|
With an estimated 27-30 million plus people enslaved around the world, how are we going to bring an end to this injustice? Our website, Free To Shop, is designed to help end modern day slavery. While many people think that the majority of people who are enslaved are part of sexual slavery, the truth is that the vast majority of people, up to 90% of those enslaved, are trapped in debt bondage or forced labor. The good news is that with conscious buying, also known as voting with the power of your money, every one of us can cast a vote for freedom. And we can vote nearly every day with the purchases we make.
Free to Shop, relying heavily on resources such as the The Better World Shopping Guide, has carefully investigated and chosen to support companies that refuse to endorse slavery, give to many worthwhile causes, are concerned about the health of our planet and have standards for sustainable, responsible manufacturing with ethical supply chains. All of the companies featured on our website are companies you can trust. Additionally, while you are shopping from these companies, a portion of Free to Shop’s net proceeds is donated to anti-human trafficking organizations and after care facilities for survivors of sex slavery. For 2011, the organizations we have chosen to support are International Justice Mission and Transitions (formerly Transitions Global.)
We also want to salute The Ethical Holiday Shopping Guide, http://www.ethicalholidayshoppingguide.com produced by Shop to Stop Slavery and Eye See Media. The guide highlights over 50 advertisers that promote socially conscious shopping. All of these companies (Free To Shop is one of them) insist on fair trade and fair wages, and they all create awareness surrounding the issue of modern day slavery. Some of the companies featured in the guide provide aid for the rescue and restoration of survivors. Basically, all of these companies want to help eliminate poverty. Poverty fuels slavery and human trafficking, so by buying from companies helping to end the cycle of poverty, you ultimately help to curb modern day slavery.
Our feeling is that everyone should be Free To Shop. By shopping from socially conscious companies, you can be part of the solution. Happy Holidays and here’s to shopping for a cause and voting for freedom with your pocketbook. |
On June 12, 2011, the World Day Against Child Labor was observed. The International Labor Organization (ILO) established the first World Day Against Child Labor in 2002 in an effort to increase awareness and support for the movement to end child labor. The organization’s goal is to end child labor worldwide, however, there is a specific goal adopted in 1999 through the ILO Convention No.182, and that is to end the worst forms of child labor by 2016. According to ILO, the worst forms of child labor include:
- All forms of slavery or practices analogous to slavery, such as sale and trafficking in children;
- Debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory labor, including forced and obligatory recruitment for children to be used in armed conflict;
- Use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances;
- Use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, including drug trafficking;
- Any type of work that is likely to harm a child’s health, safety or morals.
Since the enactment of the Convention No.182, the child labor has been decreasing, ten percent in years 2000-2004, and three percent in years 2004-2008. The ILO used the 2010 Global Child Labor Conference, which took place on May 10-11, 2010 in Hague, Netherlands, to accelerate the efforts and to lay out a plan in order to achieve the goal of ending the worst forms of child labor by 2016.
Today, there are estimated 218 million children still involved in child labor, including 126 million that are “intolerably exploited,” according to the Red Card to Child Labor campaign. The children range in age from 5 to 17 years old. Majority of child workers do not get paid or are paid very little. Some of the children are kidnapped, some are sold or used to get advance money by their parents, some are lured by promises of education and opportunities for better life, and some are forced to work by their family members. Regardless of the circumstances, the children are denied the joys of childhood, studying and playing with their friends, are emotionally and physically abused, stripped of their sense of worth and freedom.
The International Labor Organization recognizes that there is a difference between a child helping around the house or in a family business after school or during school breaks and work “that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to their physical and mental development.”
According to another report by the ILO, it would take $760 billion to end child labor. Additionally, the benefits to the countries’ economies are estimated to be $5.1 trillion when they stop using child labor and support the development of infrastructure of responsible business practice with fair wages for adult workers. When manufacturers force and enslave children for work, they take jobs away from adults, contributing to the overall poverty of a society. Since the children are forced to abandon education and their dreams, no development takes place, and the poverty continues to spread from generation and generation. Therefore, child labor has a devastating effect not only on the well being of the children, but also, on the society itself as it is doomed to remain in this vicious circle.
Although, one might think that child labor only takes place in some little village in India or China, it is much more widespread, and we get to see the results of it in our everyday lives and in products we have become so accustomed to. For example, you wake up to an alarm on your cell phone or IPod, which has coltan mined by children in Congo. You drink a cup of coffee collected by children in Brazil. You put on a T-shirt made out of cotton collected by children in Uzbekistan. You grab your bag and put on shoes sewn by children in Chinese sweatshops, and walk on a rug, woven by children in Pakistan. And all that just in the beginning of your day… With explosion of new technologies, new resources become essential and sought after. The cheaper the production cost, the bigger the profit. Cheap labor and low infrastructure cost contribute to larger profits. That is why child labor is so popular – most of the time, children do not get paid and work better than adults in conditions of poor lighting and confined spaces. Children are also more prone to manipulation and can be easily broken and forced to work. Children are frightened, scared, and homesick, and will not easily rebel against inhumane treatment by their masters.
It is time to put an end to child labor. Join millions that are fighting to end child labor and exploitation. Support products and foods that have been produced without using child labor. Demand manufacturers to ensure that no child labor is used in their supply chain. Write to your legislators to establish stricter standards for companies and monitor compliance. Until now, larger profits have been driving the demand for cheaper labor, but no child should be a subject to enslavement and forced labor so that corrupted middlemen and large companies can make a buck. Support organizations that are fighting to end despicable practice of sexual exploitation of children. Forced labor and sexual abuse go hand in hand for some of the enslaved children. Girls especially get sold into sex industry later on. The International Labor Organization is urging the world leaders to not slow down but keep pressing on in order to end the worst forms of child labor by 2016. Everyone gets only one childhood, and these 218 million children deserve to get their childhood back.
Sources Used:
Facts on Child Labor 2010 by ILO
http://www.ilo.org/ipec/ |
|
Follow Up Report on Prostitution Laws in Sweden
In 1999, Sweden became the first country to criminalize the purchase of sexual services, making criminals out of those who seek and buy sexual services, not those who are selling them. On July 2, 2010, the Evaluation of the Ban on Purchase of Sexual Services report was submitted to Minister for Justice Beatrice Ask. The purpose of the report was to evaluate the effect the prohibition of the purchase of sexual services had on commercial sex industry in Sweden. The ban became effective in 1999, and the report examined the findings during the ten years it has been in place, from 1999 to 2008.
Overall, the report shows that the law has been effective in decreasing street prostitution. There are estimates that in Stockholm alone, the number of prostituted women on the streets went from 280 in 1998 down to 180 in 2008. Additionally, there are discussions that the ban discouraged the human trafficking organized criminal activity in the country; therefore, it has been effective in preventing human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
The report also indicates that there is a solid support for the ban, both from general public and law enforcement agencies. There are findings that under current law, penalties are not proportionate to the gravity of the crime in several cases. Currently, the maximum penalty for the crime is six months imprisonment; nevertheless, according to Swedish public radio, out of 650 people sentenced to date for purchasing sexual services, none served in prison. Therefore, there are recommendations that the penalties for purchase of sexual services should be increased. The report recommends to increase maximum penalty to one-year imprisonment.
The critics of the ban say that prostituted women went underground, offering themselves through the Internet and other venues where there is a great risk of harm. Additionally, the statistical data shows that prostitution increased in Oslo and Copenhagen during the same time period. However, the report indicated that there are no findings that the ban had a negative effect on sexually exploited people in Sweden. Norway adopted legislation similar to Sweden’s ban in January of 2009, and the effects are yet to be reported.
The evaluation report presented to Minister for Justice of Sweden indicates that the prohibition of the purchase of sexual services has been effective in criminalizing those who are purchasing sexual services, therefore, deterring others from engaging in this activity. As a result, street prostitution decreased all across the country. Also, there are indicators that the ban has been effective in preventing human sex trafficking in the country. In spite of criticism, Sweden’s efforts are commendable and should be considered by other governments in their attempts to fight and prevent trafficking in persons for sexual exploitation. Commercial sex industry is growing because of the demand. Therefore, criminalizing those who create this demand, in other words, those who are seeking to buy and exploit other human beings for sexual purposes, will have a direct effect on the supply chain of human sex trafficking.
Sources Used:
http://www.sweden.gov.se/sb/d/13358/a/149231
http://www.thelocal.se/27580/20100703/
|
|
|
We are pretty sure that Santa would be fair trade conscious in his selection of presents. When getting ready and compiling the presents for little girls and boys, he would make sure that other boys and girls were not harmed and taken advantage of while assembling and making the toys, books, clothes, etc. He would want all boys and girls to play, laugh, sing, go to school, and dream. He would not want any boy or girl be taken from their families, beaten, starved, abused, and forced to work long hours with no days off.
Buying fair trade certified gifts is not as difficult as one might think. First, there is Fair Trade Certified label that is placed on all products that comply with standards of fair trade manufacturing practices. Second, there are numerous Internet sites that explain and offer fair trade certified products, including, food, wine, clothes, accessories, household items, toys, etc. Among them are Global Exchange, Ten Thousand Villages, Gifts with Humanity – these are just the first ones that came out in Google search for fair trade certified gifts. Additionally, there are many non-profit organizations that have Internet and traditional stores that sell products made by people who survived and overcame horrible circumstances of human trafficking and modern day slavery. One of them is Freedom Store (Not For Sale Campaign), and there are many others.
There is still plenty of time till Christmas rush begins to do your research and to find out about retailers and products that support and abide by ethical manufacturing practices. Additionally, there are many organizations that are fighting to end child labor and modern day slavery. They need your support too so that they continue with their efforts. Together, we can ensure that no child is subjected to horrible living conditions and abuses of forced labor, but instead, is free to enjoy their childhood and dream, while their parents are given fair opportunities to provide a better life and build a stronger community.
For more information, please visit:
http://www.fairtrade.net/
http://www.transfairusa.org/
http://notforsale895.corecommerce.com/cart.html
|
|
The Top Twelve Things Men Can Do To Help End Human Trafficking
1. Understand that human trafficking victims are often forced to participate in pornography and prostitution against their will. They are the victims of criminal activity.
2. Recognize the danger of pornography as being unhealthy and addictive. Pornography, time and time again, sexualizes women and instills the belief that the sex acts portrayed are normal. It also repeatedly degrades and humiliates women with acts of violence coupled with pain and suffering.
3. Make a paradigm shift from the belief that “women are prostitutes” to “women are prostituted” and that many women do not freely choose this lifestyle. Choice involves options and opportunity.
4. Realize that prostitution inflicts enormous physical and psychological damage on the victim and that sexual abuse is the norm.
5. Understand that a pimp is someone who makes a living off of intimidation, psychological manipulation, physical force and violence imposed on another human being. A pimp is not someone who creates glamour or beauty. The the use of the word “pimping” should not be used as an expression of value.
6. Eliminate strip clubs, raunchy bachelor parties and x-rated movies from entertainment options for you and your sons. Find ways to express manhood and male bonding that don’t involve male dominance or control over women.
7. “Raise the bar” for your sons regarding your expectation of their respect for women, sex and family.
8. Be a good role model for your children in your actions, words and deeds. Drop the “good ole boys” view of sexual exploits and attitudes often found in male dominate environments such as sports bars, golf courses, fraternities, locker rooms, etc.
9. Create a curriculum for fathers that would aid in the discussion and education of what sustainable, loving relationships and healthy, fulfilling sex should look like for both sons and daughters.
10. Learn more about human trafficking and educate others while engaging in activism that supports the end of modern day slavery.
11. Support anti-trafficking organizations and policies and/or laws that help to stem the tide of modern day slavery and human trafficking.
12. Create change using your gifts, talents and knowledge through the use of the written word, public speaking, volunteerism, responsible consumerism, cybervision and watchful observation of potential human trafficking situations that need to be reported to the toll-free national hotline, 1-888-3737-888. |
|
While we here in the western hemisphere consider superstitions to be silly thoughts about black cats, cracked mirrors and Friday the 13th happenings, there are many for whom superstitions are sacred to their culture, faith and society.
The reality is superstitious beliefs have real consequences in the battle for human lives and fight against modern day slavery.
One such place where human lives are at risk and human sacrifice is on the rise is in Uganda. According to the Anti-Human Sacrifice and Trafficking Task Force in Uganda, assistant commissioner Moses Binoga of the Ugandan police, said that “witch doctors operate in a network and have bosses who give instructions and receive the bulk of payment made by clients. The bosses involve in one of five or six witch-doctor protection rackets operating in the country.”
Linked directly to the superstitious belief that witchcraft can help you get rich quickly witch doctors and their clients are kidnapping and trafficking young children to be used in the sacrificial ceremony. Many have reported that some of their clients capture the children and remove their heart and blood and bring it to the witch doctor to be sacrificed directly to the spirits.
Claiming they are not directly involved in the murder or incitement to murder but acting only as conduit for the spirits to speak to the clients, witch doctors make the equivalent $260 U.S. per consulting session. This ritual sacrifice is on the rise and according to the Ugandan police there appear to there are many children reported missiing and whose fate is unknown at this time.
In Nigeria a human trafficking ring was found to be enslaving women for the commercial sex industry Europe. The traffickers enslaved and tormented the women by taking hair and nail clippings and using them as part of a voodoo ritual ceremony that would bind the women both physically and spiritually. Using superstitious beliefs and the religious ceremonies the traffickers would manipulate the women to keep them from trying to escape.
Superstition and religion often overlap as is the case with children of the Buddhist faith whose belief in Karma states that poor luck in current life is a result of past sins. Traffickers will enslave children and then easily convince them that their past sins are justification for their current punishment thus keeping them enslaved.
We can joke about walking under ladders, black cats crossing our paths and stepping on cracks in the sidewalk but in many parts of the world superstitions are not a joke, they are real beliefs that leave vulnerable populations exposed to continued exploitation by traffickers who will prey upon their cultural and religious beliefs for their own gain. |
|
|
a dollar a day
spawns endless throngs
souls bought and sold
for less than a song
have nots coaxed, cloaked, collared, then crushed
death flesh robots
cash for the lust
night after night
the lunatics’ delight
packaged and racked
flat on your back
‘til aids not grace
Cuts “um some slack
not Dachau nor Darfur
but genocide of the poor
no matter how incensed
theses sentences be
there are not sentences
that capture
the sentences of these
until some greater awakening
sparks mass indignation
from every color, creed and nation
absent emancipation without proclamation
fomenting a mission and purge
a terrible swift verve
in blood, sweat and treasure
equal no less in measure
to ten thousand Gettysburgs
Scott Robinson, 2011
|
|
As we are enjoy the abundance of fruits and vegetables that are piled high in our grocery store’s produce section, is the delicious taste of what is harvested tainted with slave labor?
Children working 12-14 hour days, seven days a week, working in dangerous and grueling conditions, getting paid less than $70 a week - all sounds like something that would take place in a country with unstable political and economical systems, somewhere where there is no labor regulation and all the focus is on making as much money as possible. Unfortunately, it is happening right here, in this country, every harvest season. Children ages 5 to 17 are pulled out of school to join their families as they migrate from one field to another, from one state to another. The child labor laws passed to set standards for children in workforce left regulations in agricultural industry very vague and unclear. This leaves children vulnerable and unprotected as they are forced to work in the fields with their families.
According to the US Report on Youth Labor Force, child labor came to this country with the first colonists. Children, sometimes as young as three, were working together with their families on family farms and in family industries. Additionally, children of enslaved parents were expected to work at young age too. With development of industries, children became a sought after workforce, due to the fact that child labor was less expensive. Factory job announcements in newspapers were targeting families with large number of children and widows with children. Early attempts to regulate child labor were based on the fact that young children did not have time to attend school because they were working long hours majority of the week. In the beginning of 1900s many social issues came up, requiring intervention by federal and State governments. By 1913, majority of the states in the Union had minimum age for factory employment set at 14. The Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938 moved the minimum age for employment in nonagricultural sector up to 16 years. Additional regulations are also set in place such as that child employment cannot interfere with education. However, this law did not include provisions for child labor in agriculture. The labor laws regarding children working in agricultural industries are not as limiting. Additionally, there are no regulations for children working on farms owned or operated by their parents.
The US Report on Youth Labor Force revised in 2000 examined the children employment in agriculture. It estimated that close to 126,000 children work annually in the fields and on farms in this country. Other sources estimate the number to be even higher, between 300,000 and 800,000. Some of them find the employment on their own, and migrate to various sites of work without their parents or family members. They get paid less than adults for performing the same type of work. Although they work fewer weeks than adult farm workers, the children still end up working during the school year. Close to two-thirds of the children farm workers earn less than $1,000 a year. They do not receive any benefits such as medical insurance or worker’s compensation.
Another category of children working in agriculture includes children of farm workers. 73 percent of children over the age of thirteen, whose parents work in the fields, work themselves. Many factors influence the child labor in the agriculture. Estimated 56 percent of farm working families in the United States are poor, living below Federal poverty level. Some estimate that average earnings for migrant farm workers are less than $14,5000 a year. Therefore, even the little income that the children earn is still beneficial to the family. Additionally, different pay systems influence the involvement of children in agricultural labor. Children of parents who get paid though a piece rate system are more likely to work with their parents than those who get paid hourly. Additionally, children of migrant farm workers are more likely to travel and work with their parents in the fields and on the farms. With the harvesting season spanning from spring into early fall, many children are pulled out of school to work with their parents. The children do not spend enough time in school from the end of one season to the beginning of the next. Therefore, there are estimates that as many as one-third of farm workers’ children drop out of school permanently.
There are many dangers for the children working or being present in the fields. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention named agricultural labor as the most dangerous work for young children, with risk of receiving injuries being four times higher than in any other working environment. Children are exposed to severe weather conditions, pesticides, sharp knives, tools, and machinery. Their working environments often do not provide access to restroom facilities, hand washing facilities, and satisfactory drinking water. They work long hours, 10-12 hours a day, sometimes even 14 hours at the peak of harvest. The work involves lifting heavy loads, twisting, bending, and various repetitive movements. Without proper training and technique, these lead to many musculoskeletal injuries. Additionally, children receive injuries from using tools and operating machinery without proper training and supervision. Children are not educated on dangers and hazards of their working conditions and do not receive training about safety measures. It was reported that 907 children died on farms between 1995 and 2002, half of them less than fifteen years old. Additionally, 77,000 children were treated in emergency rooms for work-related injuries in 1998 alone.
In 2011, THE HARVEST, a documentary by U. Roberto Romano was released. It tells the stories of several young farm workers as they migrate to work with their families during the 2009-harvesting season. They work in the fields of Northern California, Texas, Michigan, Ohio and Florida. The children include sixteen-year-old Aaron Matamoros, who travels with strangers while working throughout the United States because the rest of his family is unable to work; fifteen-year-old James Cervantes, who has been working in the fields since he was six and wants to become a police officer; twelve-year-old Zulema Lopez, who remembers her mother teaching her how to harvest strawberries as one of her first memories. The documentary tells many more stories of the children involved in agricultural labor and puts faces on estimated 400,000 children working in the fields today.
Current labor laws in the United States fail to protect child farm workers. While some children are working to help their parents on a family owned and operated farm, majority of the child farm workers work on commercial farms, where they endure longer hours and more dangerous conditions than in any other industry with youth employment. In September of 2009, HR 3564, Children’s Act for Responsible Employment (CARE) was introduced by Rep. Lucille Royball-Allard (D-CA). It was proposed to revoke specific exemptions for agricultural labor in the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act. It would set a minimum age for agricultural employment as 18 years old, unless the children are employed by their parents on parent owned or operated farm. It would prohibit children employment where there is exposure to pesticides. It would require the employers to notify of agricultural work-related injuries or deaths of employees younger than 18. The bill would also increase civil penalties and create criminal punishment for violators of child labor laws and regulations. The bill was moved into the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections in November 2009, where it is still being investigated and revised. Many more representatives are cosponsoring the bill, as of last update on July 1, 2010. Some advocates also propose the overall reform of migrant workers.
Next time you are in the produce isle of your grocery store, remember the children that harvested these cucumbers, blueberries, watermelons and such. Think of their pain, their struggles, and their dreams. Do not allow the faulty system take advantage of their vulnerability. Do something to change things for the better for them.
Sources Used:
The Harvest. Documentary by U. Roberto Romano.
http://www.shineglobal.org/index.php/hero-of-the-week/harvest/
http://www.hrw.org/support-care?tr=y&auid=6320881
The US Dept. of Labor. Division of Youth and Labor. 2000 Report on the Youth Labor Force.
2009 Child Labor Fact Sheet by National Center for Farmworker Health. Inc.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-3564
|
|
In spite of UN resolution in 1948 that prohibits slavery in all its shape and form, slavery still exists today. There are estimated 27 million men, women, and children who are enslaved today. This figure exceeds by far the numbers of slaves in transatlantic slave trade. About 20 million are enslaved for forced and bonded labor, and 7 million are subjects to sexual exploitation and sex trafficking. Another development since the ban of slavery is that prices for slaves have decreased. In 1850, a slave was sold for an equivalent of $40,000. Today, according to some estimates, the average slave costs $90, depending on the work they will be bought for. Moreover, the cost of keeping a slave had gone down. The living conditions of people enslaved in bonded labor are horrific. Both of these decreases in cost make modern day slavery a very profitable business. In addition, human trafficking is the third most profitable criminal activity after drugs and arms dealings. All of these contribute to such a high number of enslaved people today.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
