Tips & Examples to Fight Trafficking While You Travel: Part 1

Holiday Season Travel
With the Holiday Season upon us, many of us will be flying all over the world. We have to remember that human traffickers use the same routes we do, including flying. Thousands of people are trafficked via standard airlines each year.

I travel about 1-2 times per month for my job with Precision Time, abolitionist events, vacation, etc... Below are some examples and tips I have incorporated into my travels to help combat human trafficking.

Traveling by Airplane
#1 Be aware of children and any red flags

Testimony by Flight Attendant Sandra Fiorini:

"During my career with American Airlines I have seen many instances of human trafficking. While every instance has been different, there were always red flags that indicated that something was not right. Most of us are parents and when children of any age are involved we seem to be more keenly aware when these flags are raised."

Examples of what I have seen can enlighten you to what is happening everyday:

1. 18 year old boy with a newborn baby. No diaper bag, just one bottle and two diapers.

2. 3 adults of same nationality with 5 children of all different nationalities and same age (4-5 yrs old).
3. Prostitution tents at Redwood, CA campground. I saw men coming in and out.
4. Young girls 15-17yrs old coming over from Russia thinking they are going to be models and work on TV in NYC, even though they didn’t speak any English. On a Moscow to Chicago direct flight.

#2 Report Suspicious Behavior

Tell flight attendants or airport officials.
Call the National Trafficking Hotline
(Save this in your cell phone!)

1-888-373-7888

Don't be scared to do it. You may be saving a life.

Story of Boy Saved from Traffickers on a Flight to Florida.

#3 TassaTag Luggage (Spread Awareness)
Raise your hand if you own luggage. Go ahead and raise it for all to see. Now keep your hand held high if you're opposed to human trafficking. Continue to keep it raised if you have $14.50 to spare.

If your hand is still raised, as most of them will be, you can help fight slavery with your own TassaTag. Here is a picture of me with my TassaTag.

As you can see, the TassaTag is very visible, colorful and an attention-grabber. Not only will your luggage standout when you try to find it on the luggage carousel, but the TassaTag stands out to make a great conversation starter and to help you spread awareness of modern slavery.

ECPAT-USA, which stands for End Child Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking, is an international network of individuals and companies dedicated to ending the sexual abuse of children. ECPAT-USA's work focuses in research, advocacy, and public awareness campaigns. One such campaign is the TassaTag.

TassaTags, which are bright-colored luggage tags, are made at The Regina Center in Nongkhai, Thailand. The Regina Center allows women within rural Thailand to earn a steady income, stay within their villages, and enroll their children in school. These are essential components in the fight against trafficking and sexual exploitation. TassaTags are a "fair trade plus" product because the Regina Center is a fair trade certified retail producer, and TassaTags support this center, in addition, to ECPAT-USA's work.

You can order your tag for $12, plus $2.50 shipping at TassaTag.org.

Boy Saved From Traffickers on Flight to Florida

This is truly a lesson about being aware of our surroundings. I read this article on Reuters today and I plan to pay more attention everywhere I travel. I give a big shout to Deborah Sigmund. She saved this boy's innocence and quite possibly his life. Deborah, thank you for paying attention, speaking up and for all of the work you do with Innocents at Risk. You're one of my new abolitionist heroes.

(Left: Her Majesty Queen Silvia of Sweden.
Right: Deborah Sigmund, founder of Innocents at Risk)

Airlines' role grows in war on U.S. sex trafficking

Thu Oct 7, 2010 12:51pm EDT

By Mickey Goodman

ATLANTA, Oct 7 (Reuters Life!) - Airline passenger Deborah Sigmund noticed something strange about the man and boy who ran up late to catch a US Airways flight last December from Washington to Palm Beach, Florida.

When staff at the gate asked the man for the boy's name, he had to rifle through papers for an answer. On board, Sigmund quietly asked the boy why he was going to Florida.

"I thought I was going to North Carolina," he said.

Sigmund said she alerted the aircrew who radioed ahead to authorities about a possible case of child trafficking. Her quick wits helped her spot what authorities later told her was a likely case of a child abducted for use in pornography.

Her intervention is evidence of a growing effort by grass-roots organizations in the hotel and airline industries to back up the work of governments and international law enforcement in fighting human trafficking.

But Sigmund had a head start. As founder of non-profit Innocents at Risk, she ... (Read Full Story)

SOURCE: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0627221420101007?pageNumber=1

I'm Heading to the Freedom Awards Nov. 7th!

I am excited! I just finished making my travel plans to attend the Freedom Awards in Los Angeles on November 7th! Modern slavery is so vicious and sickening that it's hard not to become depressed by it all. It's important to celebrate the victories and to pay tribute to the heroes of the modern anti-slavery movement.

The Freedom Awards are inspiring and bring hope to the fight for freedom. This is a wonderful event that will draw celebrity support, media attention and raise funds to combat slavery. All of these are needed to build the abolitionist movement and garner the support necessary to free more men, women and children trapped in slavery and to truly abolish slavery in our lifetime.

Ways you can support the Freedom Awards 2010

1. Buy tickets and attend the award ceremony. It will be an incredible, inspiring Red Carpet event and you will always remember. Plus, all proceeds go to the host organization Free the Slaves.

2. Blog about the event and help spread the word. This is a great opportunity to inspire others in the cause for freedom and reflect on the positive good deeds of these modern heroes.

3. Tweet, Facebook, Myspace, Email others about the event.

4. Send a letter or email to your local newspaper and TV stations and ask them to report on the Freedom Awards. Help garner media support for the event and the cause. You have a voice. Use it.

Here's a little of what you can expect at the awards.

Grammy-winning singer Jason Mraz to perform live at Freedom Awards and Freedom Rocks: Jason says Free the Slaves “kick-started my heart.” He came with us to see slavery in Africa and meet child slavery survivors.You can see him perform the inspiring song, “Freedom,” with video of freed child slaves as his back-up chorus.

2010 Ceremony Hosted by Acclaimed Creativity Expert Sir Ken Robinson: He’s witty and wise, and a renowned global expert on creativity and education. Sir Ken’s unique humor and grace will make the 2010 awards ceremony an unforgettable experience.

2010 Freedom Rocks After Party Hosted by the Charismatic VJ and Entertainment Reporter Quddus Philippe: The Associated Press calls Quddus “the coolest guy on television.” He’ll be your guide to the music, and will show you how easy and rewarding it can be to personally take a stand against slavery.

1ST EVER PERMANENT MUSEUM EXHIBIT ON MODERN SLAVERY OPENS IN OHIO

Posted by Paul Bernish on October 1, 2010 on the Free The Slaves Blog

Editor’s note: Paul Bernish is the Director of Antislavery and Human Trafficking Initiatives at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, a museum in Cincinnati, Ohio. Free the Slaves is one of several organizations that partnered with with the museum to stage the permanent show.

"Invisible: Slavery Today" exhibition's banner on the Cincinnati Freedom Center's building.

Here’s something new: the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati is set to open the world’s first permanent, museum-quality exhibition on modern-day slavery and human trafficking.

The exhibition, entitled Invisible: Slavery Today opens October 9, and will be a permanent installation occupying 4,000 square feet on the Freedom Center’s third floor east pavilion.

The exhibition consists of three main exhibition themes: the first defines and shows the many forms of modern-day slavery; the second details the scope and causes of modern-day slavery, and a final section provides information on global efforts to combat trafficking and slavery abuses. The five most common forms of slavery – bonded labor, sex trafficking, child labor, domestic servitude, and forced labor – are explained through the life experiences of real individuals from across the globe. More than 30 high-def monitors present videos and moving images of people caught up in slavery, and interactive kiosks enable visitors to make personal commitments to action to combat modern-day slavery

“Visitors to the Freedom Center since our opening in 2004 always comment about how much they learned about historical slavery and our nation’s early struggle for freedom,” said Paul Bernish, recently appointed as the Freedom Center’s Director of Antislavery and Human Trafficking Initiatives. “With Invisible, we are comparing and contrasting historical slavery with the ongoing struggle to abolish modern forms of slavery in this country and elsewhere.”

The new exhibition was designed by Seattle-based Touch Worldwide, and was produced with several antislavery organizations, which provided content and guidance. The partners are Free the Slaves, Goodweave, International Justice Mission and Polaris Project. Underwriting of the exhibition came from The Skirball Foundation and Lois and Richard Rosenthal.

SOURCE: "1ST EVER PERMANENT MUSEUM EXHIBIT ON MODERN SLAVERY OPENS IN OHIO,"by Paul Bernish, Free The Slaves Blog, October 1, 2010

Is the Tide Turning in China?

Beijing Crackdown on Human Trafficking Frees 16,517 Women and Children.
English.news.cn 2010-09-20 01:24:40

BEIJING, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) - Chinese police freed 10,621 women and 5,896 children who had been abducted for human trafficking as of September 6,since the Ministry of Public Security launched a crackdown on trafficking the crime in April last year.

In the campaign, police nationwide apprehended 2,398 human trafficking gangs and handled 13,500 such cases, said the ministry in a statement on Sunday.

Further, the police put 15,673 suspects under criminal detention and handed out administrative penalties on 1,518 people, it said.

In addition to the tough crackdown, the police have stepped up measures to return the children who have been trafficked to their biological parents, including building a database that collects the DNA of those children who may have fallen victims to human trafficking and their parents.

The database had helped 813 children to find their biological parents through DNA matching.

SOURCE: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2010-09/20/c_13520175.htm

ABOLITIONISTJB TAKE ON THE STORY

Human trafficking is a serious issue throughout Asia and Southeast Asian countries, including China. Even now, China has a 2 Tier rating on the 2010 Trafficking in Person annual report, which is not a good rating. But the news report above gives me hope that the tide is turning.

The main problem with combating traffickers in Asia is the lack of enforcement. Simply reading some of the stories and research from the Somaly Mam Foundation, Free the Slaves and the International Justice Mission make this abundantly clear. There are anti-slavery and trafficking laws on the books in almost every country in the world, but it comes down to enforcing those laws and eliminating corruption.

Freeing 16,517 slaves is a BIG deal. Arresting nearly 16,000 suspects is huge in the fight against traffickers. But what happens to these suspects and the number that that are prosecuted will determine the greater long-term effect these arrests will have against traffickers. With a major bust like this in Beijing, maybe public opinion and policy are finally starting to overcome the corruption. At least that's what I hope and pray for.

-AbolitionistJB

Aaron Cohen, "The Slave Hunter," helps set slaves free

Here's a video of hope and freedom from Aaron Cohen and his organization, abolishslavery.org. Aaron was featured on CNN last week and recently published his book "Slave Hunter" with Christine Buckley. As I've said before, becoming aware of modern slavery can be disheartening and depressing. But we have to remember that there's hope and people are being freed one slave at a time.

This video gives you that glimmer of hope and as you see the joy of people who are freed. Love and hope must be our motivator in this work.

AUTHOR'S INVITATION:

Everyone I talk to about modern slavery agrees it's atrocious. Then they ask, "What can I do?" BE A VOICE. Spread awareness by sharing these posts and videos with others. Collectively we can reach thousands of people. Creating awareness and making this an issue in the public mind WILL lead to CHANGE.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

~Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Will you accept my invitation? Will you be a voice?

Thank you,
John Burger

AbolitionisJB

Somaly Mam on the Tyra Banks Show

Somaly Mam is a true hero and inspiration. For those of you who have not read her book, "The Road of Lost Innocence," I highly suggest it. It's heart-wrenching story with a silver lining of hope, survival and service.

There are dozens of great videos with and about Somaly, so you can bet I will be posting more about her. Below are a series of videos from the Tyra Banks show. If you only watch 1 video, watch video #3.

#1 Susan Sarandon - Abolitionist and Board Member of the Somaly Mam Foundation

#2 Somaly Mam- Survivor and Founder of the Somaly Mam Foundation

#3 Nicholas Lumpp & Jared Greenberg - Founders of the Somaly Mam Foundation

AUTHOR'S INVITATION:

Everyone I talk to about modern slavery agrees it's atrocious. Then they ask, "What can I do?" BE A VOICE. Spread awareness by sharing these posts and videos with others. Collectively we can reach thousands of people. Creating awareness and making this an issue in the public mind WILL lead to CHANGE.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

~Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Will you accept my invitation? Will you be a voice?

Thank you,
John Burger

AbolitionisJB

Abolition is coming through love.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I love this video by Love146.org. So many slavery awareness videos include heavy material, which is okay and needed, but it's nice to be reminded that there's hope in this cause and that good things are happening.

Remember that LOVE should be our motivation as abolitionists and not hate. It's easy and natural to become enraged and angered at the atrocities of slavery and child exploitation, but our ultimate motivation should be love for the victims as we work with hope towards prevention.

"Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love."

- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Celebrate Love! from LOVE146 on Vimeo.

Love146.org has a wonderful Valentine e-card fundraiser. Please check it out. I can't think of a better gift to send to a loved one. I would also checkout the slideshow of hand-made valentine's people sent to survivors at the Love146 Round Home. Very cool.

AUTHOR'S INVITATION:

Everyone I talk to about modern slavery agrees it's atrocious. Then they ask, "What can I do?" BE A VOICE. Spread awareness share these posts and videos with others. Collectively we can reach thousands of people. Creating awareness and making this an issue in the public mind WILL lead to CHANGE.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

~Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Will you accept my invitation? Will you be a voice?

Thank you,
John Burger

AbolitionisJB