Putting their money (and sweat) where their mouths are…Free The Slaves

Kevin Bales and the team at Free The Slaves have a great set of resources at http://www.freetheslaves.net. Kevin was kind enough to post a comment on the post below (How do you free 27 million slaves?) and let me know about his books, web site, and video resources.  Please visit their site, educate yourself further, and consider volunteering or making a donation to help the fight.

If anyone not affiliated with Free the Slaves has read Disposable People or any of the other books or resources at Free the Slaves, please post a comment with your thoughts on their material. 

Also, what other excellent sites and books have you found regarding human trafficking or modern slavery, child soldiers, forced prostitution, bonded slave labor? I welcome your comments.

How do you free 27 million slaves? One at a time…

Bringing light to women and children in Bangkok

My friend Don referred me to this article on Breakpoint, which mentions NightLight Bangkok, also highlighted earlier on this blog.  It turns out that NightLight Bangkok seems to have started as a beauty shop for prostitutes, where caring former prostitutes can hear the heartbreaking stories of girls currently in the trade, and help them to find ways out. 

If we’re going to free 27 million slaves, each one of them is going to have to be rescued, helped, loved, protected, and empowered for a new life.  Articles like the one in Breakpoint spread the news, and groups like NightLight Bangkok do the work.

If you know of articles or books related to human trafficking and modern slavery, please leave comments here and I’ll try to review them and post links.  Thanks Don!

The Olympics, Human Trafficking, Prostitution, Aboriginal Women

While most of the world is getting ready to host, compete, attend, watch, protest, or exploit the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, a group of aboriginal women in Vancouver are preparing to fight forced prostitution and sex trafficking connected with the 2010 Winter Olympics in British Columbia, Canada.  The June 2008 issue of the Stop Trafficking Newsletter highlights issues of prostitution and sex trafficking of aboriginal and indigenous women in Canada and the US.

In addition to informing the reader that aboriginal women in Canada are significant numbers of the prostitutes there, the writer of the lead article asserts that legalized prostitution not only doesn’t protect women prostitutes, but it increases their subjugation, and legitimizes the pimps and johns who keep them there.  Do you agree?