Salvation Army’s human trafficking campaign blasted by B.C. sex worker groups

VANCOUVER, B.C. — The Salvation Army is standing by its controversial campaign against human sex trafficking, despite claims from prostitution advocates that the images depicting women in violent situations further marginalize trafficking victims and insult those who’ve entered the sex trade by choice.

The campaign, dubbed “The Truth Isn’t Sexy,” has drawn fire from advocacy groups in British Columbia who claim the Salvation Army is using sensationalistic material to portray all sex workers as victims of human trafficking, while providing no solutions to trafficking itself.

But Brian Venables, a Salvation Army spokesman, says those claims are simply wrong and the public awareness campaign is entirely misunderstood.

“The goal of the campaign is to raise awareness of the issue because human trafficking does happen globally, but it also happens across British Columbia,” Venables said in an interview Thursday.

“We think it’s appalling and wanted to do something about it. Unfortunately, people with other agendas think our campaign is not that specific so they are challenging it.”

One particular point of concern among prostitution advocates has been a suggestion that was submitted to the Salvation Army’s Toronto website. One supporter of the Christian charitable organization called on others to place mannequins in tattered white dresses stained with fake blood outside strip clubs and massage parlours.

Venables conceded that idea might blur the line between victims of sex trafficking and sex trade workers, but insisted there will be no such demonstrations in B.C.

“The Salvation Army has been around for a long time helping people, that’s our mission is to help people,” he said.

“We try to be inclusive and loving but to be honest with you, I don’t see that in that particular activity. I don’t see how that would boost anyone.”

The public awareness campaign is part of the Salvation Army’s global “Weekend of Prayer,” which begins Friday. The campaign launched a year ago around the world and it includes regular prayer vigils and public awareness drives in countries that are often the sources of trafficked women and children, including Cambodia and Thailand.

The Salvation Army’s methods were blasted Thursday by Esther Shannon, a spokeswoman for Vancouver-based prostitution advocacy group FIRST. Shannon said the Salvation Army’s advertisements have a narrow perspective and will further alienate sex trafficking victims, while doing little to get them out of danger.

“They’ve gone out on a white horse to rescue trafficking victims and they may very well have made it more difficult for those victims to be able to report or gain any safety,” she said.

But Venables insisted that won’t be the case.

“The Salvation Army is opening a program in November called ‘Deborah’s Gate.’ Deborah was a biblical character who spoke of liberty and justice,” he said.

“A gate represents an entrance into sanctuary and so Deborah’s Gate, the victims can be rescued, placed in there, and we can begin to work with them, providing medical care, addiction work, legal services, refugee services, whatever they need.”

Shannon said sex trade workers have been hurt by the Salvation Army’s campaign and she called on the group to draw a greater distinction between victims of trafficking and those who choose to work in the sex trade.

“The campaign uses really extreme and sensationalized images that are meant to create a strong appeal to emotion and we have a lot of concerns about that because we think that that kind of appeal underlines all kinds of myths about the lives of sex workers,” she said.

Venables said the Salvation Army has heard the criticisms and has agreed to make some modifications to the campaign.

“We’re changing the campaign and we’re focusing on the demand side of things and we’re asking the johns to consider what they’re doing,” he said.

source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5j-yObx_3Zv2qqF6tMtXgVzWLjnag

Mendelson, Lagon, Army of Me to Rally Against Human Trafficking in DC this Saturday

Now is the time for action to end human trafficking in our nation’s capital, said DC Council MemberPhil Mendelson, chair of the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary. While I am working within the DC Council to advance legislation, outreach efforts and community awareness about trafficking are imperative to end this brutal crime. Mendelson introduced the “Prohibition Against Human Trafficking Act” this year in response to reports indicating the unacceptable level of human trafficking in Washington DC.

As September comes to an end our Nation’s Capital, wraps up a successful Human Trafficking Awareness Month. DC has united to bring the face of modern slavery and human trafficking to the forefront. In just a few days the city is truly going to take the fight against child trafficking to the streets, as citizen politicians, musicians and activists unite for the first ever Walk Against Child Trafficking.

Join the entire anti-trafficking community for this ground breaking event, which will be the largest anti-trafficking event in DC history! So far more than 600 have already signed up to walk against child trafficking, this September 26, 2009 at Meridian Hill Park from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. The walk will be the largest anti-human trafficking event in the District’s history and walkers nationwide have already raised more than $200,000 to combat trafficking.

When:
Saturday, September 26, 2009.
Time: Registration opens at 9:00 am and the Walk begins at 10:00 am

Where:
Walk Starts at: Meridian Hill Park
15th St NW and Euclid St NW
Washington DC

Joining Mendelson to speak at the walk will be: Dr. Mark Lagon, former Ambassador-at-Large and director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons at the State Department and current Executive Director and CEO of Polaris Project; former U.S. Representative Linda Smith (R-WA) and current president of Shared Hope International; and Dr. Laura Lederer, former Senior Advisor on Trafficking in Persons at the State Department. Prominent non-profit officials will also be well-represented at the walk. Non-profit luminaries will include Sarah Symons, executive director of the Emancipation Network; Andrea Powell, co-founder and executive director of Fair Fund; and Ray Lian, lead organizer of the citizen activist group DC Stop Modern Slavery. Prominent authors Aaron Cohen, author of Slave Hunter and Ben Skinner, author of A Crime So Monstrous will also speak following the walk.

Following the walk and speakers, all will be entertained by the delights of performers including: DC-based progressive rock band Army of Me, Virgina based country singer Marthia Sides, local hip hop group LPF, and DC institutions the Walidane DrumGroup and Carol and Brock.

The DC walk is just one of many taking place across the nation, the effort of which is being
coordinated by Stop Child Trafficking Now, a non-profit working to curb the demand for sex trafficking.
Human trafficking is one of the fastest-growing illicit industries in the world. According to UNICEF, an
estimated 2.5 million children, primarily girls, are sexually exploited in the multi-billion dollar commercial sex industry. Nearly 60 percent of those enslaved are children while more than 80 percent of people living in slavery are used as sex slaves.

The amazing efforts of the Capital’s walk is being spearheaded by DC Stop Modern Slavery, a citizen activist group which set it’s roots in the district in 2004 with a small group of concerned citizens. The group which began in a church where they met to discuss the , issue of human trafficking, now only five years, the group has grown to an action-oriented all-volunteer grassroots organization with more than 670 members devoted to combating modern-day slavery in all forms. Leveraging the unique strengths of its diverse and growing membership, DC SMS is at the forefront of the anti-trafficking movement in the DC Metro area.

Sign up for walk at this link:http://www.stopmodernslavery.org-a.googlepages.com
/dcstopchildtraffickingnowwalk

source: http://www.examiner.com/x-7661-DC-Human-Rights-Examiner~y2009m9d25-Mendelson-Lagon-Army-of-Me-to-Rally-Against-Human-Trafficking-in-DC-this-Saturday

Child trafficking findings go to Clinton Global Initiative meeting

Only 1 in 10 countries have special police units to investigate sex trafficking of children and young people, a worldwide cam paign backed by Bill Clinton has found. The Body Shop and Ecpat International (End child prostitution, child pornography, and trafficking of children for sexual purposes) have found that 60% of assistance and care services offered to children in the 41 countries reviewed is inadequate. The findings will be reported today at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York, an annual meeting to encourage action between governments and other sectors.

source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/23/child-sex-trafficking-report-clinton

Now focus is on human trafficking

ISLAMABAD: It was a shameful Wednesday for Pakistan, first for being dubbed as one of the most corrupt nations by the Transparency International and then on the same day to be put on the State Department watch list for failing to curb human smuggling.

The government�s failure to provide the required information to the State Department on the former�s efforts to curb human trafficking has led to the Islamabad�s inclusion in the State Department�s Tier 2 Watch List.

Much to the embarrassment of President Zardari, the State Department report said parents in Pakistan sell their daughters into domestic servitude, prostitution, or forced marriages, and women are traded between tribal groups to settle disputes or as payment for debts whereas NGOs contend that Pakistani girls are trafficked to the Middle East for sexual exploitation.

The State Department in its report said, �The government of Pakistan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so.

Despite these significant overall efforts, including the prosecution of some trafficking offences and the launch of public awareness programme, the government did not show evidence of progress in addressing the serious issues of bonded labour, forced child labour, and the trafficking of migrant workers by fraudulent labour recruiters; therefore, Pakistan is placed on Tier 2 Watch List.

Sources in the FIA said on the ground Pakistan did well during the recent years to continue to be in the category of Tier 2 countries but despite all its efforts it is downgraded and placed in Tier 2 Watch List only because the interior ministry under Rehman Malik failed to provide details of what Islamabad did in this area of global concern.

It was Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who had made the State Department�s annual report on human trafficking public several weeks back. The report contained a chapter on Pakistan and places it amongst the countries on the Tier 2 Watch List. In case, Pakistan does not improve it may further downgraded to the worse available category � Tier 3.

Because of Eid holidays no one was available either in the FIA or in the interior ministry to explain as to who is responsible for this great embarrassment to Pakistan. Interior Minister Rehman Malik was also contacted on his mobile number but that, too, was not responding. The ring tone of Malik�s mobile showed as if he is abroad.

Sources said the FIA has presently engaged a team of its officials to prepare details to be provided to the State Department to get back to amongst the countries of category Tier 2. However, no one is sure if the State Department would change its findings about Pakistan after the belated awakening of the latter. A source in the FIA said the incumbent FIA director-general is required to pay more attention to this issue instead of zeroing in on the post of member executive committee of the Interpol for which he is presently campaigning.

Tier 2 Watch List is the category of countries whose governments do not fully comply with Trafficking Victims Protection Acts (TVPA) and where a) the absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking is very significant or is significantly increasing; or b) there is a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons from the previous year; or c) the determination that a country is making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with minimum standards was based on commitments by the country to take additional future steps over the next year.

In its report, the State Department noted Pakistan is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for purposes of forced labour and sexual exploitation.

The country�s largest human trafficking problem is that of bonded labour, which is concentrated in Sindh and Punjab provinces, particularly in brick kilns, carpet-making, agriculture, fishing, mining, leather tanning, and production of glass bangles; estimates of Pakistani victims of bonded labour, including men, women, and children, vary widely but are likely over one million.

The report said parents in Pakistan sell their daughters into domestic servitude, prostitution or forced marriages, and women are traded between tribal groups to settle disputes or as payment for debts. Moreover, NGOs contend that Pakistani girls are trafficked to the Middle East for sexual exploitation. Pakistan is also a destination for women and children from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, India, Iran, and Nepal trafficked primarily for forced labour. Women from Bangladesh and Nepal are trafficked through Pakistan to the Gulf.

Convictions of trafficking offenders decreased during the reporting period, the report said, adding the government continued to punish victims of sex trafficking and did not provide protection services for victims of forced labour, including bonded labour. The report recommends a significant increase in the law-enforcement activities, including adequate criminal punishment against bonded labour, forced child labour and fraudulent labour recruiting for purposes of trafficking; continue to vigorously investigate, prosecute, and punish acts of government complicity in trafficking at all levels; and expand victim protection services for victims of forced labour and sex trafficking.

It said the government of Pakistan made insufficient law-enforcement efforts to address trafficking in 2008, particularly in regard to labour trafficking, and noted the FIA did not provide data on the number of law-enforcement officials that received training. It said government officials at all levels have been implicated in human trafficking and there were reports of bribery of government and law-enforcement officials during the reporting period.

The report also said the government�s efforts to protect victims of trafficking were inadequate during the reporting period. �Pakistan did not report any programs to identify and protect victims of forced labour � the largest sectors of Pakistan�s trafficking victims � particularly bonded labour and forced child labour in informal industries such as domestic work,� the report said, adding foreign victims of trafficking also did not receive government protection services.

source: http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=24666

The ACORN Tapes

I’m about to write a very long-winded post on the story that dropped from Breitbart on the NEA “scandal”, and in doing so, I need to clear the air about ACORN. When the ACORN tapes hit the street, I considered posting about it.

My initial reaction was this:

1) I’m a libertarian. In my world, prostitution would be legal.
2) I’m a libertarian. In my world, the IRS would be illegal.

Thus, I wasn’t all that up in arms about an organization advising someone on how to hide the proceeds of a prostitution business from the IRS. In fact, I was a bit jealous — nobody exists to help me hide MY legal income from the IRS! Who’s gonna help out us engineers?!

But, then I started to actually dig into the story, and there were two additional bits of information that pushed me to the other side of the fence:

3) ACORN was advising these folks on how to bring in underage girls from overseas to work as prostitutes. Libertarianism doesn’t quite extend to human child sex trafficking.
4) ACORN is an organization that I learned is significantly funded by the government. I’m against government funding of most things, but I’m particularly against government funding of groups which are working very hard to advise people how to break the law.

So I’m pretty glad to see that ACORN got what was already likely coming to them, in the form of public ridicule and scorn and being tossed off the public dole. Advising someone on how to hide the fact that you’re bringing in foreign children to work as whores is despicable, and ACORN should be ashamed for what their employees did on those tapes.

source: http://www.thelibertypapers.org/2009/09/23/the-acorn-tapes/

Activist runs organization to free Cambodian sex slaves

Former slave Somaly Mam has made it her life’s work to end sex trafficking.

Opponents to her cause have burned her house, threatened her, kidnapped her children and raped her daughter.

“When I started this, I know I made my life dangerous. It’s not easy for me. A lot of people, they tell me that I’m crazy,” Mam said. “Well, I am crazy.”

About 200 people squeezed into the Cape Florida Ballroom Monday night to hear Mam speak about her experiences and her foundation’s efforts to end sex slavery. When seats filled up, students sat on the floor, stood along the back wall, and perched in from the hallway, watching through the doorways.

Mam is one of TIME magazine’s “World’s Most Influential People” for 2009 and a “CNN Hero.”

She became a slave as a child when a man who called himself her grandfather sold her into prostitution. She lived in a brothel with other Cambodian children and was raped and tortured daily, but after watching the murder of her best friend, she eventually escaped.
Since the opening of her shelter in Cambodia, 6,000 girls have been helped out of brothels. The girls call her mother.

“They are lovely,” Mam said.

Mam said it’s difficult to get girls out of the brothel because they are familiar with the routine of their life and don’t know who will love, help or give them a new life. Sometimes families don’t want their children back because of the shame, and they place blame on the children themselves for what happened. The government in Cambodia does nothing to help, Mam said.

In 2008, there was a global focus on establishing anti-trafficking laws in Cambodia, which had none, said Bill Livermore, executive director for the Somaly Mam Foundation.

“There was a major push on, ‘Well, you need to change your laws. That’ll solve everything,’” Livermore said. “Now we’ve come to realize that isn’t true until you can change society.”

Human trafficking is the second-largest organized crime, becoming a bigger business than drug trafficking, according to the Somaly Mam Foundation’s Web site.

Specific and consistent statistics about human trafficking are hard to calculate because of the nature of this worldwide crime. Of the 12.3 million adults and children in forced labor, an estimated 1.39 million people are victims of sexual servitude, according to the U.N.’s International Labor Organization.

As many as two million children are subjected to prostitution in the global commercial sex trade, according to the U.S. State Department.

This modern-day enslavement is not limited to foreign lands. It’s in the U.S., too.

“What is happening in our country is happening in your country,” Mam said.

Between 18,000 and 20,000 victims are trafficked into the U.S., according to U.S.

Department of Justice estimates listed on the Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking Web site. A large percentage is trafficked into Florida because of seasonal agricultural immigrants.

Junior interdisciplinary women’s studies major Dominique Aulisio, who works with the Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking, is starting a student organization called Student Labor Action Project.

“I think that people distance themselves from the problem,” said Aulisio. “I think we all do because a lot of times on the news it’s characterized as being a faraway country. But in reality, the traffickers are very organized, and they’re all over the world.”

Mam encouraged students to raise awareness and become active to end sex trafficking.

She thinks it’s possible within 10 years if everyone “activates” and fights.

“Fighting is not just sitting and talking, but you have to stand up and fight,” Mam said.

She said it is out of her capacity to accomplish the task alone.

“We need all of you,” Mam said.

She encouraged students to go on the foundation’s Web site and read about how to volunteer and learn more about what they do.

Senior Sally Griffin already had Mam’s book, The Road of Lost Innocence, and was excited to hear her speak. She wants to work and advocate against human trafficking. Her major is social work and minor is international studies for that reason, she said.

Griffin just got back from a trip to India with the organization International Justice Mission where she helped with a shelter, met girls who had been rescued from sex trafficking and saw the red-light district firsthand. She was first made aware of sex trafficking when someone from her church spoke about the issue.

“I didn’t know. Once I heard about it, it just kind of lit a fire in me,” Griffin said. “I don’t feel like I can just stand by knowing what I know.”

source: http://www.centralfloridafuture.com/activist-runs-organization-to-free-cambodian-sex-slaves-1.1910914

Plea change expected in Mo. case of couple accused in sex trafficking of woman’s daughter

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A man and woman accused of training the woman’s daughter to be a dominatrix were expected to change their innocent pleas at a federal court hearing Thursday.

Todd Barkau, of New York, and the girl’s mother pleaded not guilty last year to seven counts apiece. The U.S. attorney’s office in Kansas City says the case is the first in which a parent has been charged with the commercial sex trafficking of his or her own minor child.

Officials say Barkau and the woman — who isn’t being named to protect the identity of the daughter — lived in Blue Springs when Barkau began grooming the 12-year-old girl to become a sexual dominatrix.

source: http://www.fox4kc.com/news/sns-ap-mo–childtrafficking,0,809542.story

Task force to hold inaugural walk in San Marco

Crystal Freed

Goal is to raise awareness of human trafficking

A walk will take place Saturday to draw attention to the acts of human slavery that are still being suffered in the United States and abroad.

Currently, victims of human trafficking include 12.3 million adults and children involved in forced labor and sexual servitude, according to the United Nations International Labor Organization estimates. Children will be the focus of the Northeast Florida Human Trafficking Task Force’s “Stop Child Trafficking Now Walk” Saturday, but the goal is to put a spotlight on the growing business that is human trafficking.

“The task force brings together law enforcement and government agencies with private services, shelters and attorneys,” said Crystal Freed, co-chair of the task force and an attorney with The Freed Group. “It helps bring people with different skill sets together to help victims of human trafficking.”

The walk will start and end in San Marco Square, at San Marco Street and Atlantic Boulevard, with registration beginning at 7:30 a.m. and the walk scheduled to start shortly after at 8:15 a.m. Before the walk kicks off at 8:15 a.m., task force co-Chairs Freed and Lt. Mike Eason of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office will be joined at a press conference by a representative of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Mayor John Peyton’s Chief of Staff Adam Hollingsworth and former Jacksonville Jaguars Joel Smeenge and Todd Fordham.

Other walks are planned by other organizations in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Chicago and Dallas.

“This problem is global, and the United States is not immune. It is estimated that up to 500,000 of U.S. citizen-children are trafficked,” said Freed. “In October 2008, Marvin Madkins was convicted in Jacksonville under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). It focuses on the 3-Ps — protection of the victim, prevention of the crime and, of course, prosecution of the criminal. Why did it take so long for this crime to be detected? The girls were so-called ‘throw away kids.’”

In March, a jury found Madkins guilty of two counts of sex trafficking of minors and one count of transporting minors across state lines for prostitution.

After the trial, U.S. Attorney Brian Albritton reported, “according to evidence presented at trial, Madkins recruited two minors from the state of Virginia to engage in prostitution in Virginia and Jacksonville, Florida, knowing that force, fraud, or coercion would be used to cause the minors to engage in commercial sex acts. Madkins promised the minors that if they would serve as prostitutes in Virginia for a short period of time, they and he would earn enough money to go to Florida for an extravagant vacation. Madkins also told the minors that, once in Florida, he would obtain cocaine, sell it, and use the proceeds from the drug sales to fund trips to Miami, Atlanta and New York.”

People interested in participating in the walk can register at http://sctnow.org. To make a donation to “Stop Child Trafficking Now” go to: http://sctnow.donordrive.com/par….

Major Forms of Trafficking in Persons

• Forced Labor

• Involuntary Domestic Servitude

• Sex Trafficking

• Child Sex Trafficking

• Bonded Labor

• Forced Child Labor

• Child Soldiers

• Debt Bondage Among Migrant Laborers

source: http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=529129

Linda Smith has played a key role in the fight against human-trafficking, child exploitation

The Lower Columbia Community Action Program (CAP) could not have chosen a more appropriate guest speaker than Linda Smith for its “One Person Can Make A Difference” dinner and celebration next Month. The former Southwest Washington state legislator and congresswoman has made a considerable difference in the fight against human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of children. The Vancouver-based nonprofit Shared Hope International she founded in 1999 has rescued many thousands of trafficked women and children worldwide.

At the Oct. 24 CAP dinner, Smith will talk about her new book, “Renting Lacy,” and a national report she recently presented to Congress. The report deals with the sexual exploitation of children in the United States, according to Daily News reporter Cheryll A. Borgaard. The bulk of the research, funded by a U.S. Department of Justice grant, was conducted in nine U.S. cities and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory. A private grant to Shared Hope International provided for additional research in Atlanta and Washington, D.C.

Despite a little more than a decade working with victims of human trafficking, Smith says she was “shocked” by what the investigation of sexual exploitation of children in U.S. cities revealed. “What we found is I can go to craigslist or a strip club or an adult shop anywhere and find a minor for sex,” Smith told Borgaard. “There’s no town, I don’t care where; if there’s buyers, there’s sellers. Pornography is driving the sex train for younger and younger girls.”

The study put the number of sexually exploited children in the United States at upwards of 100,000. That estimate, though surprising, is probably credible. The research in this report is extensive and persuasive. That would be typical of the work of Shared Hope International and its founder. The organization has become a leader in the battle against human trafficking worldwide due chiefly to Smith’s fierce dedication, strong work ethic and practiced political skills.

Smith earned a reputation for getting things done during 11 years representing the 18th Legislative District in the state House and four years representing the Third Congressional District in the U.S. House. She also earned a reputation for taking on causes she considered important without regard for party doctrine. Indeed, her support for federal campaign finance reform, which didn’t set well with many of her Republican colleagues, might have played a part in ending her political career. She left the House to run for one of Washington’s Senate seats in 1998, losing to Democrat Patty Murray.

The political defeat only served to redirect Smith’s focus and energies. Within the year, she founded Shared Hope International to help rescue girls as young as 7 from brothels in Mumbai, India. By 2000, the organization was operating six safe houses and a mobile clinic in Mumbai, and three safe houses in Nepal.

Shared Hope International has been particularly effective in combating human trafficking in part because the charity pretty much is the gold standard among nonprofits in this fight. It gets four stars from Charity Navigator’s Guide to Intelligent Giving, which is the Web site’s top rating for charities that outperform most others in their cause.

Smith has done a remarkable job for her chosen cause. She’s one person who is making a big difference in the world.

source:http://www.tdn.com/articles/2009/09/22/editorial/doc4ab818fa507f3778735559.txt

Human Trafficking Awareness Week focuses on education

There are an estimated 12.3 million people in forced labor, bonded labor, forced child labor and sexual servitude at any given time, according to the U.S. State Department.

The Central Missouri Stop Human Trafficking Coalition is aiming to raise awareness of human trafficking this week with events ranging from a meeting of Columbia business leaders to a dance marathon.

Human Trafficking Awareness Week is a succession of events geared toward reaching out to MU students and members of Columbia’s community. It started with a park outing Saturday and will end with a discussion of human trafficking Thursday at Carpe Diem.

Paul Schlup, a special investigator for the western Missouri human trafficking task force and CMSHTC member, said the task force has rescued more than 100 victims and handled 65 cases since 2006.

“The biggest thing we need assistance in is for people in the public to call information in,” Schlup said.

Mustard Seed Executive Director Jessica Canfield organized a Fair Trade Bazaar, saying the bazaar helps fight human trafficking by promoting fair trade rather than slave labor in countries affected by trafficking.

“I think the way (fair trade) aids human trafficking awareness is that if you give people a way to survive, they can avoid slavery,” Global Market Manager Ava Swofford said. “If they had a way to make a living, they wouldn’t have to sell their sons into slavery.”

Global Market is a fair trade store in the United Methodist Church.

The bazaar was a collaboration between Mustard Seed, First Christian Church and the United Methodist Church. The Fair Trade Store at First Christian Church contributed Mexican jewelry to the bazaar, and United Methodist Church’s Global Market featured crafts from Guatemala, Kenya and Peru.

“I really wanted to make the fair trade movement in Columbia something cooperative,” Canfield said.

The bazaar featured handcrafted products from countries heavily affected by human trafficking, including those made by sex trafficking survivors from India.

Recreate: Making Art at Douglass Park, another event Saturday, was designed to make children more aware of their own freedom, Rainbow House Shelter Director Kristi Turner said.

The event was a joint effort between Karis Community Church and Rainbow House, an emergency center in Columbia, Karis Church worship intern Bobby Schembre said.

The children participated in games and informational art projects, such as making bracelets in orange — the color of freedom — Turner said.

“Interns talked to kids a little bit about what human trafficking was and really emphasized freedom, and made it clear that they are free, while others are not,” she said.

To grab the attention of MU students, Stop Traffic Now arranged a Dance Marathon.

“We’re trying to do a lot more creative things to bring people in,” Stop Traffic Now Co-chairwoman Brittany Heenan. “We want people interested in coming out to events.”

The marathon took place from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday in the Underground Cafe. The event was held to raise awareness about human trafficking and also to recruit students for Stop Traffic Now, Heenan said.

Pop Fiction, a local band, started the night with a set including an original song about human trafficking, she said.

“It’s supposed to be a good time for a good cause,” junior Monica Chavez said.

Chavez performed at the marathon with the Hispanic American Leadership Organization’s dance team.

On Sunday, two events geared toward trafficking awareness were held at the Christian Chapel Church. Pastor John Battaglia is a member of Not For Sale, another anti-trafficking organization, church member Paul Meiners said.

There was a visiting musician who worked with Not For Sale and the pastor’s service Saturday morning included a sermon on human trafficking awareness, Meiners said.

“I think our church realizes the great need there is out there relative to human slavery,” he said. “Our church and our leadership has a passion to do what we can to bring awareness and to be a part of bringing an end to human trafficking.”

After the service, visitors could go to the Freedom Lounge next door to learn more information from representatives of the CMSHTC, Mustard Seed Fair Trade and Not For Sale.

“I learned how much of a problem it was,” said Jordan St. Omer, who attended the event.

Church member Willie Jones said he would become more involved with anti-trafficking efforts after attending the event.

“I just learned a lot more about how people are helpless to help themselves,” Jones said. “Our pastor has made it a really big effort of his. We support it 100 percent.”

In the evening, there was a meeting of the Underground Church Network, a collection of churches advocating modern-day abolition, according to Not For Sale’s Web site.

Missouri law enforcement is involved with human trafficking through its Human Trafficking Task Force, a coalition of officers from the FBI, Columbia Police Department, Missouri State Highway Patrol and other agencies.

The task force’s job is to determine the correctness of information about a human trafficking case and then perform a rescue and investigation, said Schlup, who founded the task force.

Stop Traffic Now is also hosting a movie night Wednesday in Memorial Union. They will show the documentary “Born into Brothels,” Heenan said.

“It’s basically a relaxing way for students to hear about (human trafficking) and talk about it,” she said.

Other events this week include discussions of human trafficking and a meeting between business leaders in downtown Columbia.

CMSHTC board member Elizabeth D’Agostino said the meeting would hopefully jumpstart a program called the Slave-Free Stores Campaign. The campaign, she said, would set goals for all the businesses including not having slaves working for them and not selling any products made by slaves.

“We want to hone the project into something the businesses will want to put their name on,” D’Agostino said.

On Thursday, CMSHTC will sponsor a presentation by Barbara Bogomolov, leader of the Refugee Health and Interpretive Services at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, according to CMSHTC’s Web site. The presentation is called “Working with Victims of Violence in Immigrant Communities — Linguistic and Cultural Issues,” the Web site stated. Carpe Diem, a meeting place in downtown Columbia, will host a discussion of human trafficking Thursday, as well.

source: http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2009/9/22/human-trafficking-awareness-week-focuses-education/