End Human Trafficking

A group of undercover investigators recently discovered over 2000 Chinese workers making computer parts for major computer companies in "slave-like conditions." The workers, who were all adults, worked 87-hour weeks with no days off.  They were only paid 29 Pasie per hour, which is like the Indian penny and converts to less than one one-hundredth of a U.S. penny an hour.  In other words, these workers were essentially unpaid.  They may not be calling this trafficking or slavery, but I sure am.

This is an important story because I think most people only associate labor exploitation and sweatshops with the production of clothing, because that has been what has garnered the most media attention.  However, any industry can become exploitative under the right circumstances.  The computers we use, cars we drive, iPods we shuffle and a myriad of other items may not be slavery free.

This week is Fair Trade Fortnight over at my colleague Zarah's blog, and I encourage you to check out all the many fair trade options which exist for a number of products.  It's one way to ensure your products aren't tainted with slavery.

When G-Unit sang about their "bottom bitch", they weren't talking about a mean ex-girlfriend with a fantastic badonkadonk.  They were talking about a pimp's "bottom bitch" or "bottom", his favorite prostitute, and often the girl he relies on to help him manage the other women he controls. A bottom will often start out as the pimp's first prostitute, and in some cases, will eventually become a pimp-or a human trafficker- herself.

It happened this week in Phoenix.  A 16-year-old and a 17-year-old girl were arrested on child prostitution charges.  Apparently, these two girls had recruited five more teens between 14 and 17 into prostitution.  They recruited the teens from area high schools, rented an apartment which they ran as a brothel, and charged hundreds of dollars a trick.  The crime they committed could have been charged as federal human trafficking or as child prostitution under local law.  No word yet as to whether or not trafficking charges will be added.

While the news coverage hasn't made any mention so far of the accused teen girls being under the tutalige of another pimp, one has to ask- how do two teens know how to recruit young girls into prostitution and set up a brothel?  I would not be surprised at all to find out that at least one of these girls was a bottom for another pimp.  It is not uncommon for pimps to use their bottom to recruit more girls, especially if the girl is a minor and therefore would only go to juvenile detention for recruiting.

Trafficking children is heinous, but using children to traffic more children, now that's hitting bottom.

You can read my colleague Jen's thoughts on what happens to trafficked children after they turn 18 here.

This week, the FBI conducted a nation wide law enforcement sweep as part of the National Innocence Lost Initiative, resulting in 571 arrests and finding 48 children trafficked into prostitution.  The ages of the children ranged from 13 to 17.  To give you an idea of how young some of these girls were, most 13-year-olds are still in middle school or junior high, and some haven't even started menstruating yet.  Young. The sting stretched from Anchorage, Alaska to Miami, Florida and included most metro areas in between. 

The numbers in this report- 48 child trafficking victims and 571 people arrested for pimping them- are disturbing.  What's more disturbing, however, is the number they don't give: the number of men who bought sex with these kids. 

According to MSNBC, as well as a number of anti-trafficking organization estimates, these child victims were having sex with 10-15 men a night.  Take the average of that (12.5) and multiply it by 6 days a week (assuming they get one night off).  You get 75 sex acts a week or 3,900 sex acts a year being sold by a single child.  Multiply that by the 48 victims from this bust, you get the very disturbing number that American men buy 187,200 sex acts from children per year.  And that's assuming that the most recent bust found every single child trafficking victims in the U.S.

I have been an abolitionist for six years, and when I see 187,200, all I can ask myself is: How could this happen?  How could we have let it get this far out of control?  Is there anything we can do? 

The next time you think about buying commercial sex in the form of porn, a lap dance, an escort or anything else, don't do it.  Because if you  don't buy sex, that number will eventually 187,199... 187,198...187,197..........0.  And that's a beautiful number. 

We know human trafficking exists in every country in the world, despite laws against the crime.  But is it possible, that in 2009, slavery is still legal in some parts of the world?

Supposedly, selling a human being as a slave as been deemed illegal by every country in the world.  However, recent reports indicate at least one judge in Yemen may be approving contracts for the sale of slaves.

The human rights group cited a legal contract for the sale of a 26-year-old man named "slave Qannaf" last year bearing the signatures of a judge and several other court officials.

While Yemen's constitution bans slavery, the practice supposedly continues "in the remote hinterlands." Yemen is the poorest nation in the Middle East, and there are many rural communities which are not under rule by the central government.

I am not terribly surprised to read a report like this.  There are many areas in the world which are not under rule by a central government in any meaningful way, even areas not necessarily designated as "remote hinterlands".  It is important to keep in mind that while we may assume we have won the legal battle in the war against slavery, there are regions under tribal rule around the world who deem the practice both socially acceptable and valid under law.

Because abolition + coolfunstuff = awesomeness, each week I will bring you a Red Light Special, one cool gift, bobble or goodie you can feel good about buying, because the money you spend somehow benefits trafficking victims, people at-risk of trafficking or anti-trafficking programs. It’s guilt-FREE shopping for freedom!

This Week’s Red Light Special….. Free to Play Soccer Ball from Fair Trade Sports and the Freedom Store

Why not finally get started on that New Year's resolution of getting in better shape by buying a fair trade soccer ball? You can get one online from the Freedom Store, part of the Not for Sale Campaign that sells fair trade items to benefit grassroots abolitionist work across the country.  It's also a great gift for the children or children-at-heart in your life.

You can buy this item from the link above, or at https://secure.notforsalecampaign.org/product_info.php/cPath/21/products_id/29?osCsid=48c8f85cf44856a532ce3cadeaf4c2a0n

If you know of an organization or business which you’d like to see financially rewarded for helping trafficking victims, let me know!

The next time you fly the friendly skies, you may be wondering if you're travelling alongside a victim of human trafficking.  A recent report from the Human Rights Tribune indicates that one of the reasons Southeast Asian trafficking victims are found throughout the world is the lax security of airlines in those countries.  Are these airlines acting as pimps?

"Some international carriers from poorer Asian and African countries are known to be lax in scrutinising the passengers," says an airline industry source who spoke on condition of anonymity. ‘'The traffickers know which airlines are not that strict and can be used to ferry their human cargo without many problems.''

This lack of monitoring has serious implications for the trafficking industry.  Traffickers can only practically transport young Southeast Asian women and girls (mostly sold in commercial sex) to places like the U.S., Australia and Europe by air.  If traffickers were forced to use slower and more costly ground or sea transportation routes, the business would be much less attractive.  However, identifying victims during air travel is not an easy task.  According to Christopher Lowenstein-Lom, spokesperson for the Asia-Pacific regional office of the International Organisation of Migration (IOM),

‘'It is only on arrival that the victims realise that they've been trafficked into a coercive situation of gross exploitation, slavery,'' he explained in an interview. ‘'And (they) can't escape because of the threat of violence, isolation, no common language, no papers and no money.''

In other words, individuals travelling out of Southeast Asia may or may not be on their way to become victims of human trafficking, and no one- not even they- know for sure.  Does this make the airlines which fail to address the issue unwitting pimps?

There is one really great tool to combat this however: The Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism.  Created by ECPAT International, The Code is a pledge travel and tourism industry companies take to train their staff to identify and report child sexual exploitation.  If the airlines in question implemented The Code, it could go a long way to preveting trafficking of young girls out of Southeast Asia. 

Each week, I will be bringing you a new interview with a formerly-active activist or abolitionist, that is, someone now deceased.  I'll be talking to the men and women who paved the way for the abolitionists of today and getting their thoughts on the problems and solutions of modern-day slavery.  How do I contact not just the dead, but the famous and dead?  Every good blogger must have her secrets!

This week...Thomas Nast

How's the afterlife treating you?

Pretty good.  But no one's ever heard of me here, either.

For those non-biography readers out there, how about you tell me a little about yourself.

I was an abolitionist during the civil war.  I created art centered around equality for all men, black and white together.  I used my artwork to help my country see the moral outrage of slavery and the more just alternative.  When I wasn't using my art to fight slavery I did a couple side projects, creating the famous images of Uncle Sam and Santa Claus.

What do you think is the biggest problem in the modern-day abolitionist movement?

Sometimes even the most inspired activists can get stuck in a rut of trying the same things again and again.  Think outside the box.  People will respond to a new medium with renewed enthusiasm.

If you were alive, what would you do to fight slavery?

I would collect the works of artists around the globe who have created art expressing contemporary slavery.  Then, I would host an online art auction to raise money for the cause.

Any last thoughts for our readers?

Despite the joke it's now become thanks to SNL's Celebrity Jeopardy, the pen is mightier.