Stop Human Trafficking !

- to promote awareness re. human trafficking;
- to exchange best practices in advocacy for and empowerment of survivors of human trafficking;
- to recommend actions that counter human trafficking.

"Human trafficking is defined as the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services through the use of force, fraud, or coercion, for the purpose of subjecting that person to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery." Trafficking Victims' Protection Act (TVPA) 2000.

Click the hands image to see the Newsletter
Jean Schafer SDS, editor of Stop Trafficking:
jeansds@stopenslavement.org

Human trafficking is a crime that strips people of their rights, ruins their dreams, and robs them of their dignity. It is a crime that shames us all. Human trafficking is a global problem and no country is immune. Millions of victims are entrapped and exploited every year in this modern form of slavery. To rally world public opinion against human trafficking, UNODC has launched the Blue Heart Campaign. It is open to all those who want to participate and wear the Blue Heart as a symbol of their support for this campaign.

"Wear the Blue Heart on your website, your Facebook profile, your products, your publications - above all "Wear it on your heart !
Don't let us forget those without a voice.
Join with us in this fight !

Several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and human rights organizations have been formed to combat human trafficking, while other NGO's work against human trafficking as one of their major programs. Some of these include:

-->Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST) is a Los Angeles-based anti-human trafficking organization. Founded in 1998, CAST helps rehabilitate survivors of trafficking, raises awareness, and affects legislation and public policy surrounding human trafficking, through social, advocacy and legal services. CAST defines human trafficking as "a modern-day form of slavery," in which victims are subjected to force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of forced labor or sexual exploitation. Victims of trafficking can work in domestic service, factories, farms, restaurants, construction sites, hotel housekeeping, servile marriage, forced prostitution, child prostitution and child pornography.

-->Not For Sale Campaign, founded in 2007, equips and mobilizes Smart Activists to deploy innovative solutions to re-abolish slavery in their own backyards and across the globe. Headquartered in Montara, CA, the Not For Sale Campaign has more than 40 regional chapters across the United States and Canada. Through the innovation and implementation of 'open-source activism', the campaign identifies trafficking rings inside the United States and collaborates with local law enforcement and community groups to shut them down and provide support for the victims. Internationally, the campaign partners with poorly resourced abolitionist groups internationally to enhance their capacity.

-->Polaris Project, founded in 2002, is an international anti-human trafficking organization with offices in Washington DC, New Jersey, Colorado, and Japan. Polaris Project's comprehensive approach includes operating local anti-trafficking hotlines, conducting direct outreach and victim identification, providing social services and housing to victims, advocating for stronger state and national anti-trafficking legislation, and engaging community members in grassroots efforts. Polaris Project also operates the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (1-888-373-7888) 24-hour hotline.

--> National Human Trafficking Resource Center The (NHTRC) is a program funded by the Department of Health and Human Services and operated by Polaris Project, a non-governmental organization. The National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline is open 24-hours a day, 365 days a year. To report a potential case of human trafficking; to connect with anti-trafficking services in your area; or, to request training and technical assistance, general information or specific anti-trafficking resources, call the hotline at 1-888-373-7888

--> Women Against Slavery: founded in 2009 by an international group of women operating in both Canada and the United States, is a grassroots, consciousness-raising organization dedicating to raising awareness of human trafficking and related issues. The group focuses on education as a primary means of combating human trafficking, and employs a feminist critique and methodology to their projects.

27 million people are enslaved around the world today.

Between 600,000 and 800,000 victims are trafficked through international borders every year, not including the estimated millions trafficked domestically within their own countries

Human Trafficking is a $9 billion industry

International

--> An estimated 27 million people are enslaved around the world today - that's more than the population of 18 States - or more than the population of New York and Virginia combined.

--> There are anywhere between 600,000 and 800,000 victims trafficked through international borders every year, which does not include the millions trafficked domestically within their own countries.

--> It is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the 21st century - a nine billion dollar industry.

-->Trafficking ranks second, after drug smuggling and tying with arms dealing, in organized crime activities.

--> According to the 2008 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, human trafficking is a multi-dimensional threat; it deprives people of their human rights and freedoms, it increases global health risks, and it fuels the growth of organized crime.

--> The majority of victims of slavery are women and children - traffickers prey on those who suffer most from macro factors like gender discrimination, family violence, and a lack of access to education and economic opportunity.

--> Although women and children make up a majority of trafficking victims, there has been an increase in the victimization of men as well. Eleven percent of the victims CAST is serving are male.

National

--> According to CIA estimates, as many as 50,000 men, women and children are trafficked into The United States every year.

--> The United States is one of the top three destination points for trafficked victims, along with Japan and Australia. California, New York, Texas and Nevada are the top destination states in the country.

--> States such as California, Florida, New York, Nevada and Ohio are particularly vulnerable to human trafficking because of factors such as: proximity to international borders, number of ports and airports, significant immigrant population, and large economy that includes industries that attract forced labor.

--> Slavery and trafficking are not only limited to these states and can be found everywhere. At the beginning of 2009, incidences of potential human trafficking were identified all over the country, including Ohio, Iowa, Washington, Florida, New York, Texas and Hawaii.

--> Los Angeles is one of the top three points of entry into this country for victims of slavery and trafficking. The diverse communities of this sprawling city make it easier to hide and move victims from place to place, making it very difficult for law enforcement to locate potential survivors.

--> Immigration agents estimate that 10,000 women are being held in Los Angeles' underground brothels; this does not include the thousands of victims in domestic work, sweatshops or other informal industries.

--> Law enforcement in Las Vegas believes that trafficking and slavery in the "Sin City" has increased because of advertisements that encourage people to "sin all they can" while in Vegas - without anyone needing to find out.- Human Trafficking ranks second, after drug smuggling, and tying with arms dealing, in organized crime activities, and is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the 21st

-->As many as 50,000 men, women and children are trafficked into the U.S. every year.

--> The U.S. is one of the top three destination points for trafficked victims, along with Japan and Australia.

--> Los Angeles is one of the top three points of entry in the U.S. for victims of slavery and trafficking.

About the Sponsors:

Salvatorian Sisters USA
Salvatorian Sisters international
Adorers of the Blood of Christ
Adrian Dominican Sisters
Benedictine Sisters of Chicago
Benedictine Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica
Capacitar International, Inc.
Cenacle Sisters, N. Amer. Prov.
Congregation of Notre Dame
Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
Daughters of Charity, East Central Prov.
Daughters of Charity, West Central Prov.
Daughters of Charity, Prov. of the West
Daughters of Charity, Emmitsburg Prov.
Daughters of Wisdom
Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose
Dominican Sisters of San Rafael, CA
Felician Sisters
Franciscan Sisters of Allegheny, NY
Holy Union Sisters
Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary
San Jose CA Police Department Vice Unit,
Human Trafficking Task Force
School Sisters of Notre Dame, Mankato Province
Servants of the Holy Heart of Mary, USA Province
Servants of Mary, Ladysmith, WI
Sisters of Bon Secours USA
Sisters of Charity of Halifax
Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, Houston
Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, KY
Sisters of Christian Charity,
Mendham, NJ and Wilmette, IL
Sisters Faithful Companions of Jesus
Sisters of the Holy Family, Fremont, CA
Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary
Sisters of the Humility of Mary
Sisters of Notre Dame, CA Province
Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur
Sisters of Providence, Mother Joseph Province
Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul,
Ontario, Canada
Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother
Sisters of St. Anne - St. Marie Province:
U.S. Canada & Chile
Sisters of St. Francis of Colorado Springs
Sisters of St. Francis of Redwood City
Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, Los Angeles
Sisters of St. Joseph of Chestnut Hill, PA
Sisters of St Joseph of Orange, CA
Ursuline Sisters of the Roman Union-USA