April 2012
37 posts
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Give them shelter
Meet Restore NYC’s new director, Jimmy Lee.
“If I could find an intersection between my talents and making an impact in this world for God’s kingdom … that’s where I wanted to be.”
NEW YORK—Thousands of women are sold for sex every day in New York City, but between two long-term restoration homes, only 24 spots exist for survivors to find long-term, holistic care....
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Last chance to join LOGOFF Workshop! →
Snap up one of the remaining spaces, or pass it on to a talented, passionate friend.
LOGOFF WORKSHOP: Local, Green, Organic, Fair Trade, Slave Free
04.28 | 9 AM - 4 PM | 251 W. 80th Street, Manhattan (All Angels Church) Because good intentions can’t make a difference without good information You’re invited to a FREE LOGOFF Workshop, a creative work day on an app to help consumers make...
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What do I do now? [about human trafficking] →
learnthinkact:
I generally try to avoid re-publishing entire articles on my blog. But in this case, I made the exception, because this is too important. Here are some simple yet powerful ways to make a difference in your neighborhood.
The following directly reprinted is from the linked webpage from the Maryland Coalition.
You’ve got all this harrowing information. You know what trafficking...
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“Over the past few days we have met with knowledgeable social workers, a police...”
– Two women visiting Romania and Moldova to learn about trafficking locally and photographing where trafficking takes place.
Click through to learn more about their project.
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"I Just Called To Say Thank You."
She was terrified to make the phone call.
A slave to the diplomat who brought her to the United States from the Philippines, all Amalia knew of the country was 24-hour video surveillance, verbal abuse and long hours scrubbing toilets behind locked doors. Could she trust the people on the other end of the line? Her English was broken. Would they understand her plea for help?
But the phone...
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Investment
johnnyfunyee:
I don’t know what it looks like to invest in something for the long haul. I come from a generation in which fathers and mothers have abandoned their families. I come from a generation that shops for the newest gadget and throws out the old one even though it was purchased 3 months ago. My generation thrives on social media that is quick and easy. I don’t know what difficult looks...
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“Mobley carried a laptop so he could advertise a 17-year-old girl and two other...”
– Lynne Varner, writing for the Seattle Times.
But Mobley doesn’t sell women and girls anymore:
On Friday, the criminal who once aspired to be the “biggest gangster in Seattle” is expected to receive the biggest sentence in a human trafficking case in Washington state.
Where are people trafficked?
When people think of human trafficking, they often imagine women from poor countries trafficked into the US and Europe.
BUT
Many people are trafficked domestically, within the hometowns of the United States.
AND
Many people are trafficked elsewhere.
In other words, it’s our problem, and it’s a global problem. It’s important to learn about what’s happening in your...
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How do we fight human trafficking locally?
An aggressive mix of law enforcement and social services is the right approach. Add a vigorous push against the Internet’s profitable online sex-advertising market… .
If the local sheriff makes it clear that this is his priority, you’ll see everyone respond to that… .
Part of the challenge will be changing the public’s perception of prostitution as a...
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South America, sex tourism & the Olympics →
Type in “sex tourism” and “Brazil” in Google, and the first site that comes up is not a news report or academic study, but advice on going rates and how to hire prostitutes.
But ahead of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, officials are starting to clamp down on the country’s image as a haven for sex tourism. Brazil’s Tourism Ministry recently said it...
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Child sex trafficking victims receive money from...
In one of the first cases nationwide to provide such restitution, a federal judge in Texas recently ruled that the victims would benefit from the sale of the traffickers’ “ramshackle real estate empire,” 10 buildings and lots valued at just over $600,000.
The funds will be divided equally among five underage victims … but older women commercially sexually exploited in the...
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Who's complying with the California Transparency...
The Act: As of January 2012, requires companies with more than US$100m in sales worldwide that do business in California to clearly post on their websites the steps they are taking to address human trafficking and slavery.
The Rationale: If consumers know what companies are doing, they can support good practices with their dollars. [That’s the idea behind the New York City Urban Project /...
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How to identify & report suspected human... →
If you’ve ever wondered how to know it when you see it …
If you’ve ever wondered what you should do about your suspicions …
Read this. Share this. And if you see something, speak up. You could be someone’s lifeline.
{Props to the Miami Herald for publishing this important information!}
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“I remember the police officer pulled over and arrested me. I told him I had just...”
– Trafficking survivors speak up in Salt Lake City symposium.
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Why doesn't she just leave?
Have you ever wondered why a trafficking victim would stay with her trafficker? Why someone who is being abused doesn’t run away? Why a victim may find it difficult to testify against her abuser?
Read this first person account by a trafficking survivor for a fuller picture of this complex question.
By the time the trafficker spotted me in that New Jersey shopping mall, I had already been...
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“I feel like my God has not forsaken me.”
– A 19 year old woman from Mali, whose trafficking case was taken on by a South Texas Law School’s Human Trafficking / Immigration clinic.
The article describes the difficulty of finding a way to help this woman within the current legal framework, and how the students ultimately settled on an...
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Proposed Hawaii laws to assist trafficking...
Little more than a year ago, Hawaii was one of only four states in the country without an anti-human trafficking law. Today, our state stands on the precipice of becoming a national anti-trafficking leader.
Hawaii is poised to pass an assortment of new laws that will protect commercially exploited minors and provide services to survivors. The Senate is considering bills that would, among other...
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WE HAVE A MAILING LIST. YOU CAN SUBSCRIBE. →
Thanks! :)
(Do you know who we are? Find out more at our about page / (beta) web site. Or you can always send questions directly. We love to talk with people who want to be part of the movement fighting trafficking in NYC!)
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“The Bible says we have to help the widowed, orphaned, oppressed, imprisoned,...”
– Naomi Bang, adjunct professor at a Human Trafficking / Immigration clinic at South Texas College of Law, senior attorney at a local law firm, and former assistant U.S. attorney.
Read about how Professor Bang’s students are learning and making a different here.
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Resource alert:
New book on food / food politics with chapters on the slave trade behind coffee/ chocolate (including reporting on “good guys” and “bad guys” and suggestions for what to do):
No Happy Cows: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the Food Revolution, by John Robbins
{Price of Life is not endorsing this book; this is just an FYI.}
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How Many Slaves Produced Your Seder? →
Rabbis for Human Rights-North America, has partnered with Slavery Footprint to produce an activity for Passover based on the larger Slavery Footprint survey. It can be downloaded from our website for free. Ask your seder guests the question: How many slaves produced the goods on our table? Challenge them to commit to take action.
As the seder begins, we say metaphorically, “This year, we are...
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“Currently in the state of Oregon, you do less time for selling women than you do...”
– Jeri Sundvall-Williams, former trafficking victim now running for Portland, OR City Council. Read her inspirational story here.
She goes on to explain that because drugs get more jail time than pimping,
gangs have taken [selling human beings] as a moneymaker. They’ve been doing it for years but...
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“It’s great to be a small piece of a puzzle that is this huge movement to stop...”
– Myles Laroux, master of ceremonies for an LSU student group’s annual 5K race to raise funds for a safe house for trafficking victims and help students understand the problem. The group has held the 5K for four years, and raised $10K this year.
You can’t solve the problem alone, but you...
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Some numbers:
{From comments by Yuri Fedotov, the head of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, at a daylong General Assembly (UN) meeting on trafficking. Click through to learn more about the context behind the numbers.}
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“This is about something much more fundamental, and that’s who we are as a...”
– Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), who recently testified at a Congressional hearing on “Labor Abuses, Human Trafficking, and Government Contracts: Is the Government Doing Enough to Protect Vulnerable Workers?”
As David Isenberg writes on the Huffington Post:
Because this is a continuing...
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Is Big Business Beginning to Take a Stand Against... →
slaveryfootprint:
A private equity fund run by Goldman Sachs Group has agreed to sell its stake in the media company that runs a sex trafficking forum back to company’s management, a spokeswoman said on Sunday.
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What can I do?
When people hear about human trafficking, they want to act. But the issue is so big, it can be paralyzing. “I can’t solve the problem, so I won’t do anything.” Have you felt that way?
What about small steps you can take toward freedom today?
A from a California InterVarsity chapter, miles away from the Price of Life Invitational in New York City, heard about the campaign,...
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Price of Life NYC: 12 New Anti-Trafficking Laws in... →
“Washington Is First State to Take On Escort Sites”
— NY Times covers the story Sunday
priceoflifenyc:
TWELVE!
Washington Governor Christine Gregoire signed the bills into law, some of the toughest in the country, on Thursday. Some features of the new laws:
Increase fines for both pimps and customers from $150 up to $10,000 for multiple offenses.
Allow courts to clear...
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