December 2009

Last August I talked about ethical consumerism and how the products that we buy each and every day make a difference in people’s lives around the world. As the holidays approach, many of us are thinking about the gifts we will give to our loved ones. With this in mind, I wanted to spotlight two simple ideas on how you can use this time to make a difference in the world.

First, consider buying presents that are fair trade or made by former slaves. Fair trade products are made without slave labor and in humane and safe conditions. The workers earn an adequate wage so that they can live decently and support their families. In addition to fair trade products, you can buy products made by former slaves. After being freed, former slaves must learn how to support themselves and start a fresh life. By buying products made by them you are helping them get back on their feet. For fair trade items go to: http://www.globalexchangestore.org/ and for products made by former slaves check out: http://store.madebysurvivors.com/.

Second, consider giving a gift to someone outside of your circle of family and friends. Not only are there are many opportunities to give to the needy in our community (check out your local mall), you may not be aware that you can also give a gift to someone across the globe. There are several websites that allow you to give a useful and practical gift to a family in a developing nation. For as little as $20 you can help give a goat to a family, a desk and chair to a school, or a well to a village. There are lots of exciting options with World Vision at http://donate.worldvision.org/OA_HTML/xxwv2ibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?section=10389 or Oxfam Unwrapped at http://www.oxfamamericaunwrapped.com/home.php. These gifts will not only brighten up their lives, but it will help families and communities remain economically independent, putting them in a position to avoid debt bondage, one of the most prevalent causes of slavery in the world.

As the holidays approach, make your gifts count. Consider giving a gift as a family or asking for a donation made in your name. Once again, thank you so much for your concern and support. Never forget that the collective actions of our generation will shape the world for those that follow.

Kelsey Snapp

1865 Continued: The Fight against Modern Slavery

www.1865continued.org

October 2009

In the last newsletter we discussed ethical consumerism and how the purchases we make can have far-reaching effects all around the globe. Not only did we highlight the consumer opportunities that are available to us (http://www.1865continued.org/consumeropportunities.html), but we also encouraged you to sign a petition to the department of labor to release the Congress-mandated list of slave goods by country. I am proud to say that the department of labor released the list shortly after, and while it may not be extremely useful to the average consumer, this type of research and information is invaluable to organizations that are trying to clean up product supply chains. The report can be found at http://www.dol.gov/ilab/programs/ocft/PDF/2009TVPRA.pdf.

For this month’s newsletter, I would like to highlight a new website, http://humantrafficking.change.org/. In previous newsletters I have mentioned the importance and power that political activism can have in the fight against modern slavery. Change.org streamlines this process by gathering petitions by category and sending them directly to politicians or companies. Furthermore, they have paid staff members who write blogs and stay informed about the issues. One of their more popular sites is their human trafficking branch. Signing a petition on change.org only takes a minute and doesn’t require an account.

To get you started, there is currently a petition to encourage an increase in funding for human trafficking victims in the US. Funding for trafficking survivors is very important, because if they are not reintegrated into society they will often become victims again. It is crucial that we take care of them and help them start their new life. While the Senate subcommittee has already authorized 15 million dollars, the House committee hasn’t decided yet. By signing this petition you can let them know how important you think funding for survivor recovery is. The petition is at: http://www.change.org/actions/view/action_tell_the_house_to_fund_crucial_services_for_human_trafficking_survivors.

I encourage you to explore the rest of the site and learn more about human trafficking as well as some of the other important issues on change.org. Once again, thank you so much for your concern and support. Never forget that the collective actions of our generation will shape the world for those that follow.

Kelsey Snapp

1865 Continued: The Fight against Modern Slavery

www.1865continued.org

This month’s newsletter will examine the topic of ethical consumerism. Unfortunately, many of the products that we buy and use every day are produced directly or indirectly by slaves. These products can be almost anything. Shoe factories in Asia have been discovered using slaves to produce their shoes. Chocolate, as mentioned in previous newsletters, is often made from slave-grown cocoa plants. Even the vehicles that we drive often use steel produced from coal that was made by slaves. Almost any product can be tainted by slavery if companies are not careful to keep their product chains clean. Because of this, David Batstone and his non-profit Not For Sale of launched a website called http://free2work.org specifically designed to give consumers information about companies and their products. Batstone is also working tirelessly to get more companies to clean up their supply chains and become certified by his organization. In addition to free2work.org, there are several other websites that can help you make informed decisions about the companies with which you do business. They can be found at our website: http://www.1865continued.org/consumeropportunities.html.

There is another source of information that could help citizens make informed decisions about the supply chain of products while simultaneously putting pressure on companies and businesses that are knowingly intertwined with slavery. In 2005 Congress told the Department of Labor to produce a list of products that are made using forced labor, human trafficking, and child labor. Four years later this list has still not been published, even though some sources claim that the list is already produced but is being withheld for political reasons. The Polaris Project, one of the anti-slavery organizations active in the US and abroad, has been spearheading a campaign to encourage the new Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis to release the list as soon as possible. It only takes a minute to sign their petition at http://www.change.org/polarisproject/actions/view/tell_the_department_of_labor_to_release_its_list_of_goods_tainted_by_slave_labor.

I encourage you to think about how the items that you purchase may affect people halfway around the world. Your pocketbook may be just as powerful as your voice. Once again, thank you so much for your concern and support. Never forget that the collective actions of our generation will shape the world for those that follow.

Kelsey Snapp

1865 Continued: The Fight against Modern Slavery

www.1865continued.org

Our organization continues to spread the important news that slavery still exists. Over the past two months, 51 people from 11 states and 6 countries have come to our website to learn about modern slavery. Also, several of our readers have been forwarding on the newsletter to their friends. We encourage you to send this email along so that more people will become aware of the atrocities that are happening among us.

As promised, this newsletter will focus on the US government’s policy over the past decade. Before 2000, the US did not have any laws specifically outlawing human trafficking and slavery, and there were not any federal task forces specifically targeting slavery in the United States or abroad. Cases of slavery were occasionally discovered and were prosecuted under a hodgepodge of related laws such as kidnapping and assault. This changed when in 2000 Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, largely through the efforts of now-deceased Senator Paul Wellstone. This act had three main focuses: prevention of future victims, protection of past victims, and prosecution of the traffickers.

The act initiated three main programs. First, it established several federal programs that specifically target human trafficking. Slavery now became a focus of many federal police agencies instead of simply something that they might stumble upon. It also provided training to several of the existing police organizations, including on the state and local level. This training has proved instrumental in capturing and fighting against human trafficking rings.

Secondly, the act established the T-visa, which allows victims to stay in the United States in order to help law enforcement prosecute the criminals. The T-visa is an effective way to protect victims from further abuse in their home countries and helps bring traffickers to justice. In conjunction with the T-visa, victims are offered a variety of services to help them get back on their feet, including counseling and job training. Victims, of course, have the option of returning home if they want.

Finally, the act started the annual Trafficking in Persons Report that is published by the US State Department every year. This report is a way to put political pressure on foreign countries that are not making an effort to combat trafficking within their borders. The rankings are classified into 4 categories. Tier 1 countries are doing everything in their ability to comply with international standards in prevention, protection, and prosecution. Tier 2 countries have some problems with domestic programs but are making significant efforts to rectify the problems. Tier 2 watchlist countries are those that are making a limited effort but are in danger of being placed in Tier 3. Finally, Tier 3 countries are not making a significant effort to combat slavery in their borders. While this list has often been criticized for being politically influenced, it has nevertheless been a useful way to put political pressure on countries to become serious about modern slavery. In fact, many countries have asked for help in developing national policies that effectively combat slavery within their borders.

To learn more about our domestic policy and its influence internationally, feel free to email me at Kelsey@1865continued.org. To read the latest Trafficking in Persons report go to http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2009/. Thank you so much for your concern and support. Never forget that the collective actions of our generation will shape the world for those that follow.

Kelsey Snapp

1865 Continued: The Fight against Modern Slavery

www.1865continued.org

]]> http://www.1865continued.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=70 http://www.1865continued.org/blog/?p=63 http://www.1865continued.org/blog/?p=63#comments Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:14:36 +0000 Kelsey http://www.1865continued.org/blog/?p=63 May/June

Our organization continues to spread the important news that slavery still exists. Over the past two months, 124 people from 19 states and 6 countries have come to our website to learn about modern slavery. Also, 1865 Continued hosted its very first anti-slavery seminar last month. Several people came to our hour long seminar and picked up literature and books about the subject for further study. I want to personally thank the Wesley Foundation in Norman for letting us use their space and for providing pizza for the event.

This newsletter is the first of a two-part series that will discuss state and national policy on human trafficking and modern slavery. This month will focus on the state of slavery in Texas and Oklahoma, since the majority of our members are from these two states. Next month will focus on national policy and the national government.

In Oklahoma the tide is turning against human trafficking. The state and the government have made many large gains recently and seem to be getting very serious about the problem in their state. One of the first major breakthroughs is the introduction of a task force against human trafficking in Oklahoma. While there have been some convictions in the past against human traffickers, these have been discovered during the course of unrelated investigations. However, this new task force is actively looking for cases of slavery in Oklahoma and taking steps to prevent further cases. One of their primary functions includes training for local police enforcement so that cases of slavery can be accurately assessed and treated appropriately.

In addition to this new task force, Oklahoma is preparing to open its first women’s shelter for victims of human trafficking and slavery. Headed up by Linda Caswell, the women’s shelter is scheduled to open in September. It will have a two-year program to rehabilitate and equip former slaves and their families so that they can become productive parts of our society. The shelter will have both a faith-based program and a non-faith-based program. They will be working closely with Catholic Charities’ legal and immigration program, which already is doing excellent work helping victims of human trafficking. To learn more about modern slavery in Oklahoma, visit Oklahomans Against Trafficking Humans at http://oathcoalition.org/.

Texas has a longer history fighting human trafficking. In the past few years the state legislature has passed several bills making it easier for law enforcement to fight against the spread of slavery. Some of these bills have targeted phony massage parlors that are really fronts for prostitution and human trafficking. The legislature has required that massage parlors have permits, thus making it easier for law enforcement to detect fake massage parlors. In 2007 the legislature passed a law encouraging victims of human trafficking to testify against traffickers by making it easier to obtain visas. In addition, just this past month the Texas Legislature passed a bill allowing victims of sex slavery to sue their former owners for damages. This is a crucial step towards dissuading future slave holders and compensating the former slaves for the crimes committed against them.

If you have any questions or comments about slavery in Texas or Oklahoma feel free to email me. Also, don’t forget to look for the next newsletter on domestic policy. Thank you so much for your concern and support. Never forget that the collective actions of our generation will shape the world for those that follow.

Kelsey Snapp
1865 Continued: The Fight against Modern Slavery
www.1865continued.org

]]> http://www.1865continued.org/blog/?feed=rss2&p=63 http://www.1865continued.org/blog/?p=60 http://www.1865continued.org/blog/?p=60#comments Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:31:13 +0000 Kelsey http://www.1865continued.org/blog/?p=60 I found out there will be a panel discussion this Wednesday. If you are in the OKC area, it might be worth a trip out to OU’s law school (in norman) to learn more about what is going on about human trafficking in Oklahoma and beyond. Here is some of the information:

Wednesday, April 22nd from 7:30 to 9PM. Andrew M. Coats Hall, 300 Timberdell Road

Speakers:

United States Attorney Mark Yancey to speak on investigations and criminal prosecutions of these cases in Oklahoma

Associate Director of Catholic Charities OKC Dick Klinge to speak on immigration attorneys’ legal representation of  trafficking victims in helping them obtain legal status in the United States

OU law professor Peter Krug to speak on the international criminal law perspective and the relevant treaties dealing with trafficking in humans

Oklahoma State Representative Rebecca Hamilton to speak on the provisions of the newly enacted Oklahoma anti-trafficking statute

April 2009

March has been another great month for 1865 Continued. In addition to maintaining our awareness campaign, we have started the 1865 Continued Library, from which people can check out and read books about Modern Day Slavery. We have already loaned out several books. If you are interested in checking out a book yourself, email Kelsey@1865continued.org. Available titles are on our website at http://www.1865continued.org/books.html.

One important issue in Modern Slavery is the use of children and slaves in the production of chocolate. Stop the Traffik, a British anti-slavery organization, recently summarized some of the atrocities of the chocolate industry:

“35% of the world’s cocoa comes from the Ivory Coast, a nation in West Africa. Research supported by the ILO (International Labor Organization) suggests that in the Ivory Coast alone there are at least 200,000 children working in slave conditions on cocoa farms. Thousands of these children have been trafficked into the Ivory Coast, originally from neighboring countries such as Mali, Togo and Burkina Faso.

“Children working on these farms are forced to do dangerous tasks. They spray pesticide onto cocoa plants without protective clothing. They carry sacks that are excessively heavy and use machetes without supervision or guidance.

“Children are severely undernourished and overworked. They are separated from their families by force. They are denied education.”

These conditions are surely appalling. In Kevin Bales’ book Disposable People he talks about a documentary he did on child slaves in the Ivory Coast. In the course of this project, he interviewed a former child slave named Amadou about his life on the farm and explained to him that chocolate is a sweet food that people eat. He has never tasted it and did not know the plant’s use. “When he was then asked if he had anything to say to the millions of people who eat chocolate every day, Amadou replied, ‘They enjoy something I suffered to make; I worked hard for them, but saw no benefit. They are eating my flesh’” (Bales, 180).

The chocolate industry is unique compared to other major industries in a variety of ways. Most importantly, the supply chain is relatively straightforward and simple. Cars use thousands of materials, many of them including countless raw materials from varying places, but chocolate is produced primarily from cocoa beans grown in a handful of African countries. This allows the companies to easily clean up their product chain and to boycott producers that use forced child and slave labor.

This past month, Cadbury, a major chocolate producer in England, pledged to make their number-one selling chocolate bar, Dairy Milk, Fair Trade by the end of this summer. The Fair Trade certification will ensure that no slave labor is being used in the product chain, allowing consumers to be confident in the purchase of this product. This is a giant step for the chocolate industry, and we must not only reward Cadbury for making this step but urge other large chocolate companies to follow in their footsteps as well.

Stop the Traffik has recently started applying consumer pressure to Mars, a large chocolate company that makes Snickers, Dove, Twix, Mars, and M&M’s. They are urging consumers to boycott Mars products until they pledge to make their chocolate slave-free as well. In addition, they are urging consumers to call, write, or email Mars stating their concern about the supply chain for their chocolate. For more information about Mars and how you can apply consumer pressure to help these helpless child slaves, go to Stop the Traffik’s website at www.marchonmars.org.

Thank you so much for your concern and support. Never forget that the collective actions of our generation will shape the world for those that follow.

Kelsey Snapp
1865 Continued: The Fight against Modern Slavery
www.1865continued.org

When talking to people, the most common response I get is surprise that slavery exists in the United States. Often, people think that slavery, if it exists at all, is only found in developing areas of the world where laws are not enforced and the governments are corrupt. When they find out that this happens all around them, possibly even in their neighborhoods or cities, it hits them in full force. Suddenly, the problem of slavery seems real and widespread, and they are usually shocked and interested in learning more about it.

Based on reports from the US Department of State and the US Department of Justice, Kevin Bales estimates that there are 14,000 to 17,500 incidents of human trafficking in the United States each year. While the vast majority are trafficked into the sex trade, slaves are also exploited for forced labor on farms and in restaurants as well as for use as domestic servants. The majority of these slaves are women, although men and children are often slaves as well.

Unfortunately, while slavery occurs at an alarming rate in the United States, very few cases are brought to justice. In the January 2009 the US Department of Justice released a report indicating that only 1,229 cases of human trafficking were reported in 2007-2008. More needs to be done to stop human trafficking and slavery within our borders, whether it is increasing awareness campaigns, focusing our law enforcement to counteract this growing problem, or strengthening legislation against slavery and slaveholders. We need to step up and make these changes happen.

While it may seem like we do not have much ability to change the world, we can make a huge difference simply by exerting political influence in our country. Writing emails to our congressmen is one of the quickest and most effective steps we can take. While these letters may not always be read by the congressmen themselves, they are at least read by aides who update the congressmen on the important issues of their constituents. This affects how they vote in Congress and where they focus their attention. Therefore, it is incredibly important that they know we are concerned about human trafficking and modern-day slavery. For more information on how to write your congressman, go to our website at http://www.1865continued.org/politicalactivity.html.

Thank you so much for your concern and support. Never forget that the collective actions of our generation will shape the world for those that follow.

Kelsey Snapp
1865 Continued: The Fight against Modern Slavery
www.1865continued.org