Amanda Kloer at Change.org’s End Human Trafficking blog gives a strong reminder that our consumption affects trafficked people—especially this time of year.
Here are some simple ways you can change what you buy to help protect exploited people. (more…)
Happy Thanksgiving one day early! What are you thankful for? I am thankful to be back home with my family and friends for my first Thanksgiving in America in 2 years. I am looking forward to all the wonderful food, family and football tomorrow and I am also thinking ahead to shopping on Friday! But this Black Friday I encourage you to stay home. Well, at least long enough to do some online shopping.
The best gifts always have a story. Whether it’s where they came from or what they represent, they carry a meaning and a value beyond the gift itself.
Every item at Stop Traffick Fashion has a story. Our handbags, jewelry, and bath and body products tell the story of the years of hardship, abuse and exploitation that trafficked people around the world face. More than that, they tell the story of the freedom, healing and restoration that those rescued have experienced. Everything you buy in our store is made by someone who has survived the unthinkable and is now making slow, steady strides toward confidence, security and joy. Your purchase directly helps keep over 200 women around the world employed in safe, fair conditions and provides them with a sustainable income and hope for the future. The women who make our products want to share their story of hope with you, and your purchase empowers them and the organizations that work with them to continue growing and spreading this hope.
You can find out more about their stories on our collections page and through the information on this blog. You can dig even deeper on our resources page.
This Christmas you can be part of the change and tell a story of hope to your friends and family. Buy Fashion. Give Hope.
Good News: A victim of labor trafficking in California has gotten justice! Yusuf was fortunate to find justice through seeking the legal remedies and protections available to her under United States Federal and CA State law. After the damages were awareded, Yusfu emphatically stated, “I want other trafficking survivors in the United States to know that they have the right to seek this justice too.”
Bad News: A horrible case of child torture and trafficking has been uncovered in Cambodia.
Good news: The victim is now in Hagar Cambodia’s care! Where there is Hagar, there is hope.
Our Stop Traffick Fashion Christmas Open House is rapidly approaching! We hope you can join us to do some Christmas shopping and spread hope to survivors of human trafficking all over the world. We’ll have all of our regular merchandise from the website for you to purchase, along with some of the new items we’ll be adding to the site in 2010! Here are the details:
When: Saturday, December 5th from 11am-2pm
Where: The McAlpin, 14 W. 4th Street, Cincinnati OH 45202
We’ll also be having some fabulous specials:
Plus, if you’re looking for some more ideas of places to go downtown we have a few suggestions! From 1-5pm there will be a special edition of the Cincinnati Downtown Tour of Living so the condos at The McAlpin and other downtown residences will be open for self-guided tours. And at 6pm on Fountain Square you can catch Macy’s Downtown Dazzle with holiday choirs and rappelling Santas! Check out all the details here.
No RSVP is required but we’d love to get an idea how many are coming so if you are planning to attend please RSVP on our Facebook page.
Here are some great documentaries that look at life in one of the sex districts of Kolkata (Calcutta), India. (more…)
JUST CAUSE Magazine just released their November issue featuring some great JUST gift ideas…including some items from Stop Traffick Fashion! Check it out.
Also, tomorrow we will be at a great event called Cincinnati Pink Fest! Come visit us, along with 80 other vendors, to do some Christmas shopping and raise money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
A recent article does a great job highlighting how human trafficking happens in the US, why it happens so much in Ohio and what people are doing about it. I highly encourage you to read it (it’s a little long!) but it has great information and it would be a great article to pass along to raise awareness that human trafficking happens in Ohio!
The 2010 Sweatshop Hall of Shame was recently released. It highlights the latest companies exploiting child labor, slave labor and other unsafe working conditions. This year’s inductees are Abercrombie & Fitch, Gymboree, Hanes, Ikea, Kohl’s, LL Bean, Pier 1 Imports, Propper International, and Walmart. You can read more details here. They may not all be using slave labor but as a socially conscious consumer I want to have all the possible information when I make purchases and make sure the companies I buy from are ethical.
I am slightly confused about Ikea, however. Another recent article talked about how they were working with Unicef to help fight child labor. Has anyone else read other information?
Stop Traffick Fashion has a new fan page on Facebook! Become a fan to keep up with news on human trafficking, stories about Stop Traffick Fashion and other specials. If you’re already part of our Facebook group, please become a fan anyway because we are transitioning all of our communication there.
While we”re at it, here is a reminder of a few more ways you can keep in touch with us:
- Sign up for our email newsletter
- Follow us on Twitter
The Examiner.com - November 14, 2009
Stop Traffick Fashion Makes Shopping Meaningful
By Tamia Stinson
Shopping for a cause has to be one of the best ideas, ever. At least, that’s what Emily Hill hopes. Hill is the founder of Stop Traffick Fashion, a retail site dedicated to raising awareness about the horrors of human trafficking and providing a place for fashionistas to shop for stylish goods created by trafficking victims.
The Cincinnati native graduated from Miami University with an MA in Economics and currently works for Nielsen in addition to acting as the president, buyer, blogger, and media contact for Stop Traffick Fashion, which launched this past summer.
“I wanted to hand-pick products and sell them to a new set of consumers to raise awareness.”
Her passion for the cause was solidified on a trip to Thailand while in college, when she visited a school for high-risk young girls in danger of becoming victims of human trafficking. “That brought it home for me because they were your average 12-year-old girls.” Over time, she became more deeply involved, and at an industry event she noticed some of the vendors sold products made by survivors of trafficking. That was when the initial idea took root.
Running the business
Emily runs Stop Traffick Fashion mostly on her own, with help from friends and family as needed. She works directly with organizations with offices and distribution in the US, buys the products wholesale, and people are paid fair wages for fair trade products. She also donates a portion of her sales back to the organizations.
Most of the inventory resides in her home, where she’s “set up a little area for packing and shipping.” All orders are carefully packaged by hand with attention to detail. She hopes to add new lines and carry clothing soon, and eventually open a brick-and-mortar shop to sell products.
“I try to stay focused on success of Stop Traffick Fashion as awareness, not necessarily the business side.” For Hill, the most rewarding part is when people become more engaged in the cause and try to make small changes, “When I can get people thinking about what they buy and where it comes from.”
Changing the way we shop
She advises gradually making adjustments to your shopping habits. “Start by investigating some of the sites that provide information about the consequences of trafficking and the companies who participate in this practice, and think about what you can change.”
You can check to see which companies are on the watchlist at Free2Work.org, and visit Chain Store Reaction for a list of companies that may play a part in the exploitation of fellow humans. The Stop Traffick blog also has a page of resources to consult. “Organizations out there need our support.”
Emily notes that organizations need monetary donations as well, since economic empowerment is a very big part of rehabilitation for victims of human trafficking. Funding leads to teaching people job skills, which leads to confidence, which leads to hope.
“It’s amazing to see how much hope they do have.”
Shop online at Stop Traffick Fashion and visit the blog at Stoptraffickfashion.com/blog.STFSTF
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