Time for electronics industry to end supply chain slavery
By Dan Viederman, CEO Verité
If you are reading this on a tablet, smart phone or computer monitor, then you may be holding a product of forced labor.
Verité's two-year study of labor conditions in electronics manufacturing in Malaysia has found that one in three foreign workers surveyed was in a condition of forced labor.
Because many of the most recognizable brands source components of their products from Malaysia, almost any device you purchase may have come in contact with modern-day slavery.
FULL STORYRace on to raise $1m in a day to combat human trafficking in U.S.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGcesK0doZA&w=560&h=315%5D
By Leif Coorlim, CNN
A U.S. national campaign is under way to raise more than a million dollars in 24 hours.
The Everyone’s Kids, Everyone Gives campaign is working to raise $1 million for more than 100 non-profit organizations united in the fight against human-trafficking and modern-day slavery.
Like many other hidden criminal issues, accurate statistics on trafficking can be difficult to obtain. Globally, more than 20 million people are believed to held in slavery, according to the International Labour Organization.
The U.S. government estimates anywhere between 100,000 and 300,000 children could be “at risk” of being trafficked each year.
The U.S. State Department also states as many as 17,500 foreign nationals are trafficked into the United States each year as well.
“Americans need to know that this tragedy is happening here at home, under our noses, and is a reality of our times especially with the influx of child trafficking happening online through sites like Backpage and Craigslist,” says Bonnie Calvin, one of the event’s organizers.
The 24-hour “giving day” will take place on September 16. The aim is to connect donors with information about the issue and the organizations working to end child slavery and sex trafficking in the U.S.
Non-profit partners of the campaign include: GEMS, Humanity United, Polaris, The McCain Institute, and Youthlink.
“These organizations work day in and day out with victims and survivors of child trafficking,” says Calvin. “They provide survivor's recovery services like education, housing, therapy and job placement.
"Beyond that, they provide the hope and direction survivors need to get their lives back on track and pointed to a brighter future.”
"This is what real empowerment looks like to victims and survivors of human trafficking,” says Rani Hong, a sex trafficking victim and now a United Nations Special Advisor for victims.
“Everyone’s Kids, Everyone Gives” is the result of a 2013 Ted challenge. The crowdfunding platform, Razoo.com, is also committing an additional $50,000 in cash prizes to nonprofit groups that receive the most donations on the Giving Day.
“We should not stand for child trafficking and the sexual slavery of children anywhere in the world and especially here at home.” says Calvin.
“We can be an example for the world to follow if we tackle this problem head on and eradicate it forever.”
While India's girls are aborted, brides are wanted
Cultural preference for boys in parts of India results in some of the largest imbalances between males and females in the world. And that creates a demand for brides that human traffickers are willing to meet.
Film maker Carl Gierstorfer visited villages where brides fetch a price and teenage girls are snatched from their families. And he met the people who are fighting to stop this vicious cycle.
Read his story and watch some of his video
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The Numbers
