Aug
31
2010
News from Freeset – Part 1
Emily Partner Organization News, Survivor Stories 0
If you have a few minutes, read the latest news that was posted by John from Freeset in Kolkata, India. If you don’t have time to read the whole thing then here are a few highlights: There are continuing improvements being made with local government and other officials who had been initially confused about why a foreign company would want to set up shop in Kolkata. There are currently 9 new women in training at Freeset bringing the total number of employed women up to 153. Despite the economy, the women at Freeset received a 20% pay raise in AprilRead more
Aug
30
2010
Forced Labor & Trafficking in India
Emily Books & Resources, Partner Organization News 1
I recommend you check out this blog post by Siddharth Kara on CNN.com. The topic is forced labor in India. Forced labor can easily give rise to human trafficking, where people like Amina who are desperate for better wage-earning work succumb to offers from traffickers for better jobs in big cities. Throughout rural West Bengal, I met numerous young girls who fell prey to offers for domestic work in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata. They ended up working for well-to-do families around the clock, and after several months they were paid perhaps ten or twenty percent of the promisedRead more
Aug
27
2010
Fashion Focus Friday
Emily Product Information, STF News 1
We post enough information about human trafficking on here to keep you occupied – why not add in a little more fashion fun? Every Friday (hopefully!) I’ll be posting some fun pictures of me and of others sporting their Stop Traffick Fashion tees and accessories. If you’d like to participate send an email to hello@stoptraffickfashion.com (or post it on our Facebook page) with your photo and why you like Stop Traffick Fashion and we’ll consider posting it on the blog, as well. Sounds fun to me! This week I happened to get some professional photos taken by the wonderful KateRead more
Aug
26
2010
STF and BGV in the Enquirer
Stop Traffick Fashion and Bad Girl Ventures had more great coverage today in the Cincinnati Enquirer! Thank you to Laura Baverman for the story. Eight women-owned firms to vie for loan By Laura Baverman • lbaverman@enquirer.com • August 24, 2010 /* * Late load ShareThis link/badge. ShareThis usually loaded inline; this modifies steps at * http://support.sharethis.com/developers/developers-faq/stapi/62 and then also 1) instead * of calling SHARETHIS.attachButton(), which may be leaky, uses GEL events to attach click * handler; and 2) (re)calls SHARETHIS.onReady() which has init routine (and which SHARETHIS * presumes was called on page load, because it assumes it wasRead more
Aug
25
2010
STF Featured in Soapbox Cincinnati
Stop Traffick Fashion and Founder Emily Hill (me!) have been chosen to participate in a Cincinnati in a brand new entrepreneurship and micr0-lending organization called Bad Girl Ventures! The inaugural class consists of 8 women entrepreneurs and we’ll be participating in 6 weeks of courses. After completing all of the course work one woman will be chosen to win a $25,000 micro-loan. We’re excited to participate in the program and truly feel that BGV’s mission of helping empower women to live out their dreams is perfectly aligned to our goal of empowering survivors around the world! Today Soapbox Media ranRead more
Aug
23
2010
Bad news in Ohio
Emily Trafficking News & Information 1
Two recent news articles have highlighted the sad state of human trafficking in Ohio. A recent study by the Polaris Project named Ohio one of the “dirty dozen” when it comes to lax sex trafficking laws. Other states included Hawaii, Massachusetts, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, South Carolina, Oregon and Virginia. A few days later the Columbus Dispatch posted an article about human trafficking in nail salons throughout Ohio. Kevin Miller, executive director of the Ohio Board of Cosmetology spoke of the problem in a meeting of the Ohio Trafficking in Persons Study Commission. He told theRead more
Aug
20
2010
Help Pass a Critical Bill to Stop Child Sex Trafficking in America
Emily Uncategorized 0
From Change.org: This week the Senate Judiciary Committee passed legislation that would fund new services for children trafficked for sex in America and crack down on the pimps who profit from selling them. The bill will make six block grants available to innovative new programs for American children who have been victimized in the commercial sex industry. And you can help make sure this critical legislation becomes law! Read more here and make sure to sign the petition and pass it along to your friends. It might seem trivial but if our lawmakers know that fighting human trafficking is aRead more
Aug
19
2010
Call + Response Now Available on DVD
Emily Books & Resources 0
The excellent film, Call + Response, is now available for pre-order on DVD! Organizing a screening of this film is an excellent way to raise awareness of the issue and call your friends to action. Call + Response is not a DVD you watch alone in your home, it’s something you show and experience with others. It’s a movement. Why not pre-order the DVD and host a screening? They have put together screening kits for you to use in various locations. You could even combine it with a fair-trade chocolate fondue party. Everyone loves chocolate fondue. Watching a cool movieRead more
Aug
18
2010
Groundbreaking Law Passed in New York
Emily Trafficking News & Information 0
From the New York Times: Gov. David A. Paterson of New York has signed a law that will allow victims of sex trafficking to clear prostitution convictions from their criminal records. Advocates for sex workers said the bill, signed on Friday, is the first of its kind. It allows an individual to have a conviction vacated if she was forced into prostitution, and it also applies to related crimes like loitering. “The new law will give these victims a desperately needed second chance,” Mr. Gottfried said in a statement. Read more about this great news for survivors of trafficking here.
Aug
18
2010
Women Peacekeepers Play a Role in Reducing Sexual Exploitation
Emily Books & Resources, Trafficking News & Information 0
From the Better World Campaign: Demand for peacekeeping has risen dramatically in recent years. As the UN steps up to meet the growing need for building and sustaining peace in conflict zones around the world, women are taking on increasingly important roles as UN peacekeepers. The very first all-female peacekeeping force arrived in Liberia in 2007. Since then, scores of women have helped to disengage armed forces, protect civilians and promote human rights – all while serving as positive role models to women and girls in Liberia. What’s more, the UN notes that the presence of women peacekeepers in LiberiaRead more