Senator Wyden Hosts Briefing on Sex Trafficking

What:
On Monday, December 14, 2009 Senator Wyden held a briefing with leading experts on the issue of human sex trafficking to inform Congressional staff and media on the issue as he works to develop legislation. The legislation focuses on providing resources and training for law enforcement, providing shelters, counseling, legal services and educational assistance for victims, working with communities to raise awareness on how to deter sex trafficking, rehabilitating the johns who engage in prostitution and finally strengthening reporting requirements for missing children, especially those who runaway repeatedly and are at the greatest risk of being lured into prostitution.

Who:

• Ambassador Luis CdeBaca, Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons at the State Department, and Chair of the inter-agency human trafficking Senior Policy Operating Group
• Libby Spears, filmmaker Director of Playground documentary film on sex trafficking
• Rachel Lloyd, Executive Director, Girls Educational and Mentoring Services
• Bradley Myles, Deputy Director, Polaris Project
• Sgt. Byron Fassett, Dallas Police Department, High Risk Victims and Trafficking squad
• Dave Johnson, FBI Section Chief, Violent Crimes Section, Innocence Lost project

Length: 1 hour 16 minutes

Ask Choice Hotels to Take Steps to Prevent Child Prostitution

The folks at Change.org have started a petition requesting that Choice Hotels take concrete steps to prevent child trafficking, and they would like your help. Choice Hotels owns such major hotel chains as Comfort Inn, Quality Inn, Sleep Inn, and Comfort Suites, including the Comfort Suites at which Shaniya Davis was seen with an adult male shortly before she was found dead this year.

Change.org is asking Choice Hotels to sign the EPCAT code of conduct for tourism service suppliers, which would require the company to implement the following six criteria:

1. Establish an ethical policy regarding commercial sexual exploitation of children;
2. Train personnel in the country of origin and travel destinations;
3. Include a clause in supplier contracts that states a common repudiation of commercial sexual exploitation of children;
4. Provide information to travelers through catalogs, brochures, in-flight films, ticket-slips, home pages, etc.;
5. Provide information to local "key persons" at the destinations;
6. Report annually.

In response to the 2500 signatures already received, Choice Hotels has agreed to enter into discussion with EPCAT about how they can take steps to prevent child prostitution on their properties--an important first step. However, further signatures are needed to encourage the company to continue taking positive steps towards preventing child trafficking. To view and sign the petition, please click here.

Happy Holidays from HTP

If you are currently busy with last minute shopping or struggling to find something for that hard-to-shop-for person on your list, consider one of the following ways to support anti-trafficking work with your purchases.

The Nomi Network has launched the "Buy Her Bag, Not Her Body" campaign. You can order a tote and help raise money for survivors of sex trafficking, while raising awareness about sexual slavery.

Made By Survivors offers a variety of products, from jewelry to holiday items to clothing. A special line of products also helps support the NGO GEMS, which works with minor survivors of sex trafficking in New York. Made By Survivors sells products made by survivors of trafficking and people at high risk for trafficking, in order to provide them with a stable, sustainable, living wage and fair working conditions. While Made By Survivors has stopped shipping for the year, you can order items to be shipped on January 4th or gift certificates.

You can also give the gift of awareness and education. Books about trafficking include Kevin Bales and Ron Soodalter's The Slave Next Door, Ben Skinner's A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern-Day Slavery, David Batstone's Not For Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade and How We Can Fight It, and Somaly Mam's autobiographical book The Road of Lost Innocence.

For the people who are really impossible to shop for, you can make a donation to an anti-trafficking organization in their name. The Somaly Mam Foundation, Free the Slaves, and Polaris Project are just a few of the many worthy organizations available.

Finally, as you are preparing holiday cookies and other goodies, consider purchasing chocolate, sugar, and other supplies from Equal Exchange or a local, organic source.

Thanks for reading and supporting the Human Trafficking Project in 2009. We look forward to an exciting year with you in 2010!

House and Senate Appropriate Money to Fight Slavery

Late last week, the House and Senate passed an omnibus appropriations bill that will, among other things, provide funding to fight human trafficking. The Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010 will provide money to both the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services for anti-slavery work, including services for survivors.

Despite federal anti-trafficking laws, such as the Trafficking Victims Reauthorization Act of 2008, funding for anti-trafficking work has always lagged behind, making this funding development particularly welcome. President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law.

The bill includes a 25% increase in funding to the Department of Justice to assist victims of trafficking. This funding pool has been used to establish task forces in the past. Moreover, this will be the "first time since the Trafficking Victims Protection Act was passed in 2000, the spending bill provides that this funding is available for both foreign national and U.S. citizen survivors in need of assistance," according to Polaris Project. The bill will also provide funding for prosecuting traffickers through the Department of Justice’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.

In addition to increasing the DOJ's anti-trafficking funding, the bill also provides funding for the Department of Health and Human Services work on behalf of foreign national victims and survivors. Additionally, according to Polaris Project, the bill "is accompanied by report language that urges the Administration to request funds for assistance to all survivors, including U.S. citizens, in next year’s budget request."

You can contact the legislators who played an important role in this effort to provide additional, extremely needed funding for victims and survivors of slavery:

Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Chair, and Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), Ranking Member, Senate Commerce-Justice-Science Subcommittee

Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV), Chair, and Rep. Frank Wolf (R-WV), Ranking Member, House Commerce-Justice-Science Subcommittee

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-chairs, House Human Trafficking Caucus.

As we approach the new year, many state legislatures will be going into session, making this a prime opportunity to also contact your state-level representatives and urge them to support state-level anti-trafficking legislation.

Listen to Me - Stories from marginalised children around the world

EveryChild and Save the Children UK, have collaborated with iceandfire to stage a new play based on real testimonies of vulnerable children around the world.

20 years on from the creation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), Listen to Me tells the stories of children living on the streets, fleeing conflict, trapped in bonded labour and growing up in abusive households and will explore whether children have seen an improvement in their lives.

The play was performed for an invited audience of children's rights experts, charities, opinion formers and decision makers at the prestigious Unicorn Theatre, the UKs flagship theatre for young people in London, on 16 November.

Seattle Against Slavery

Despite its relatively recent origin, Seattle Against Slavery (SAS) has already begin to harness significant grassroots support to comprehensively fight slavery in the Seattle area and beyond. Recognizing that ending slavery will require a range of efforts that engage multiple sectors, SAS has built a collaborative community of 33 local and national partner organizations. One of SAS's founders, Alex Sum, describes the coalitions as a "no-drama, non-politicized community of abolitionists." The impetus for SAS was a conference hosted by the Freedom Initiative Team in May, 2009, which partnered with International Justice Mission.

According to SAS's website, "Whether the work is local, national or international, rescuing victims or providing services to survivors, prosecuting perpetrators or creating new anti-slavery and anti-trafficking laws, we seek to connect all Seattle area individuals and organizations in a grassroots community with a vision to expand our network across the nation" [emphasis added]. Anti-trafficking work demands such a holistic approach to address the facets of the problem, from the myriad of needs of victims and survivors to the challenges of policy and prevention. Moreover, given the horrific nature of anti-slavery work at times, such a community is vital to the well-being of those on the frontlines.

Nevertheless, while broad efforts with diverse areas of expertise are necessary for addressing slavery in a community, pulling such a team together is easier said than done. Thus, the diversity of SAS partner organizations is particularly impressive. Partners range from victim care and rescue organizations in the Seattle area - such as the Asian and Pacific Islander Women & Family Safety Center, the Seattle Police Department, and the Washington Advisory Committee on Trafficking - to awareness and/or fundraising organizations - such as Climb for Captives and Film, Faith & Justice. SAS also works with other coalitions, like the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE).

If you are interested in getting involved, SAS and its partner organizations offer a variety of volunteer opportunities, from project management to public speaking to events coordination. You can email SAS at seattleagainstslavery@live.com for more information or visit them on Facebook.

Like many anti-trafficking groups, SAS's vision is "Ending slavery in our lifetime;" the organization focuses on starting locally, "one city at a time starting with Seattle." SAS's efforts and vision reflect a belief that local efforts, when leveraged with grassroots support and multi-sector collaboration, can create global change.

Emmanuel Jal: The music of a war child

For five years, young Emmanuel Jal fought as a child soldier in the Sudan. Rescued by an aid worker, he's become an international hip-hop star and an activist for kids in war zones. In words and lyrics, he tells the story of his amazing life.



Learn more about Emmanuel Jal