Considering End of Year Giving?

Melissa     Empower Women, Partner Organization News     0

As holiday shopping draws to a close, you may be considering making end of year donations. Here are some organizations that have an impact on human trafficking, ethical fashion, and empowering women: Hagar International is a Christian organization that is committed to individualized, long-term assistance, using the social enterprise model as a tool for social rehabilitation and economic empowerment. Hagar works with women and children from backgrounds of violence, abuse and trafficking and supports them in their recovery, rehabilitation, job readiness and community reintegration. International Justice Mission is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexualRead more

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Much to Be Thankful For

Melissa     Books & Resources, Empower Women, Partner Organization News, Trafficking News & Information     0

There’s lots to be thankful for this time of year. From food to family to finances, most of us have quite a few things going for us. But just like looking past myself in hard times helps me broaden my perspective, being thankful for things beyond my own life enriches this thankful time of year. So here are a few organizations and people doing good around the world that I am very thankful for. They are changing lives in ways that I never could even imagine. They’re empowering women and fighting human trafficking in very real, very powerful ways. IJMRead more

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Money: The Driving Force Behind Human Trafficking

Melissa     Everyday Abolitionist, Trafficking News & Information     0

There are many ways to define human trafficking. It’s an international crime. It’s an affront to human dignity. It’s also a huge business. This last view is particularly helpful for two reasons: 1. Money is what traffickers are focused on. 2. We’re all consumers so we can all help. Here’s just how big the business is: The United Nations estimates unlawful sex trafficking generates approximately $5,000,000,000 a year in revenues. The trafficking industry as a whole generates about $32 billion each year. About $15.5 billion is made in industrialized countries and $9.7 billion in Asia. Each forced laborer generates anRead more

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A 10-Minute Pep Talk: Overcoming the Darkness of Trafficking

Melissa     Empower Women, Everyday Abolitionist, Survivor Stories     1

It’s no secret: Human trafficking can be depressing to read about. Here’s a 10-minute pep talk from journalist Nicholas Kristof, author of Half the Sky. In this TEDxWomen interview, he speaks about the resilience of the men, women, and children he’s met in his travels around the world. People assume, based on the dark topics he reports on, that he must be “profoundly depressed or highly neurotic.” But he insists that “side by side with the worst things happening in the world, you see the very best.” Everywhere he goes around the world he sees humanity and altruism—and we canRead more

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Learning How to Empower Women from Half the Sky

Melissa     Books & Resources, Empower Women     0

This year I’ll be posting quick snippets from Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Pulitzer Prize–winners Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. The book is a must-read if you want to learn how to empower women. (Read about why empowering women is a key to ending human trafficking.) Sometimes these post will be summaries, sometimes just bits of information to get you thinking and interested. To get the full effect, read the book. It has more ideas, information, and encouraging stories than I could fit on the blog. Introduction: The Girl Effect This section highlightsRead more