How to Help Stop Sex Trafficking

Children's HopeChest has a program in Russia to "stop sex trafficking before it begins."
Tom Davis explains on his blog: http://networkedblogs.com/2TS3Y

Further, CHC is selling these necklaces in which the proceeds go to help the victims of sex trafficking. 

"There are a limited number, so buy now to help support victims of sex trafficking in Moldova and the Young Mother’s Program in Russia- give the gift of LOVE to many!

A nice 18″ inch Sterling Cable Chain with a lobster clasp holds a 1″ inch Handmade Sterling circle that is hand stamped with “Love” and it is paired with a sterling flower Charm and a Beautiful Black Onyx Gem that is hand wrapped in Sterling silver."

To purchase:  http://www.adoptionfathers.com/2010/04/11/supportyoungmothers/

A Novel About Human Trafficking

This is an NPR book review on the novel, Purge, set in 1992 Russia and Eastern Europe.

Surviving Human Trafficking: A Noir Fairy Tale
by Oscar Villalon

In Koba the Dread, Martin Amis' concise history on Stalin's legacy of perversity, the British novelist makes the point that the enormity committed by the Soviets during (and before and just after) World War II somehow didn't get the deep traction in the consciousness of the West that the inhuman crimes of Nazi Germany did.

Sofi Oksanen's disturbing, riveting novel Purge partly operates in opposition to that fog of forgetfulness. Her book's story — an escaped Russian sex slave turns up out of nowhere, collapsing in front of the dilapidated house of an elderly woman in Estonia — is a jolt.

Set in 1992, only three years removed from the joyful optimism undammed by the demolition of the Berlin Wall, Purge burns through the mists to show how decades of debasement have twisted society in the former USSR into one characterized by crime and cruelty. Oksanen couches this larger theme within a tight, unconventional crime novel, one punctuated by dreadful silences, shameful revelations and repellent intimacies. By examining the toll of history on a close, personal level, Oksanen, an acclaimed Finnish playwright and novelist, makes the cost of mere survival (never mind the price of retaining one's dignity) sickeningly palpable.

Yet for all its darkness, Purge is an engrossing read.  Continue with review - http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125915533&ft=3&f=1025,1032,1036,1132

Today is Human Trafficking Awareness Day

Every 2 minutes, a child is forced into slavery somewhere in the world, robbing them of their childhood forever.
One of the girls we were able to help, Sveta, has grown up to become a veterinarian. But her life started with an unthinkable choice...her parents decided that they had enough girls already and abandoned her to the orphanage.
Read more about Sveta: http://tomdavis.typepad.com/tom_daviss_blog/2010/01/htad2010.html
Please encourage others to take action against trafficking, and let others know that you are doing something to fight for the millions of children who have lost their childhoods to human trafficking.

For the Fatherless,
Tom
CEO, HopeChest

Present-Day Slavery in the U.S.

Invitation to See Human Rights Activist and Former Slave, Micheline Slattery


Micheline Slattery, human rights activist and former slave in Haiti and the United States, will be speaking Thursday, October 15, 2009, at 2:00 p.m. at the University of Central Florida in the Key West Ballroom of the Student Union. Her presentation will be on "21st Century Slavery: Living Proof."

Slattery was born to a prominent political family in Haiti. After being orphaned at age five, she was sent to live with her aunt and uncle in a nearby town. As often occurs among rural families in Haiti, Slattery was forced to work as her extended familys servant, or restavec, as a child slave is commonly known there.

Beginning from the time she was five, Slattery was expected to clean the house, wash and fold the laundry, and walk for miles to collect water. If she failed to complete all her chores, she was beaten by her relatives. She still bears a scar on her left cheek from the time her cousin struck her across the face with a butcher knife.

At fourteen, Slattery was trafficked to Connecticut to serve as her cousins slave, performing domestic chores and taking care of several children. She never received compensation for her work. It took several years before she was finally able to leave and resettle in Massachusetts, where she now works as a nurse.

Slattery began speaking out last recently. She has testified before the Massachusetts State Assembly and has been featured by New England Cable News, Boston Metro and The Hartford Courant.

The event is free and open to the public, and is sponsored by the UCF Global Perspectives Office, UCF Political Science Department, UCF International Services Center, UCF Women's Studies Program, Lawrence J.
Chastang and the Chastang Foundation, UCF LIFE and the Global Connections Foundation.

Please see the attached flyer or visit www.ucfglobalperspectives.org for further information.