Four young women died in a karaoke bar fire in Cambodia. Many of these bars are fronts for brothels. The girls could not escape because they were kept behind a chained door, and many suspect that they were working against their will. Read more here.

Pray for their families, and pray that this tradgedy would cause people to take notice of trafficking around their neiborhoods and around the world.

Many may wonder why trafficking victims can’t just escape their captors.  Here are 10 reasons why they can’t leave.

One of China’s top 10 most wanted suspects in human trafficking has been arrested.  She is accused of 10 counts of child trafficking.  9 others have been arrested earlier this year in the same case.  Chinese police launched a nationwide campaign against trafficking that will run through the year.  According to figures, so far they have rescued 192 children, 214 women and broken up 72 trafficking rings.

There are a few problems with chocolate.  It’s oh-so-tasty, yet not very good for you (although some argue that it isn’t that bad).  But did you know that the cocoa in the chocolate you are eating could be made by slaves?  A majority of the world’s cocoa (30-40%) is grown on the Cote d’Ivoire in Africa.  The numbers vary depending on your source, but thousands of children are trafficked to work on these farms and held as slaves in terrible conditions.  The trouble is that no one knows.

A few months ago we posted the news that Cadbury had promised to make their Dairy Milk bar from fair trade chocolate by the fall of 2009.  Mars has just announced that they will follow and make their Galaxy bar (sold in the UK) fair trade by 2010 and all other items will be fair trade by 2020.  It’s a long way off but it is a big step!

For now the only way to insure that your chocolate is traffick free is to buy fair trade.  It’s like buying slave-free sugar in the days of the African slave trade. Find out where to buy it here.

Demand ethical chocolate.  It costs more, but isn’t it worth it?

Have you been wondering when the full site and boutique will launch? Wonder no more! We hope to have everything up and running by June 15th so we are 25 days away.

Are you looking for another way to follow Stop Traffick Fashion to get the latest information?  We have new links at the bottom of the page to follow us on Twitter or join the Facebook group.  You can also sign up for our newsletter.  Why not invite your friends to follow us or join the Facebook group as well?

I’ve recently subscribed to the Change.org blog on human trafficking.  One of their recent posts lists 5 companies who are making significant contributions to the fight against human trafficking.

Another great organization is Not for Sale.  Check out this link to see all their regional networks.  If you want to help in the fight, why not join the network in your area?

More from Disposable People by Kevin Bales.

Future and Hope for Mauritania
The movement of slavery from rural areas to the cities is the key to liberation. With more population, more information flows. Slaves can learn that other ways of life exist, and organizations like SOS Slaves and El Hor can reach out to slaves and ex-slaves. In the city, slaves see the lives of ex-slaves and Afro-Mauritanians and can know that freedom is possible.

SOS Slaves and El Hor are the key to educating and reaching out to slaves. “Though their leaders are arrested and imprisoned, though their meetings are broken up and their publications censored, they are not giving up. Many of the leaders and members tof both these organizations are ex-slaves, and like Fredrick Douglass or Harriet Tubman they are in the fight to the end.”
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More from Disposable People by Kevin Bales.

Poverty in Mauritania
Mauritania has foreign debt five times higher than its annual export earnings. They have only two resources: iron ore and fish. As a result of poverty and conflict, Mauritania has little infrastructure. The country has two roads. Foreign countries paved these two-lane highways in an attempt at aid. (Mauritania’s second largest city, Nouadhibou, is not connected by roads to anywhere.)

Half the population is under 14, and most people have few possessions, perhaps 2-3 bits of clothing, a jug, pot, or basket, a few iron tools, a blanket to use as a carpet, bed, or tent. Only 1 in 5 people can read. All of this makes creates a climate where people are intensely vulnerable.
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More from Disposable People by Kevin Bales.

Culture of Slavery in Mauritania
The legislation in 1980 didn’t change the reality of work and exploitation. The government admits that hundreds of thousands of “ex-slaves” do labor in exchange for food and shelter, but they refuse to call hauling water from pre-dawn until after sunset, eating rice and maybe scrap meat, and sleeping on the back porch slavery.

In a country closely guarded against outsiders and functioning as a strict police state, slaves sweep cook, clean, care for children, build homes, shepherd sheep, and haul water and bricks. Slavery here resembles a more old-fashioned slavery, in some ways harkening back to the American South and in some ways even back to Old Testament slavery. This type of slavery “both treats slaves more humanely and leaves them more helpless, a slavery that is less a political reality than a permanent part of culture.”

Most slave families serve the same master for generations. Sale of slaves is fairly rare, so slaves often develop an almost familial loyalty to their masters. When the master dies, the slaves are passed down as an inheritance. Slavery is so culturally ingrained that owners rarely use violence. “Their lives are hard, their spirits and potential suppressed, and their freedom taken away. They are slaves, but they are not seen as disposable, as are the enslaved prostitutes in Thailand.”
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A recent article in The Guardian has revealed that a government run children’s home has been exploited by child traffickers in the UK.  77 Chinese children have disappeared since March 2006 and only 4 have been found.  Another report was then released that said that child traffickers were targeting the UK because the immigration policies made it easy to move people through the ports and care homes.

Another government report was released in India stating that an estimated 1.2 million children are believed to be in prostitution in India and that at least 100 million people were involved with human trafficking in India.

Shocking news.