Posted by Susan Gordon on January 11th, 2011
Today is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. I first learned about human trafficking while working as a political organizer in San Francisco. I had a volunteer who, during the day, worked for an anti-trafficking organization called SAGE (Standing Against Global Exploitation) and, by night, came in and made phone calls to voters about the mid-term elections. One day, I asked her how her day was and I had no idea the response that simple question would get. She told me that she’d spent the day “busting” a massage parlor near Union Square, a popular tourist and shopping area in San Francisco. SAGE collaborated with the local police led a charge where they found 20 women kept in cages on a wall in the back of the massage parlor. Slaves from around the world, from Southeast Asia to Eastern Europe and slaves even California, are trafficked in and through San Francisco every day. I had absolutely no idea.
Her story led me on a fact-finding mission about global slavery. I learned that there are many types of slavery: sex slavery, forced labor, child slavery, and more than 27 million people are enslaved today. Slavery is one of the largest illegal industries in the world, right up there with arms and drug trafficking. But the more I dug, the more I realized that it’s not just a global problem. I heard a story of a restaurant in Berkeley, Causes’ headquarters for 3 years now, that was shut down after the police found slaves from India being kept in horrific conditions in the back-room of the restaurant for years. I read a story about a couple in Irvine, California that kept a 10 year old Egyptian girl as a domestic servant, requiring her to nanny and perform housekeeping duties. These stories haunt and enrage me but I found a glimmer of hope.
Through Causes, I’ve found a number of organizations refusing to be paralyzed by this overwhelming problem.
To name a few:
- The Not for Sale Campaign is building a global movement of abolitionists that support anti-slavery projects in the United States and abroad.
- The A21 Campaign focuses on sex slavery in Europe. This young nonprofit has a thriving community on Causes and just finished a fundraising project to provide holiday gifts to the women in their programs.
- GEMS, Girls Educational and Mentoring Services,
focuses on providing transitional services for young girls to help them move on from sex trafficking into healthy, productive lives through counseling, job training, and educational serviices.
I hope you’ll join me in taking action today. Whether it’s joining one of these causes, donating whatever you can, or joining an anti-trafficking coalition in your city, this growing movement needs your help. Human trafficking is illegal everywhere – but it’s still a growing problem. These groups are bringing together people from churches, community centers, moms, kids, business leaders, videographers, tech geeks, and college kids. But until the number of slaves in the world drops to 0, we need you too.
Her story led me on a fact-finding mission about global slavery. I learned that there are many types of slavery: sex slavery, forced labor, child slavery, and more than 27 million people are enslaved today. Slavery is one of the largest illegal industries in the world, right up there with arms and drug trafficking. But the more I dug, the more I realized that it’s not just a global problem. I heard a story of a restaurant in Berkeley, Causes’ headquarters for 3 years now, that was shut down after the police found slaves from India being kept in horrific conditions in the back-room of the restaurant for years. I read a story about a couple in Irvine, California that kept a 10 year old Egyptian girl as a domestic servant, requiring her to nanny and perform housekeeping duties. These stories haunt and enrage me but I found a glimmer of hope.
Through Causes, I’ve found a number of organizations refusing to be paralyzed by this overwhelming problem.
To name a few:
- The Not for Sale Campaign is building a global movement of abolitionists that support anti-slavery projects in the United States and abroad.
- The A21 Campaign focuses on sex slavery in Europe. This young nonprofit has a thriving community on Causes and just finished a fundraising project to provide holiday gifts to the women in their programs.
- GEMS, Girls Educational and Mentoring Services,
focuses on providing transitional services for young girls to help them move on from sex trafficking into healthy, productive lives through counseling, job training, and educational serviices.
I hope you’ll join me in taking action today. Whether it’s joining one of these causes, donating whatever you can, or joining an anti-trafficking coalition in your city, this growing movement needs your help. Human trafficking is illegal everywhere – but it’s still a growing problem. These groups are bringing together people from churches, community centers, moms, kids, business leaders, videographers, tech geeks, and college kids. But until the number of slaves in the world drops to 0, we need you too.
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