With all kinds of movements going on throughout the world, people are claiming their rights and standing up for themselves in beautiful ways. Before any great movement or monumental change can happen, we first have to believe we are worth standing up for - and that everyone else is too.
Bethany Tran, Founder and CEO of The Root Collective (TRC), wasn’t planning on using shoes to make a difference in poverty in the slums of La Limonada in Guatemala City. She just saw a problem: a seemingly unbreakable cycle of poverty and gang culture in the slums, with no one doing anything to solve it. In La Limonada, boys are often primed for gangs when they are young--sometimes younger than 10 years old--and it is almost impossible to leave a gang once you have joined.
Read MoreAmanda Kinney grew up in the small town of Shoreview, Minnesota. Her active participation in her community, as well as her devotion to a wide array of interests, have shaped her influential, compassionate character. From her skilled spaghetti squash cooking to her traveling band performances, Amanda is a woman of many passions and talents. She loves to travel and has visited Haiti, Ireland, Portugal, Sierra Leone, France, and Spain. One of her truest passions, however, was not discovered until she moved to California two and a half years ago.
When we think about human trafficking, we often think of crimes like sex trafficking and labor trafficking but if you're like me, you haven't thought much about organ trafficking. Organ Trafficking is one of the lesser known forms of trafficking mostly because there is a lack of reliable information about it. In the U.S. there has been only one man convicted of this crime back in 2012. "Despite the general interest in the issue, the crime remains a hidden, underground activity and seems to be greatly underreported," says the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. This type is one of the most difficult to investigate and prosecute because vulnerable victims are oftentimes complicit in the transplantation.
Read MoreRunning for a cause is not something the Shuie’s were planning on doing, it just kind of happened. I was able to connect with Glenna Shuie, wife to Peter Shuie and mother to Taylor (13) and Christian (11). Glenna is planning on running a half marathon and was looking to run in a 5K to help reach her goal and also to find motivation to train. After searching online, she found out about Dressember and the 5K we are hosting this month! In Glenna’s own words, “After doing a little research, I found that the Dressember story and mission very much appealed to me. Sadly, I am well aware of human trafficking, especially here in California.”
Read MoreIn this post, we will explore ways that varying categories of college majors can be used to fight human trafficking. This isn’t a comprehensive list, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t see your major below. All it takes is a little brainstorming to turn your interests into a catalyst for change.
Read MoreSince 2006, Sudara has employed over 2,000 women through their sewing center partnerships throughout India and several nearby countries, empowering former sex workers and high-risk women with a means to support themselves and their families. The name Sudara is inspired by a Sanskrit word that means “beautiful” and describes what the lives of the women and their families are able to become.
A DIY queen, hopeless romantic, and strong wife and mom of four children named Tyler, Titus, Tayli, and Treven (that’s right, they all start with “T!”), Gaochen Xiong is a force to be reckoned with. As one of our passionate Editorial Interns, Gaochen hails from Minnesota and has lived in this beautiful state her entire life. From spending childhood days in Brooklyn Park to currently living in a peaceful Dayton neighborhood, Gaochen now writes passionately to fight for justice across the globe.
This Spring, we're on a mission to raise funds for Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST), the largest provider of comprehensive services for trafficking survivors in the United States. Read on to find out more about their incredible, groundbreaking work.
Read MoreIn the five years since Dressember became a campaign aimed at dismantling modern-day slavery, I’ve learned so much—we’ve learned so much as a society. Human trafficking impacts every corner of the globe. It happens in every city, around major sporting events, at truck stops, massage parlors, on busy streets and busy websites. In spite of what the 'Taken' franchise would have us believe, we know now that a very small percentage of trafficking recruitment happens through kidnapping. Here in the US, there is one startling recruitment method that has taken us far too long to realize: foster care.
Read MorePerhaps you remember when mobile applications on smartphone devices were new enough that people - especially in advertisements, but also my dad - would say “Oh, that thing you just mentioned or that problem you have - there’s an app for that!”
At any rate, there are indeed apps that can help us advocate for the end of human trafficking. In fact, there are so many that I have done the hard work for you. Here are 8 apps that promise to make advocating easier. Think of them as your MySpace Top 8, if you want.
Read MoreFive years ago, Jen Bedrossian was just learning about the horrors of human trafficking and didn’t know what she could do to help stop it. “My eyes were opened, and I felt compelled to do something,” she says.
At the same time, Jen was considering starting her own business. She had studied ancient Roman archaeology and was now working at a museum. From an early age, Jen collected dozens of rocks, examining each one for the natural beauty it contained. For months, she tried to think of a way to join the fight to end human trafficking while pursuing a new, creative business venture.
Read MoreRachel Rohm is a girl with a big heart from the tiniest United State, Delaware, and one of our editorial interns this spring! She wears a ring from her university honors program, Torrey Honors Institute, that reads “bonum verum pulchrum,” which is Latin for “goodness, truth, beauty,” and through getting to know her, you will find those words describe her well.
A room full of girls laughing and cracking jokes, the silence of a sincere passing on of truth and wisdom, the warmth of a community gathered around the dinner table; this is hope in Portland, Oregon.
Portland is home to bridges, books, and brews. And since 2011, it has also been home to the Door to Grace Day Home, a space to provide young survivors of commercial exploitation with healing services and a place to call home. I could try and encapsulate all that Door to Grace is in my own description, but I think it is put best in the words of Roxanne Weiner. Roxanne is the Director of Programs and Case Management at Door to Grace, whom I had the privilege of interviewing for this piece.
Read MoreParticipating in Dressember has opened my eyes to the reality of a type of abuse that makes my heart feel all the feels. Each survivor story I read offers the hope of rescue and healing but inevitably evokes anger towards the injustice of modern-day slavery. As I have begun to follow anti-trafficking initiatives on my social media accounts and have kept up with news stories highlighting human trafficking, I can easily feel overcome with sadness at the brutal violence and exploitation faced by so many vulnerable groups. With all of these emotions swirling around inside of me, it has been impossible to return to "normal, everyday life" now that Dressember is over. I've decided to cope with my feelings by becoming a source of reliable information about human trafficking to my community. I will be the human-rights advocate in my circles, finding and announcing year-round opportunities for everyone to get involved in combating exploitation.
Read MoreIn a desperate attempt to make myself believe that it is spring (despite the snow that is currently falling over Chicago), I have entered into a bit of a spring-cleaning frenzy and have spent the past few days slowly sorting through my closet, finding articles of clothing that I never wear to get rid of. This process of digging through small mountains of t-shirts and sweaters has repeatedly led me to wonder: Where do clothes came from? Who made them? And in what conditions were they made?
Read MoreThe world of sports is fast-paced and competitive, with athletes trying to fine tune their skills and advance their game every day. It is a world filled with excitement, teamwork, cheering, and moments of collectively held breath. However, it is also a world of gender inequality and imbalanced opportunity. That’s where Goal Five comes into the equation.
Read MoreThose who join the fight to end modern slavery often do so when the layers of duplicity that have shielded their vision disappear to reveal the world for what it really is -- a place where the basic right to human dignity is continually repressed for nearly 40 million enslaved people. Such a revelation accompanies the clash of two worlds that cannot coexist; a free one and a hopelessly enslaved one. Jillian Saldana witnessed the grim realities of the enslaved, grossly unequal world we live in at a very young age.
Read MoreLast week, we explored the link between human trafficking and the foster care system. This blog post is the second part of our series in understanding why this link exists and the innovative programs that are providing hope to the foster care system.
Foster care is harder than it needs to be and Skookum Kids in Bellingham, Washington wants to fix that. There are over 400,000 children now in foster care in the United States served by a small group of heroic families. However, social workers pressed for time to place children and over-burdened families results in children being shifted around multiple times. The average foster child is moved three times, sometimes leaving them with instability and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Read MoreIf you’ve been paying attention to pop culture lately, you’ve probably heard something about women wearing black to the Golden Globe Awards or caught Natalie Portman’s comment about the all-male nominees for Best Director. And if you didn’t see Oprah Winfrey’s speech live, chances are you heard about it from friends, but what exactly is the TIME’S UP movement is and what changes they are trying to make?
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