Here’s more from Disposable People by Kevin Bales. This section was about Thailand. I’m going to post it in three sections over the next few days because it’s long. At the end of part three there are a specific things to pray for about human trafficking in Thailand.

PART 1

Sex slavery in Thailand is the type of modern slavery that I’m most familiar with. (It happens in places other than Thailand, but much of this trafficking began in Thailand and spread to other places.) It’s perhaps the most horrifying to me, so I’ve done a bit more research on it. Several months ago I read Somaly Mam’s memoir, The Road of Lost Innocence, about her time as an enslaved prostitute, her recovery, and her work rescuing other women. In Disposable People, Bales gives an in-depth analysis of this horrifying and mystifying problem. It is not a simple problem of cause and effect: it’s a web of causes, each complicated on its own, and a web of effects, both overtly and covertly devastating.

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The goal of this blog is not just fundraising, although I realize this will be my second post about it in two weeks.  However, I do think it is worthwhile to pass along information on big opportunities.

Call and Response is a movement of abolitionists inspired by the documentary film, Call+Response. (We’ll post more on the film at a later date).  For now, an opportunity exists with Not for Sale and to build a health clinic and provide $500,000 worth of medical supplies for former child sex slaves in Thailand.  By raising $57,000 the clinic can be built ($30,000) and $500,000 of medical supplies will be sent by the organization Giving Children Hope at a cost of just $27,000.  That’s a great return on your investment!  Click here to make a donation.

The first global report on human trafficking from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime was published in February.  (I’m a little late in posting about it!)  The UN site quotes the Executive Director of the UNODC, Antonio Maria Costa, that “This Report increases our underestanding of modern slave markets, yet is also exposes our ignorance.” According to the BBC, the report states that although awareness has been increasing, a lack of understanding about what exactly human trafficking is and whom it affects is still a fundamental problem. You can download the full PDF on the UN website. (Check out pages 6-10 for a summary of the 292 pages!)

The BBC article also has an audio clip of a Ukranian woman’s story of being trafficked around Europe.

Good news for victims of trafficking in London.  The government has recently granted £3.7 million in funds to The Poppy Project to increase their capacity to help victims throughout the UK and add more support workers.

I’ve begun reading Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy by Kevin Bales. Bales is a social researcher who became interested in human trafficking in the 1980s. His goal through his research and this book (published in 1999) is to understand what’s driving slavery today so that it can be stopped. He gives a comprehensive, analytical breakdown of the causes and effects of slavery today and how it differs from slavery in the past. He examines the economic impact of slavery, because at its core, human trafficking is about money.

So far I’ve read the first chapter, which gives an overview of slavery and how it’s different from slavery in the past. The following chapters give an in-depth look at specific kinds of slavery in various countries. Bales’s overview in the first chapter gave me a stronger grasp on what slavery is like and how it works. Here’s a little bit of what I’ve learned:

Bales estimates that there are 27 million slaves in the world today. There are more slaves today than in the whole 400 years of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Greater than the population of Canada. Six times greater than the population of Israel.

The increase in slavery today is driven by the increase in the world population and the growing economy in places where slavery is most prevalent. There’s more work to do and more people to be enslaved. Because so many people are readily available and vulnerable to being enslaved, they have become less and less of a valuable commodity; Slave prices are lower than they have ever been. Most slaves are used heavily until they are too sick or too weak, then they’re left to fend for themselves and usually die.

In the past the cost of slaves was high, the return on investment was good, and there was motivation to keep and preserve your slaves. Today the cost of slaves is low, the return on investment extremely high, and there is little motivation to keep and preserve your slaves. Slaves become disposable. You work your car hard, but you take care of it through routine maintenance and repairs; however, you use a printer as much as you want, and then when it no longer works properly, you throw it away and get a new one—it’s not worthwhile to invest in maintenance or repairs. Slaves used to be like cars, now they’re more like printers.

I’m not trying to say that one generation of slavery is better or less criminal and inhumane than another: absolutely not. (That’s not Bales point either.) Old slavery and new slavery both take away a person’s freedom and humanity, but it’s critical to understand slavery today to stop it.

Slavery is an economic endeavor, driven by money rather than simple hatred, and while slavery is illegal in every country there are very, very few economic controls on slavery. Economic sanctions have been successful in attacking drug and weapons cartels, but haven’t been used in fighting human trafficking. If governments and people make slavery unprofitable, it will stop.

In today’s slavery ownership is no longer central. In the past control came primarily through ownership. Today control comes primarily through violence and intimidation. Legal documentation of ownership is not as important. Written contracts are sometimes used, but their purpose is to entrap slaves and conceal what’s really happening from those outside.

Race isn’t a key factor in slavery today. Bales says, “The criteria for enslavement today does not concern color, tribe, or religion; they focus on weakness, gullibility, and deprivation.”

To sum it up, Bales says: “Looking at the nature of slavery we see obvious themes: slaves are cheap and disposable; control continues without legal ownership; slavery is hidden behind contracts; and slavery flourishes in communities under stress. Those social conditions have to exist side by side with an economy that fosters slavery.”

Understanding slavery it the key to putting an end to it.

One of the organizations that Stop Traffick Fashion supports is Hagar International.

You can have your gift to Hagar doubled if you act now. Global Giving is an online program that promotes world-wide projects.  They have offered to match every dollar donated to Hagar. The opportunity continues until March 27th, or until Global Giving’s match money runs out.  About 30 other projects are included in this promotion, so we hope you will act fast. In addition to matching every dollar received, Global Giving will give an additional $5000 to the project that attracts the highest number of donors (through March 27th). With any size gift, you can help Hagar get that prize. Currently Hagar is in the lead!

By donating now through Global Giving, you will support the project “Restoring Hope to Trafficked Girls in Cambodia.” This ‘double your money’ opportunity couldn’t come at a better time. Due to funding shortfalls caused by the global crisis, they may need to temporarily close one Aftercare Center.  The 25 girls from backgrounds of sexual abuse and trafficking would be cared for through other Hagar projects, but uprooting them is not ideal.  Please take advantage of Global Giving’s generous offer, and help keep Kampong Thom Aftercare Center operational.

By responding now, you will help girls like Sokey:
Sokey was living in a remote village at age 12, when a relative suggested she be sent to another province to work as a domestic helper. Her parents agreed, as she wasn’t attending school, and perhaps she would get more to eat. They didn’t expect that after two weeks she would be sold into a brothel. When Sokey was first rescued, she was taken directly home. Heavily drugged and very traumatized, she just sat and stared into space. Her parents thought she was crazy and took her to a human rights organization, which referred her to Hagar. Sokey is now doing well at the Kampong Thom Aftercare Center. She doesn’t want to move, even if its temporary.

Help Hagar make the most of it. It’s an easy way to get double the impact from your gift, of any amount. We hope you’ll act fast.

Cadbury just announced that it will certify that all its milk chocolate is fair trade by the end of summer. That will mean that no slaves were beaten, starved, or mistreated to make those smooth delicious Dairy Milk bars. Now consumers need to take responsibility to show Cadbury and other chocolate companies that going fair trade pays off.

I’ve always loved this Cadbury commercial, and soon I’ll be able to love their business practices too.