8 Things You Didn’t Know about Human Trafficking Recognizing National Global Human Trafficking Awareness Day – January 11

January 11 is a day to remember a silent population: the victims of human trafficking. Since they can’t speak for themselves, we take a moment to speak out for them. Facts that may be new to you about the underworld of Human Trafficking:

1. It is estimated that upwards of 27 million men, women and children are victims of human trafficking – modern day slavery across the globe. That’s more people than the total populations of some countries, like Greece or Ghana. 
2. Every year, thousands of slaves are trafficked right here in the U.S. It’s a national and international crisis. 
3. Over 80% of those trans-nationally trafficked are women and children. 
4. Some 800,000 people against their will are trafficked across international borders each year – and 50% of them are children. 
5. A slave today costs an average of just $90. Compare that to a slave in 1850 in the southern U.S., with an equivalent cost today of $40,000. 
6. Slavery is masked by many names: debt-bonded, forced labor, indentured servitude. By any other name it is still slavery. 
7. Slaves can be found in a multitude of places, from fields to brothels to factories. They can be found in homes or restaurants near you. 
8. Slavery is not legal anywhere, and yet it happens everywhere. 

 Bridge to Freedom Foundation (BTFF) supports victims of modern slavery in their personal and professional development. BTFF works to improve opportunities available to survivors of modern day slavery. Out of the darkness of sex trafficking, child soldiers and forced labor, BTFF steps in to connect for-profit corporations, community and education groups and the general public to fight for this marginalized and underserved population. See you how can get involved at bridgetofreedomfoundation.org.

Remembering the Child Victims of Slavery on St. Patrick's Day

May St. Patrick guard you wherever you go,and guide you in whatever you do– and may his loving protection be a blessing to you always. 

Saint Patrick, or Naomh Padraig in Irish, was born in Scotland, and as a mere teenager when he was kidnapped from Wales by Irish brigands, raiders, and was then sold as a slave. Enslaved as a farm labor for some six years he eventually escaped and returned home, where he studied to be a priest. Saint Patrick returned some years later to the island where he was once held as a slave to be a missionary, bringing Christianity to the mostly Pagan island, sometime in the 5th century. Saint Patrick found himself enslaved, however he was able to not only overcome his struggles and the cruelty bestowed upon him, but to turn his struggle into empowerment for which he sought to help others.

Sadly today we live in a world that remains cruel, as there are some 27 million men, women and children enslaved across the globe today, many in some of the most brutal and inhumane conditions imaginable. Children forced to work as sex slaves, forcibly recruited to fight as child soldiers, made to work in hazardous mines and factories, left to toil in the fields all day, all forced to forgo their childhoods and left scared for life by their traffickers and owners.

 No child should ever be a commodity, no child should ever be denied their right to an education, or left to die alone after years of torture and abuse. Thus true, while we live in a world full of slaves, and so many of those who have found freedom, as St. Patrick did have found themselves empowered and some are able to give back and now dedicate their lives to helping others to freedom....Thus while you take today to celebrate the joys of the Irish, forget not the meaning of freedom and sacrifice and look at the example that St. Patrick set-forth as he dedicated his life to others once he was free, and remember those children who have not found freedom.

Originally published on the Foreign Policy Association's blog; CHILDREN by Cassandra Clifford | on March 17th, 2011

Make Sure Your Valentine’s Day is Not Tainted by Slavery

It’s February and love is in the air… Valentine’s day is just around the corner and many millions are looking for that perfect gift to show how they feel for their special someone. It is clear that much of the day’s meaning is lost to heavy commercialization. This year, American’s alone are expected to spend a total of $15.7 billion this Valentine’s Day; two of the most common items purchased are chocolate and flowers, two industries fraught with human rights violations, including modern slavery and child labor.

Chocolate: slavery’s bittersweet treat 
Those sweet heart-shaped chocolate boxes often begin with a children enslaved to pick cocoa pods. UNICEF estimates that some 200,000 children are victims of trafficking each year in West and Central Africa alone, for the purpose of working in the supply chain of products such as cocoa and coffee. Child trafficking continues to plague the cocoa fields of West Africa, which is the source of 70% of the world’s cocoa. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO) there are an the estimated 215 million child laborers around the globe, and two-thirds of children aged 5-17 and work in agriculture. These children are placed in hazardous working conditions in order to ensure that we have our sweet treats, it is truly a bitter story.

 

Flowers: The stem of slavery
Valentine’s Day is a flower seller’s dream, but it is a daily nightmare of exploited workers, many of whom are women.  Americans will buy more than 189 million stems of roses this Valentine’s Day, the majority of which will travel all the way from Ecuador and Colombia before they’re sold to doting beaus.  According to the US Labor Education in the Americas (USLEAP), women comprise 65% of those working in the flower field, nearly a third are single mothers, working long hours (12-16) for around $2 or less per day.  These slave-like wages leave young mothers unable to cover their families’ basic monthly expenses, while the flowers they picked that day will sell for between $600 and $800.  Aside from the long workdays and impossible quotas, flower workers are exposed to high levels of toxic pesticides and fungicides, which are sometimes sprayed on workers bodies while they are in the field.  This has left women flower workers with high rates of birth defects, miscarriage, and sterilization.  These mothers often pass on the legacy of exploitation to their children as the cycle of slavery continues generation after generation.

How do you ensure your Valentine’s gifts are free from modern slavery?
Become a conscious consumer and search for items labeled ‘Fair Trade’.  Fair Trade works towards greater transparency in both industries and helps to ensure that workers in the fields receive a fair wadge and human rights protection. So buy Fair Trade, especially products known to be associated with worker exploitation. These include agricultural products like cocoa, coffee, coconuts, cotton, fruit and vegetables, jasmine, palm oil, rubber, sisal, sugar cane, tea, tobacco, and vanilla.

Flowers: Fair Trade Certified roses can be found in-store at Whole Foods Market.  Just look for the green Whole Trade Guarantee sticker in the floral department. If you are ordering flowers online try One World Flowers and schedule the delivery of beautiful Ecuadorian roses. In addition to traditional red and pink roses, you can select themed bouquets like “Helping Haiti” and “Honoring Japan” that support much-needed relief efforts in those countries.  FTD also offers Fair Trade flowers including their Go Green Living collection.  1800Flowers also offers organic roses, as well as a line of Fair Trade mixed bouquets, certified by TransFair USA.  Try local flowers like California Organic‘s.  Organic Bouquet, has flowers certified through the VeriFlora program, which sets standards for worker rights, water conservation, recycling and organic production.  Also search for Florverde Certified flowers, which requires better treatment of workers and more sustainable farming practices.

Chocolate: More and more retailers carry Fair Trade chocolate so just keep your eye out for the Fair Trade label as you shop.  You can also purchase special valentines gifts online including heart-shaped chocolates from Divine Chocolate, the sweet and spicy chocolate sampler from Equal Exchange, the Valentine’s Day Heart Box from Sweet Earth Chocolates and a full tub of chocolate hearts of cherry  or dark chocolate with raspberry bar from Sjaak’s.  Sweet Earth Chocolates Classic Red Velvet Box, ChocoDream Spreads, Kopali Chocolate Covered Cacao Nibs, TCHO “My Heart’s Desire” Adigard 12-Bar Sampler, Alter Eco Dark Velvet Chocolate and sweetriot riotous riotBar gift set.  Why not reach outside the box and  try Kopali’s Dark Chocolate Covered Bananas.

Ice Cream: Frozen desserts also make a sweet treat on Valentine’s Day.  Look for Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Macadamia and Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss Dark Chocolate.

Wines and Spirits: Fair Trade Certified beverages are available at Whole Foods Market and other retailers.  Try these wine favorites: Fairhills’ Bus Stop Red and the Live-a-Little Really Ravishing Red, Heritage Link One World Shiraz.  Shop online at; JugShop.com, 67Wine, Marketview Liqueur or Cask. In addition to wine, why not try a delicious “Gogipolitan” made with the recently certified Fair. Quinoa vodka and Fair. Gogi liqueur?

Tea and Coffee:  Coffee and Tea are also easy to find in retailers.  A few tea favorites are; Tea Forte’s Cherry Cosmo, Numi ’s Ruby Chai, Rishi’s Cinnamon Plum Set, Choice Organics’ Rooibos Superfruit, Rishi Tea Pu-erh Gift Set, Choice Organic Tea Rooibos Chai, Art of Tea Vanilla Berry Truffle or Zhena’s Gypsy Tea Pomegranate Rose.  For that after dinner coffee try; Newman’s Own Coffee, Green Mountain Coffee, Caribou Coffee, Global Exchange , Equal Exchange, Dean’s Beans , Larry’s Beans, Just Coffee, Higher Ground Roasters, Grounds for Change , Fair Trade Coffee Co.

Fact: $90 is the average cost of human slave sold around the world

The average price of a slave has decreased during the past 200 years, according to Kevin Bales. a leading abolitionist and the President of Free the Slaves, who has written several books about modern-day slavery. In 1809, the average price of a slave was $40,000 when adjusted to today's money. In 2009, the average price of a slave was $90, Bales says.

In 1850 it was difficult to capture a slave and then transport them to the US. Today, millions of economically and socially vulnerable people around the world are potential slaves. This "supply" makes modern-day slaves  more inexpensive than they have ever been. Since they are so cheap, slaves today are not considered a major investment and thus not worth maintaining. Therefore if slaves get sick, are injured, outlive their usefulness, or become troublesome to the slaveholder, they are dumped or killed.

Modern slavery is directly connected to the global economy, as most slaves were forced to work in agriculture, mining, and prostitution. From these sectors, their exploited labor flows into the global economy, and into our daily lives.  

Source: here