Opinion: U.S. should stop criminalizing sex trafficking victims
Editor's note: Malika Saada Saar is the founder and executive director of the Rebecca Project for Human Rights, a nonprofit organization that advocates for justice, dignity and policy reform for vulnerable women and girls in the United States and in Africa.
Americans are right to get angry at the violence against women and girls in developing nations: the Congo rape camps, the widespread practices of female genital mutilation in West Africa and the infanticide of females in China.
Our disgust at the violence committed against women and girls is heightened by the culture of impunity that allows the perpetrators of these crimes to go free without condemnation or punishment. That culture also turns victims into criminals, such as the girls in Thailand who are beaten and raped and then ostracized by their families and society.
But our indignation must be turned inward, too. Here in the United States, there is a similar culture of impunity when young American girls are sold for sex. FULL POST
Promise of better life leads to nightmare of sexual slavery
Across Mexico, young girls dream of escaping their small towns for the big cities. They dream of a good job and a better life in the United States.
That was the case of "Claudia," a name given to protect her identity. Her dream of a better life quickly evolved into a nightmare. FULL POST
'Women for sale' store highlights sex trafficking in Israel
A designer clothing store, a comic book store, a tattoo parlor and a ... women for sale store.
This unusual window display shocked shoppers at a busy Tel Aviv mall in October when among the run-of-the-mill shops, they came across a group of young women standing in a storefront.
On them were price tags detailing their age, weight, height, dimensions and country of origin.
Organizers said the campaign is designed to bring awareness to women trafficking. It aims to collect enough signatures to pressure the Israeli justice ministry to back legislation that makes it a crime for men to go to prostitutes. FULL POST
More about The CNN Freedom Project
This year CNN will join the fight to end modern-day slavery and shine a spotlight on the horrors of modern-day slavery, amplify the voices of the victims, highlight success stories and help unravel the complicated tangle of criminal enterprises trading in human life.
The 'ugly underbelly of America'
For a special report in December, CNN's Anderson Cooper talked to John Walsh, host of TV's "America's Most Wanted," about human trafficking in the United States. Here's an edited transcript of the interview.
WALSH: It's all - it's all over this country, and I don't think politicians or the criminal justice system has really dealt with it. It's the ugly underbelly of America.
It's something - save the whales is a good thing, save the polar bears, save the Amazon, but this is ugly, ugly stuff. There's three big revenue streams for illegal activity. No. 1 is drugs. We all know that. Tied with number two with illegal arms and guns is sex trade. FULL POST
Former child soldier: 'I'm going to die here'
A young girl forced into sex slavery by Uganda's "Lord's Resistance Army" is teaching other children about her nightmare.
The Facts: Average price of a slave
In 1809, the average price for a slave was $40,000 (adjusted to today's money). Two hundred years later, in 2009, the average price was just $90, according to Kevin Bales of freetheslaves.org.
The CNN Freedom Project: How to help
The issue of modern-day slavery in The CNN Freedom Project may spur many readers and viewers to ask: How can I help?
CNN is working with more than 100 anti-slavery organizations over the course of The CNN Freedom Project, and we also have an in-house team in place to assist readers and viewers with specific questions.
Just e-mail: freedomproject@cnn.com
• Want to donate to a person or organization you saw or read about on The CNN Freedom Project?
• Want to report an instance of slavery happening and bring it to the attention to CNN?
• Need to help a potential victim or loved one?
• Want to comment on The CNN Freedom Project?
Again, just e-mail: freedomproject@cnn.com
From slavery to salvation
CNN's Adriana Hauser reports on one deaf-mute immigrant's story of surviving modern-day slavery and living to see better days.
This story originally appeared on CNN.com in 2010.
Tracking human trafficking
In 2010, CNN's Impact Your World went undercover with Aaron Cohen of AbolishSlavery.org, as he tried to rescue child victims of human trafficking. More from Impact Your World
Ending child slavery through education
CNN's Richard Lui visits a school in Ghana dedicated to ending child slavery through education and also talks to a former human trafficker about why he did it.
This story originally appeared on CNN.com in 2010.
Opinion: New revelations about slaves and slave trade
Editor's note: David Eltis and David Richardson are co-authors of the "Atlas of the Transatlantic Slave Trade." Eltis is Robert W. Woodruff professor of history at Emory University and co-editor of the Transatlantic Slave Trade database. Richardson is the director of the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation at the University of Hull, England.
Most students of American history understand that a dramatic re-peopling of North and South America began in the years after Christopher Columbus first landed in the New World. But they may not realize that it was Africa, not Europe, that formed the wellspring of this repopulation process.
In the 3¼ centuries between 1492 and about 1820, four enslaved Africans left the Old World for every European. During those years, Africans comprised the largest forced oceanic migration in the history of the world. Who were they? Who organized the slaving voyages? Which parts of Africa did they come from? How did they reach the Americas? And where exactly did they go?
Strikingly, we can now provide better answers to such questions for Africans than we can for European migrants. The African slave trade reduced people to commodities, but commodities generated profits, and where there were profits there was generally good record-keeping. FULL POST
Every Day in Cambodia
'Money buys injustice'
Looking for a virgin sale every day. CNN investigates with Hollywood star Mira Sorvino.Watch the trailer@cnnfreedom on Twitter
The Numbers
