the group, the expanded SSS coverage proposal is another item on the list of moneymaking schemes of the administration.

Shelter in Israel rehabilitates survivors of trafficking
Foreign women who are victims of trafficking can now get support at the Maagan shelter in Tel Aviv. In 2002 the Israeli government, in an attempt to encourage these women to testify against the people who bought and sold them, decided to offer them work visas in return for sworn statements detailing their tribulations. The visas run until one year after the end of their trials. About 250 of these women have been through the Maagan shelter in the last few years. According to estimates, several thousand victims have been trafficked into and within Israel since the 1990s. Those who cooperate become eligible for rehabilitation through the shelter, which is funded by the Israeli Ministry of Welfare.

Three charged in New Jersey trafficking ring
Thursday, September 6th- Federal agents today arrested two men and a woman from Togo who they say smuggled at least 20 girls and young women from the West African nation and forced them into indentured servitude, working without pay at hair braiding salons in Newark and East Orange. "This is a case of modern-day slavery," said Tom Manifase, deputy special agent in charge of investigations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Newark, the lead agency in the investigation. "These women were promised a better life in the U.S. but instead ended up becoming victims of human trafficking."

Immigration intensifies anti-human trafficking campaign in the Philippines
Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan has ordered his officers and agents in different airports and sub-ports to intensify the campaign against human trafficking. "This is a very serious problem and we in the Immigration bureau, being the country's chief gatekeeper, should do our part in stopping this human trafficking menace from victimizing more of our countrymen," Libanan said after the United Nations reported that one in four of humans trafficked across the globe were Filipinos. Libanan admitted that he was so alarmed by the report that he immediately issued a directive to his men at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.