Short video on trafficking of children.
Children around the world are being abused, exploited, and trafficked into the sex trade and slave labor. Trafficking is a $32 billion a year industry--and the United States is the largest consumer of human trafficking in the world.
Child sex tourism.
Domestic servants trafficked into the US.
Tax dollars being spent to fund sex with prostitutes for US soldiers stationed abroad.
Bride buying.
Teenagers coerced into prostitution at the age of 12.
Brothels filled with trafficked girls established next to military bases.
Buying and selling children like objects.
It is all happening. And it is happening here. But much of the world--and the United States--stands idly by. We have a shared responsibility to respond to these atrocities. As moral human beings blessed with hearts and minds, we have a responsibility to be informed...to care...to act. Of course, action can be taken in a variety of forms. Letters need to be written to our representatives. Petitions need to be signed. Money needs to be raised. Awareness needs to be promoted. And responsibility needs to be taken.
So what can you do? You can take responsibility for knowing where your products come from and doing what you can to ensure that there is no slavery in your products. You can write letters and sign petitions to send to corporations that utilize slave labor. You can choose to buy fair trade products. You can share this site and the information you have learned with two or three other people. You can donate a few dollars to an anti-trafficking organization or host a fundraiser. You can do more research and keep yourself informed. You can join the fight.
What other ideas do YOU have? We would love to hear them. And what would you like to see SSGF doing? We want and need your input.
With love and freedom,
SSGF
Shocking video... It really makes me want to stand up and 'do' something about it, but it is almost impossible to know where to start. I mean, it is such an issue, yet people tend to brush it off because it is not happening to them, or they do not see it in their community...
ReplyDeleteI saw a program a couple of years ago on tv where they were talking about adoption companies going to villages in Africa and telling the parents that their baby could be sent to have a good education, good health, etc etc, so parents were sending their young children away not knowing that they actually signed away their rights and would never see them again.
Then, 5 years later, the parents were fighting for their children, while their children were now grown up in a modern house, modern city, with a family they thought was their own.
I don't know whatever happened, but it wouldn't have been in the best interest of the child to return them to a place and family that they never knew.
Still, adoption can very well be human trafficking as well!
You're right, adoption can very easily be used as a rouse to disguise trafficking of children. It happens everywhere. And it is an incredibly lucrative business. What's worse is that many of those children end up in the sex trade or as domestic servants (read: slaves).
ReplyDeleteAs for child slave labor--what you can do is start small. Next time you go to buy a new outfit, make an effort to learn about where your products are coming from. Do some research on fair trade products. Learn about the major products that most commonly use slave labor or fuel the exploitation of children (examples: chocolate, diamonds, coltan, Nike shoes, etc).
Keep looking for more.
Thanks for the input!
<3 <3