What are you doing to raise awareness of Human Trafficking Awareness Month in January? We sometimes underestimate the millions of people who become victims of modern day slavery each year. It's easier to pretend that it doesn't happen here than it is to look beneath the surface and see what may going on around us.
Human trafficking can take the form of domestic servitude, labor or sex trafficking. It can involve forcible kidnapping or predatory luring. The Polaris Project gives us good information on the types of victims and what to possibly look for. The organization also gives us a myths and facts sheet.
You may be surprised by what you read. My eyes were opened while interviewing a guest on the Voices of Hope internet radio show. I was startled to find that a few cases we'd worked with possibly fit the criteria.
How I wish I would have known before working with these victims. The Human Trafficking Hotline number of 1.888.3737.888 was posted on our wall. I can only pray that it was enough.
Another shock was finding out that schoolchildren in the U.S. are being targeted. It's one more reason to be vigilant about child safety!
Speaking of the telephone number above... Did it look odd to you at first glance? Don't worry if it did. The right number of digits are there. The number was designed to be easy to remember. People who need it probably don't have the luxury of writing it down for later reference. It had to be repetitive enough to remember at first glance. Kudos to the person or team that came up with it!
It's little things like posting the number and educating ourselves that can make a difference. There is no reason why anyone can't look up a few links on the internet. Why not take a few minutes now to look over them?
Showing posts with label human trafficking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label human trafficking. Show all posts
5/22/2010
East TN man tries to trade baby for drugs
This has to be one of the more disturbing stories that I have read lately. The news article below is about a man who allegedly tried to exchange his baby for drugs. Supposedly, the baby was going to go to a concerned family member. We have no way of knowing if that is true or not. What we do know is that there is a right way and a wrong way to give a child up. Trading a person for drugs or anything else is wrong.
People give up children for adoption every day. These parents want to place their babies in the most loving and supporting environments possible. I understand that and support adoption 100%.
People give up children for adoption every day. These parents want to place their babies in the most loving and supporting environments possible. I understand that and support adoption 100%.
What I do not support is what the man in this article did. He tried to give his baby to his sister-in-law in exchange for drugs. He apparently thinks that the life of a baby is worth only a few pills. I am shocked and saddened that this happened. Some people may think that it's ok since the baby was going to family. It's not. Trading a human life for anything is never ok.
3/09/2010
Voices of Hope with Anthony Ray - Let God's People Wake Up and Get Up
Do you say you love Jesus? Prove it. Be "boots on the ground" for God's hurting children.
If you caught the Voices of Hope show on Blog Talk Radio today you had the privilege of listening to Anthony Ray. He is going to Haiti to minister. On the show he outlined the need for Christians to rise up to be "boots on the ground" both at home and abroad. The idea of being "boots on the ground" called deeply to me.
We cannot all go to foreign countries but we can all help in some way. Maybe we can't give $100 to help get someone to Haiti but maybe we can give $2. Perhaps we can't donate $2 but maybe we can move tables, arrange yard sale items or help with a fundraiser.
I remember a time when a homeless couple was "boots on the ground" for Hope for Healing.Org. They had no money but they helped solicit auction items to help our fundraiser. This was done while they were job searching. Both of them got jobs and Hope for Healing.Org had the most successful fundraiser that we have ever had before -- or since!
This couple said that they had reason to help. They are beautiful people who just needed a little help to get back on their feet. The fundraiser was 2 years ago. This couple is still living independently and are no longer homeless.
Haitians cannot say that. The earthquake devastation has created a homeless population that will take years to overcome. My blog readers know that I have already talked about the restaveks. These are children of poverty who have been trafficked to wealthier families because their parents cannot feed them.
Now, nature's destructive forces have wreaked havoc which has driven a wedge deeper between the poor and affluent segments of society in Haiti. More children are at risk for trafficking because more people are at risk of starving. Parents who cannot feed or shelter their children will do anything they can to keep them safe, even at great risk. It's a vicious cycle.
That's why the work that Anthony Ray is doing by being "boots on the ground" is so important. That's why the mobilizations of organizations such as UMCOR and the work by the Courageous Church in Atlanta with Pastor Shawn King is vital.
A whole world of people are dying because of poverty, malnutrition, poor living conditions and more. They are dying physically but they will only die spiritually if we let them. As God's people let us be the people that we claim to be. Let us, as God's people, wake up, get up and start living the faith we claim to have.
Let all of God's people say "Amen"!
Follow Gayle on Twitter
Learn more about Anthony Ray on Twitter, his website and on Blogger.
If you caught the Voices of Hope show on Blog Talk Radio today you had the privilege of listening to Anthony Ray. He is going to Haiti to minister. On the show he outlined the need for Christians to rise up to be "boots on the ground" both at home and abroad. The idea of being "boots on the ground" called deeply to me.
We cannot all go to foreign countries but we can all help in some way. Maybe we can't give $100 to help get someone to Haiti but maybe we can give $2. Perhaps we can't donate $2 but maybe we can move tables, arrange yard sale items or help with a fundraiser.
I remember a time when a homeless couple was "boots on the ground" for Hope for Healing.Org. They had no money but they helped solicit auction items to help our fundraiser. This was done while they were job searching. Both of them got jobs and Hope for Healing.Org had the most successful fundraiser that we have ever had before -- or since!
This couple said that they had reason to help. They are beautiful people who just needed a little help to get back on their feet. The fundraiser was 2 years ago. This couple is still living independently and are no longer homeless.
Haitians cannot say that. The earthquake devastation has created a homeless population that will take years to overcome. My blog readers know that I have already talked about the restaveks. These are children of poverty who have been trafficked to wealthier families because their parents cannot feed them.
Now, nature's destructive forces have wreaked havoc which has driven a wedge deeper between the poor and affluent segments of society in Haiti. More children are at risk for trafficking because more people are at risk of starving. Parents who cannot feed or shelter their children will do anything they can to keep them safe, even at great risk. It's a vicious cycle.
That's why the work that Anthony Ray is doing by being "boots on the ground" is so important. That's why the mobilizations of organizations such as UMCOR and the work by the Courageous Church in Atlanta with Pastor Shawn King is vital.
A whole world of people are dying because of poverty, malnutrition, poor living conditions and more. They are dying physically but they will only die spiritually if we let them. As God's people let us be the people that we claim to be. Let us, as God's people, wake up, get up and start living the faith we claim to have.
Let all of God's people say "Amen"!
Follow Gayle on Twitter
Learn more about Anthony Ray on Twitter, his website and on Blogger.
2/02/2010
Human Trafficking National Hotline
Human trafficking expert Lisa Michels is on Voices of Hope internet radio show until 1:00 pm today.
National Human Trafficking Resource Center - for questions and general information on human trafficking.
1.888.373.7888
National Center of Missing and Exploiting Children
1.800.THE.LOST
Dept. Of Justice Hotline on Human Trafficking.
888.428.7581
National Human Trafficking Resource Center - for questions and general information on human trafficking.
1.888.373.7888
National Center of Missing and Exploiting Children
1.800.THE.LOST
Dept. Of Justice Hotline on Human Trafficking.
888.428.7581
1/22/2010
Haiti Relief and Human Trafficking
Nagging me from the back of my mind is a statistic that I saw recently. It estimated that Haiti has around 250,000 people (mostly children) in bondage. Until today, I could not find the statistic. It came from the HumanTrafficking blog at Change.org. Amanda Kloher writes that the quarter million child slaves in Haiti are known as restaveks.
The trafficking of humans has been a longstanding problem in Haiti. In 2007, the Pan American Development Foundation received $6.4 million dollars to provide services to women and children and create a cross-border awareness campaign.
The stories that rescued restaveks share are horrendous. They are in last place in the Haiti society. These victims of human trafficking are the unseen, forgotten children of the desperately poor in Haiti. With the aid that is beginning to flow into the country you have to wonder when, or if, it will reach these children.
The trafficking of humans has been a longstanding problem in Haiti. In 2007, the Pan American Development Foundation received $6.4 million dollars to provide services to women and children and create a cross-border awareness campaign.
The stories that rescued restaveks share are horrendous. They are in last place in the Haiti society. These victims of human trafficking are the unseen, forgotten children of the desperately poor in Haiti. With the aid that is beginning to flow into the country you have to wonder when, or if, it will reach these children.
1/11/2010
Human Trafficking Awareness Day - Jan 11.
The 13th Amendment to the US Constitution ended slavery in 1865. At least, that was the intent. Over a century later we are fighting the latest form of slavery, human trafficking. Awareness Day is January 11, 2009. Bloggers will post about it. Local organizations will talk about it. Honest cops and governments will fight it. Peole will die from it. For some human trafficking victims death will come as a friend; not as an enemy. This Time News article paints a brutal and savage picture.
In this war, it is churches who lead the fight while governments negotiate. Human Trafficking is complex. Victims are often misled into thinking that they are being offered legitimate jobs. Then they are beaten, raped, humiliated, sleep deprived and given drugs. The profit for the captors can be enormous.
Fullstop estimates the current number of trafficked persons to be 27 million. Many of these are forced into the sex trade.
What can you do to help in the fight? The Polaris Project has some suggestions.
Other resources in the fight against human trafficking:
Evangelical Covenant Church
National Council of Churches
United Methodist Church
National Council of Catholic Women
In this war, it is churches who lead the fight while governments negotiate. Human Trafficking is complex. Victims are often misled into thinking that they are being offered legitimate jobs. Then they are beaten, raped, humiliated, sleep deprived and given drugs. The profit for the captors can be enormous.
Fullstop estimates the current number of trafficked persons to be 27 million. Many of these are forced into the sex trade.
What can you do to help in the fight? The Polaris Project has some suggestions.
Other resources in the fight against human trafficking:
Evangelical Covenant Church
National Council of Churches
United Methodist Church
National Council of Catholic Women
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