May
03
2012
Walmart and IKEA Work to Empower Women
Melissa Empower Women, Ethical Fashion 0
If you’ve read much about ethical fashion and empowering women, you’re probably surprised to hear good things about Walmart and IKEA. Big box stores are notorious for having a detrimental effect on the environment and people. (Learn more about ethical fashion.) But here’s some good news. “US retail giant Wal-Mart has launched a special training programme for more than 60,000 female workers at 150 of its supplier factories in India, Bangladesh, China and Central America,” according to Just-Style. And “The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) … has partnered with IKEA Foundation in a project that aims to help buildRead more
Mar
22
2012
Everyday Abolitionist: Kristin Braddock
Melissa Everyday Abolitionist 0
Everyday Abolitionist is a recurring feature on the blog where we’ll hear firsthand from someone using their skills, talents, and opportunities to fight trafficking. This time around we have Kristin Braddock who works with Apne Aap. Read about more Everyday Abolitionists. According to UNICEF, as many as two million children are subjected to prostitution in the global commercial sex trade every year. Sex trafficking has devastating consequences for the victim including long-lasting physical and psychological trauma, diseases (including HIV/AIDS), drug addictions, unwanted pregnancies, malnutrition, ostracism, and possible death. Sex trafficking is a global issue that affects every country and victimizesRead more
Jan
19
2012
Fair Trade Clothes: Conquering the Conscious Consumer Challenge
Melissa Fair Trade 0
It’s no secret many (if not most) of the people who harvest the fibers for our clothes, weave the cloth, and sew the final product aren’t paid fairly. The more I learn about unfair labor the more I’m convinced: I need to seriously rethink my consumption. I’m reading a book called Friendship at the Margins. One of the authors, Chris Heuertz, international director of Word Made Flesh, tells about how he was visiting the home of some his friends in India. His friends are poor, and the mother and daughters all work constantly to scrape by. The daughters work inRead more
Jan
17
2012
Human Trafficking in the News
Melissa Trafficking News & Information 0
I’m constantly online scouting out news and information on human trafficking. This recurring feature on the blog will showcase some of the most interesting and pertinent news. I’ll begin with the bad news, but I always find more good news than bad. More people are fighting trafficking, more laws are being passed, and more traffickers are going to jail. Thank you for being part of the good news about trafficking! BAD NEWS (Hang on! There’s good news coming!) “Human Trafficking: FIA to Probe Fake Visa Case Involving British Council” from the Express Tribune. It’s tough to tell exactly who’s atRead more
Aug
18
2011
Everyday Abolitionist: Diana Scimone
Emily Books & Resources, Everyday Abolitionist, Survivor Stories, Trafficking News & Information 1
Writer and abolitionist Diana Scimone recently had an article published on Reject Apathy and I thought it fit in very well with our Everyday Abolitionist theme on the STF blog. (Read more of our Everyday Abolitionist posts here). In the article she writes about the picture that changed her life and her journey to figure out how she could make a difference. Here is an excerpt, but I definitely recommend reading the whole article. Everywhere I went it was as if God had a big clipboard and was crossing off everything He wasn’t calling me to do. I’m not a social worker.Read more