President Obama, Please Address Slavery in North Korea Today
Dear Mr. President,
Today, like most days, is probably very busy for you. You're in South Korea, talking to important officials about a number of pressing issues regarding North Korea. I'm sure the crazy-dictator-might-have-some-serious-nukes issue will come up, as will trade, relations with China, etc. But I hope you will also address the major human rights abuse faced by over 200,000 North Koreans living in slavery inside government-sponsored forced labor camps.
Freedom for the Weekend: International Justice Mission
Published November 20, 2009 @ 12:00PM PT
Well, it's Friday afternoon, and that means the weekend is almost here! W00t! Perhaps you're reading this blog because you're bored at work or school and you're thinking about what you want to do this weekend. How about spending part of your weekend fighting slavery? Each week I'll profile a different anti-trafficking nonprofit who you can connect with to help free slaves and prevent slavery around the world. So, spend a couple hours this weekend getting to know this nonprofit through their website, and then get involved!
This Week's Profile: International Justice Mission
The Bottom Line: International Justice Mission (IJM) is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation, and other forms of violent oppression. IJM lawyers, investigators, and aftercare professionals work with local officials to ensure immediate victim rescue and aftercare, to prosecute perpetrators, and to promote functioning public justice systems.
What They Do: IJM focuses on victim relief and aftercare -- removing victims from situations of trafficking and helping them heal -- in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America. They also have teams of professional and volunteer lawyers who work to prosecute traffickers and create legal reform in countries around the world.
What Can I Do?: You can volunteer for short periods of time in their Washington, DC office, or for longer periods of time overseas. They also have specific pro bono programs for lawyers. Or you can get involved as part of your church, community, or school. IJM accepts donations online as well.
Why They Rock: IJM has a tremendous capacity to leverage the law and lawyers in favor of human trafficking victims who really need legal justice. They are able to bring justice to victims around the world who otherwise might not get it.
So now that you've got some basic information on International Justice Mission, visit their website this weekend and get involved. And on Monday morning when everyone else is talking about sleeping in and watching TV over the weekend, you can say, "What did I do this weekend? Oh, just the usual -- abolition of slavery."
Do you have a favorite nonprofit you'd like to see featured here? If so, let me know!
The Philippines Prevents Trafficking Around U.S. Military Bases in S. Korea
Published November 20, 2009 @ 07:00AM PT
In South Korea, "juicy bars" serve drinks to American GIs, foreign visitors, and locals. But many of them also serve up sex.
Specifically, they serve sex with young Filipinas who went to South Korea looking for work, but instead found themselves trapped in prostitution at a "juicy bar." This exploitation has become such a severe problem that the Philippines is considering preventing any women from securing visas to work in South Korean establishments.
Perhaps one of the most important details about these bars is that, despite the U.S. military's "zero-tolerance" prostitution policy, American soldiers frequent establishments where both voluntary prostitution and human trafficking are taking place. Here's how the "juicy bar" system works: Filipina women are brought to South Korea by brokers as "entertainers." The brokers then rent the women out to bars, priced depending on the girl's "talents" or attractiveness and the bar's needs. There, they flirt with and kiss soldiers and tourists, in an attempt to keep them buying the girls expensive juice drinks. If a girl sells her quota of juice drinks in the evening, all is usually well. But if she doesn't, she's expected to make up the difference. And her only means of doing that is prostitution.
Most of these women come to South Korea thinking they will be performers, and not because they're naive. Unlike other countries, Filipina women must pass a vocal audience in front of real judges to get their entertainer visa. But they always find out after they arrive abroad that their primary job is to flirt, and that if they're not an expert enough flirt, to prostitute themselves. It would be like boarding the plane to Las Vegas after a successful American Idol audition only to find that when you arrived, there was no show. Only compulsory work as a cocktail waitress with a side of prostitution.
2010 Sweatshop Hall of Shame
Published November 18, 2009 @ 01:00PM PT
Yesterday, the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) released their 2010 Sweatshop Hall of Shame list of Inductees, companies selected for some of the most abhorrent and exploitative labor practices in the world. From forced child labor to ignoring the preventable deaths of workers, these brands deserve a great big "shame on you" for their refusal to address labor exploitation in their supply chains.
The 2010 Sweatshop Hall of Shame Inductees are (drum-roll please):
- Abercrombie and Fitch
- Gymboree
- Hanes
- Ikea
- Kohl’s
- LL Bean
- Pier 1 Imports
- Propper International
- Walmart
To Better Know a Country: Human Trafficking in Jamaica
Published November 18, 2009 @ 07:00AM PT
Every year, the U.S. State Department releases a Trafficking in Persons report which rates countries on their efforts to combat human trafficking. Each week, I'll be providing a brief glance at human trafficking in one of those countries, based off the 2009 Trafficking in Persons Report, with my own (often snarky) analysis added. This is just a snapshot of what's going on in the country. For more information, you can check out the full text of the 2009 Trafficking in Persons Report here.
This Week's Country..... Jamaica
Basic Stats
- Ranking: Tier 2
- Status: Source, transit, and destination country for trafficking victims
- Political Stability: Ey mon, it's all irie!
- Cash Flow: Ey mon, you want some ganga?
- Do I Think They Care?: Ey, what is dat trafficking ting you keep talkin' about?
Who Are the Victims and What Are They Doing?
- Women: commercial sex, forced labor
- Girls: commercial sex, domestic servitude, child sex tourism
- Boys: commercial sex, domestic servitude, child sex tourism
How Birth Certificates Save Lives
Published November 17, 2009 @ 09:00AM PT
You wouldn't necessarily think that something as simple as a birth certificate can keep a child safe from traffickers, but it can. In fact, birth registration is the front line of defense against child slavery around the world. And Plan International is making it their job to count every last child.
The over 40 million people -- mostly children -- in 32 countries who Plan has registered since beginning their project a few years ago now have access to health care, employment, and other government benefits that they lacked before. They also have a powerful tool to protect them from human trafficking and other forms of exploitation.
One of the reasons traffickers more often target children from rural areas of developing countries is not because the children there are any more gullible or make better slaves than children from cities. It's because these areas have lower birth registration rates. It's far easier to snatch a child who doesn't, according to the local government, "officially" exist.
Other benefits to having a birth certificate: in many countries, registered children enjoy greater access to education than unregistered ones, and education is a key component in protecting kids from exploitation now and throughout their lives. In addition, the ability to access health care or government benefits later in life will keep them out of desperation, which makes people vulnerable to human trafficking as adults. And upon having their own children, they will be more likely to get them registered, ending a multi-generational cycle of invisible children in much of the developing world.
So if birth registration is so beneficial, why wouldn't a parent get a birth certificate for their child?
Red Light Special: Kiri Purse is Sleek and Ethical
Published November 17, 2009 @ 07:00AM PT
Are you sick of wasting your money on useless plastic crap made in overseas sweatshops? Do you want to use your money to vote for something you actually support -- a hopeful future for former slaves? Then check out Change.org's weekly Red Light Special. Once a week, I'll be bringing you a product that heals rather than hurts, because the proceeds go to help victims of human trafficking. Shop Red Light Specials to be part of the solution, instead of part of the useless crap problem.
This Week’s Red Light Special… Kiri Purse
Arrive in style to all your holiday parties with this sleek, simple black purse from Hagar Designs. The bag is made from black silk and features an elegant knot detail. It's sure to compliment dressy or casual festive holiday outfits for any occasion. Plus, it's a great way to start a conversation about how you like to make purchases that support human trafficking survivors. With this bag in tow, maybe your next cocktail party will be your next chance for some awareness raising.
Let's face it, you don't need any more stuff in your life, but human trafficking survivors sure need a future. And you can give it to them with just a click of the mouse and a swipe of the credit card. So what are you waiting for?
You can buy this item from the link above, or at http://stoptraffick.myshopify.com/products/kiri-purse
What the Media Won't Tell You About Child Prostitution
Published November 16, 2009 @ 11:35AM PT
Update: Sadly, Shaniya's body was discovered a few hours after this story first posted.
Police in Fayetteville, North Carolina, are desperately looking for five-year-old Shaniya Davis, the little girl whose mother allegedly sold her into prostitution.
At first, this story might seem to be about one criminal woman low enough to exploit her own child sexually for profit. However, it tells the tale of something far more insidious that the mainstream media won't touch: even in a small town in North Carolina, there is a market for sex with five-year-old girls.
Antoinette Nicole Davis, Shaniya's mother, was arrested yesterday on human trafficking charges and charges related to prostitution. Authorities claim she "knowingly provide[d] Shaniya Davis with the intent that she be held in sexual servitude," and she "permit[ted] an act of prostitution." Shaniya went missing during a rare visit with her mother. Her father, Bradley Lockhart, had raised his daughter for the first several years of her life. But when her mother told him she'd been sober and employed for 6 months, he decided to let the girl spend some time with her. Shaniya was reported missing earlier this week, but has been seen being carried into a hotel room by a man since then. The man is being identified and Shaniya remains missing.
As sad and grotesque as it may be for a mother to knowingly put her child in a situatuion of sexual slavery, there is an even more disturbing element of this story that is going largely unexamined by the mainstream media.
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Amanda Kloer
Shelton Green
ECPAT-USA
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women International (CATW)
