HT News

Your most recent dose of human trafficking news coming right up!

Anyone familiar with the crime of human trafficking is aware of the challenges that arise in attempts to prosecute a person on such a charge. Every now and then, however, a report comes out about a case and even though the majority seem to focus on the issue of sex trafficking, it is still good to know that cases are happening. Here is a recent one from West Palm Beach, Florida. 

One of the most interesting initiatives I learned about earlier this year is Truckers against Trafficking. If you know of friends or family members who are truck drivers or know truck drivers, I strongly recommend that you share this resource with them. It is no secret that truck stops are the perfect locations for young girls and boys to be sold and bought as merchandise, and this is why stories like this one give me hope that the situation can certainly change as long as we have more people aware and dedicated to bring change. To read the entire story, please click here.  

And just because I miss Denver, here is a news blurb from the Denver Post. If nothing else grabs your attention, please note the number of years the traffickers were sentenced to. You think that’s an appropriate punishment?

          -Krasi

HT News

Newsflash: human trafficking is certainly the issue of the day and suddenly it is no longer that hard to find tidbits of information on any major, and minor, news site. Not all entries really contribute to the further understanding of the issue and some actually reinforce myths about it! Here are some of the more interesting reports from the last week or so. 

1. "Washington nurse observes teen patients for signs of sex trafficking." To view the entire article, click here.    

2. "Lawmakers demand action from former Village Voice executives." This one is of a particular interest to me since one of the major concerns Courtney's House has is the role Backpage plays in the facilitation of domestic minor sex trafficking. To access the entire article, click here.  

3. "Assemblywoman Huttle wants tougher trafficking laws." What grabbed my attention in the case of this piece of news is the fact that people are starting to pay attention to big sporting events and the role they play in the continued exploitation of thousands of men and women, and I don't mean the athletes. I have mentioned the topic in a previous post, but I do not think much is currently being done to address the problem. To read the article, click here. 

4. Lastly, international news: Qatar Legal Clinic Opened. 

 - Krasi

Human Trafficking News This Week

Good day fellow abolitionists! Just found a few nuggets of valuable information on human trafficking and decided to share. 

October is domestic violence awareness month and several activists are coming out discussing the connection between human trafficking and domestic violence. I actually had the wonderful opportunity to listen to a presentation on the issue in the beginning of this year and it is great to find out that the number of people interested in the issue is steadily growing. An interesting blog post on the topic could be found here. 

As many of you know, I am a self-proclaimed chocaholic and therefore, it is often super hard to restrict my chocolate intake. Realizing, however, that the cocoa industry is one of the biggest stages for potential and realized child labour, I have decided to be conscious about the chocolates I buy and make sure I do not eat someone's child’s blood, sweat, and tears. As a result, I have long sworn off Hershey’s kisses! It seems that the company’s management is finally coming to its senses and realizing that customers demand fair practices, no child labour, and fair pay. Let’s see how far that commitment goes. For additional details, click here. 

That would be all for today (a gloomy and rainy Sunday in DC), but be sure I will be keeping you posted on any new developments from and around the anti trafficking world! 

-      Krasi

Week of September 23rd

So recently I have been thinking about starting a weekly tradition of posting a blog piece on important happenings and developments in the field of the anti-human trafficking movement. Ideally, I would love to do that on Mondays, but since my schedule right now is a little hectic (welcome to DC I guess!), that might not always happen. So here is the list for this week. 

09/23/2012: This past Monday, at the Human Trafficking Summit at the Florida State University Center for Academic & Professional Development, Tina Frundt, a survivor and founder of Courtney’s House, gave a speech on the particularities of domestic minor sex trafficking by recounting her own experiences. To see the speech, please click here. 

9/25/2012: Yesterday, President Obama offered an address at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting and the main theme of the speech was human trafficking. The event has now been hailed as a major and significant achievement by many organizations, but the outcome of the new approach remain to be seen, most importantly by the survivors. Some of the highlights of the speech include: 

·         An emphasis on the shift from the model of regarding trafficking survivors as criminals.

·         An emphasis on the U.S. Government’s zero tolerance policy on human trafficking when it comes to government contracts and sub-contracts, especially the federal overseas ones. 

·          An emphasis on the importance of providing the right tools, training, and guidance to those most likely to come across a trafficking situation/case (e.g. law enforcement, federal prosecutors, immigration judges, workforce agencies, and educators). The goal of the training is to endow these professionals with the skills and knowledge to detect, analyze, and properly handle trafficking cases.

·         An emphasis on the need to increase available services to survivors of human trafficking and making access to such services much easier. For example, one of the promises of this initiative is to streamline the current T-visa process. 

9/29/2012: Coming up this Saturday in Washington, DC is the Stop Modern Slavery Walk. I will be there supporting Courtney’s House and the many other organizations participating. Expect an account of that major event next week.

 - Krasi