Human Trafficking Awareness Day

[Sajainta]

I was going to post this in the Fuck Sexism thread, but I was afraid it was going to get lost in the recent religious discussion.  So I'm making a new topic, because I think this deserves its own topic.

Today (January 11th) is Human Trafficking Awareness Day.  Please, do what you can to try and spread awareness about this despicable reality that so many people are unaware of.  27 million people are enslaved right now, existing in what can only be described as a horrific nightmare.

HumanTrafficking.org
Not For Sale Campaign
End Human Trafficking
Stop the Traffik

It needs to end.  No one has the right to own another human being.

I am not for sale.  Neither are you.

Please educate yourself and help educate others.

Thank you.

[tushantin]

Actually, despite "no rights to enslavement", blame the "Law of Nature" because people do enslave one another and forever will, even though the modern society is to try changing this. However, I have no right to speak my pointless opinions, so I won't say more. XDDD Forgive me.

Thanks for the heads up! I'll do my best to spread the word.

[Sajainta]

Thanks for the heads up! I'll do my best to spread the word.

No problem at all.  Thank you.

Also::

If anyone else has other links to any trafficking prevention pages, that would be much appreciated.

[Uboa]

Another great resource for information regarding human trafficking in the US, I've found, is Google News.  Specifically, I have the following search bookmarked:

http://news.google.com/news?q=human+trafficking+law

According to this article, "Human trafficking industry thrives in Portland metro area", which I found tonight, tougher anti-trafficking legislation is still being produced in congress.  What many metro areas lack are shelters and safe-havens for victims, and the bill specifically mentioned in that article would, from the looks of it, establish pilot programs in areas very affected by trafficking which would provide shelters and services to victims.  There are many, many aspects to this problem, but based on the volume of news I've found I'm pretty sure that it is quickly becoming a hot topic among legislators and law enforcement.  

In light of this, perhaps today would be a good day to do some research and consider writing your representative.  Look into shelter programs that exist where you live, and see how they're faring.  Build some perspective on how people in your locale view the problem of human trafficking.  Do something, even if it's as little as having a conversation with somebody who can share some insight.

Edit:  More information on that bill can be found at...
http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/show/111_SN_2925.html

[Truthordeal]

Ah! Saj, I only wish you had informed us of this earlier! I was scheduled to give a presentation today for my teacher shadowing, and this would have made an excellent topic to discuss.

Oh well, no time to gripe, I'll just have to fit it in some other way. Thank you for telling us!

[Sajainta]

Ah! Saj, I only wish you had informed us of this earlier!

I actually only found out about it just before I made this topic.  Someone had posted a link on their Facebook and that's how I found out.  I wish I had known earlier too.

[Lord J Esq]

Portland...our next door neighbor to the south.

Sigh. I feel guilty for having paid almost zero attention to this issue before Sajainta came to these forums. Thank you for bringing it to light for me and us, Saj.

[Sajainta]

Sigh. I feel guilty for having paid almost zero attention to this issue before Sajainta came to these forums. Thank you for bringing it to light for me and us, Saj.

That means a lot to me.  Thank you.  One of my main goals in life is to spread as much awareness about this as I can and thus try and propel as much change and action as I can.  If I can make even one person aware and passionate about the cause, that means the world to me.  My life / existence feels more and more meaningful with every person I meet who begins to fight slavery.

[Thought]

Sigh. I feel guilty for having paid almost zero attention to this issue before Sajainta came to these forums. Thank you for bringing it to light for me and us, Saj.

Allow me to second the sentiments. Also, I dug up a link buried in the sexism thread that seems like a good one to pass around: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/25/magazine/25SEXTRAFFIC.html?pagewanted=print&position=

Also, notably, provided by our good Sajainta.

[Thought]

Alas, my efforts in this regard didn't go terribly well. The people who needed to be aware of this the most were the ones who shrugged it off with distasteful attempts at humor!

Hopefully other people were more successful.

[Lord J Esq]

I wrote to the Seattle Times and asked them to do an investigation on the big picture state of human trafficking in Seattle a la the Portland article. And I mentioned the significance of the day to a few of the people with whom I spoke. But, unless the Times writes a story, I think my most significant act yesterday was simply the reflection that I gave to the matter. This is an issue I've thought very little about in the past. At this point, I honestly have no practical strategy for doing anything to combat human trafficking other than raising awareness. There's a lot of work to do here.

[FaustWolf]

Spreading general awareness could be the most important thing to do. All these places, these "underground slave houses," operate right under our noses apparently -- smack dab in middle class neighborhoods, in "massage parlors," etc. Since I've learned more about this I've been keeping a close eye on places I've always sensed were a bit off kilter, looking for potential warning signs (according to my understanding of what the warning signs even are -- maybe we should discuss those here).

I would normally suggest that people involved in local mafias or drug-dealing gangs should be most educated on this issue since they would be "more likely" to encounter the people in charge of these operations, but that would very likely be a misconception on my part; this phenomenon could be hiding in plain sight, and everyone has a duty to take an interest in their own environment and check for whatever warning signs there might be.

[Lord J Esq]

Well, now we have an answer. A story was published just today:

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/414133_prostitution12.html

300 to 500 children in Seattle living in slavery.

[Sajainta]

Well, now we have an answer. A story was published just today:

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/414133_prostitution12.html

300 to 500 children in Seattle living in slavery.

That's despicable.. 

I can't believe that people would even think of charging sex slaves as common prostitutes.  That's just horrible.