May your inner abolitionist meet you on the outside!
I spoke with Campaign Manager Sundy Goodnight of Stop Child Trafficking Now and she learned from an encounter with a Canadian Border policeman that there are 15-17 year old girls flying into the NYC airports and along the way to Canada, are trained to trash their documents (passports, etc) and when the border police search them after questioning that's fruitless - because they don't speak English, the police can only tell them to stay within a certain radius and report to court in a few days - which they never do. The border policeman knows in his heart that these girls are being brought in as slaves, and the numbers are 15-30 A DAY! But nothing can be done?
SCTN is having a walk next September nationwide - in 50 states and 300 campuses - this money generated will be used to hire special operations teams (ex-military, navy seals, fbi) to capture high profile human traffickers. Now, if that doesn't scream change to you, then know that 20% of SCTN money goes to support other related orgs that stop human trafficking. All SCTN money is going to this cause. We have a spiritual obligation in this life to do something about it.
I applaud you, Pauline, for using your talents and connections to do what's right.
December 17, 2008 at 1:04 PM
I recently saw a documentary film entitled Call + Response, which openly addresses human trafficking and the sex slavery industries in the twenty-first century. After watching it, I feel both lucky to be born and raised free, and extremely disturbed knowing that there at least 27 million people enslaved today. I discovered my inner abolitionist, and knew I had to start doing something immediately.
I decided to check out some of the websites the organizers of the film screening provided to become more informed and to take some action to address the issue. Chain Store Reaction allows visitors to add their names to email form letters, which are sent directly to representatives from companies such as the GAP, Microsoft, Motorola, and Kellogg’s. On the homepage, you can see how many emails have been sent to each business and if they have sent responses. While it is satisfying to simply add my name, email address, and zip code before clicking “submit,” it just seems too easy.
Visitors to SlaveryMap can document and categorize incidents of slavery on a map of the world. I signed up so I can view other people’s reports, and I may even wind up reporting my own. It is a sobering experience to see all of the locations and read some of the reports of forced labor and sex slavery in the U.S.A., of all places. The site just started this year, so don’t let the empty spaces in certain continents and countries fool you... the reports just haven’t been written and entered yet.
Being a twenty-first century abolitionist requires plenty of research to understand how pervasive the scourge of human slavery is in today’s world. The latest Trafficking In Persons Report from the State Department is a great place to start, because it clearly defines what human trafficking is, and classifies each country by its compliance with anti-trafficking laws. It’s a very detailed report, but I found it easy to navigate through the different sections. I was surprised to discover that Ireland and the Philippines are equally ranked; both countries have not done enough to prosecute traffickers within their borders.
Were you aware of the prevalence of slavery today? What can we do to end it for good?
posted by Pauline Karakat at 9:20 AM on Dec 17, 2008
"Discovering My Inner Abolitionist"
1 Comment -
May your inner abolitionist meet you on the outside!
I spoke with Campaign Manager Sundy Goodnight of
Stop Child Trafficking Now and she learned from an encounter with a Canadian Border policeman that there are 15-17 year old girls flying into the NYC airports and along the way to Canada, are trained to trash their documents (passports, etc) and when the border police search them after questioning that's fruitless - because they don't speak English, the police can only tell them to stay within a certain radius and report to court in a few days - which they never do. The border policeman knows in his heart that these girls are being brought in as slaves, and the numbers are 15-30 A DAY! But nothing can be done?
SCTN is having a walk next September nationwide - in 50 states and 300 campuses - this money generated will be used to hire special operations teams (ex-military, navy seals, fbi) to capture high profile human traffickers. Now, if that doesn't scream change to you, then know that 20% of SCTN money goes to support other related orgs that stop human trafficking. All SCTN money is going to this cause.
We have a spiritual obligation in this life to do something about it.
I applaud you, Pauline, for using your talents and connections to do what's right.
December 17, 2008 at 1:04 PM