End Child Labor

“End Child Labor” is a print created by Julio. To view Julio’s prints and his full collection, click here.

 

3-Day Raid Saves Children From Prostitution

Three-day FBI Raid Rescues 105 Children From Prostitution As 150 Arrested

FBI agents have rescued more than 100 children forced into prostitution by sex traffickers, during a three-day sweep across the US.

As part of Operation Cross Country, 150 people were arrested on suspicion of being involved in the sexual exploitation of children.

The raids took place in 76 cities, representing the largest such enforcement action to date, according to an FBI release.

Announcing the arrests, Ron Hosko, assistant director of the bureau’s Criminal Investigative Division, said: “Child prostitution remains a persistent threat to children across America.

“This operation serves as a reminder that these abhorrent crimes can happen anywhere and that the FBI remains committed to stopping this cycle of victimization and holding the criminals who profit from this exploitation accountable.”

The sweep, the seventh such nationwide operation, was conducted as part of the FBI’s Innocence Lost National Initiative, which seeks to bring together state and federal level bodies to crackdown on child prostitution. Agents recovered 105 sexually exploited children in the course of the operation.

Since its creation in 2003, the programme has identified and rescued 2,700 children who have been forced into prostitution. Arrests made during the raids have resulted in prison sentences of up to 50 years for child sex traffickers.

This article is taken from The Guardian and written by Matt Williams.

Child Labor

In 2011, UNICEF estimated around 150 million children in developing countries, between the ages of 5-14, were involved in child labor.

This content is cited from UNICEF.

Average Price of a Slave

Picture cited from The CNN Freedom Project

Your Guide to Fair Trade Certified Chocolate

Facts about Chocolate:

• 70% of the worlds cocoa comes from the Ivory Coast in Africa.
• More than 600,000 children who live in this region work on cocoa fields
• 284,000 children work in dangerous conditions
• In Cote d’Ivoire on the Ivory coast 40-50% of children between 5 and 14 years of age work full time.
• 15,000 are captured, beaten, forced to work, underfed and not paid.
• Many of these children are trafficked from other African countries like Mali.
• Major chocolate companies know this but still buy from the criminals who run these plantations.

Unless you shop at Whole Foods or another natural food store, you are not likely to find many Fair Trade Certified items. However, here are a few Chocolates you can find and a few you should stay away from.

Sharedhope.org

Shared Hope International exists to rescue and restore women and children in crisis. We are leaders in a worldwide effort to prevent and eradicate sex trafficking and slavery through education and public awareness.

Sexual Slavery. The term preferred by Shared Hope International in reference to human trafficking. Shared Hope expresses their reasoning, “Speak to a victim, and you will not hear that she was “trafficked.” You will hear that she was traumatically raped and brutalized by someone whose sole purpose was to take away her personhood and convert her body into cash. You will hear her tell how men of every age and description act out their violent fantasies on her, and how she becomes both a joke and a criminal in the eyes of her community. Hear her story and it will be clear that she has no one in the world to be her defender.”

Shared Hope International is a fantastic non-profit organization that works with local organizations to fight sexual slavery. Since 1998, they have conquered the world of human trafficking through three action-oriented imperatives: prevent, rescue & restore, and bring justice. Within these three actions, they specifically help the victims of the sex trade, offering safe shelter, therapy, spiritual and physical healing, education and vocational training, and strong dedication to transforming policy and legislation within the law to  provide protection and justice for these victims. While working hand in hand with victims, they also promote community awareness, offering many different training sessions on specific issues or for specific audiences.

This organization is working hard to transform the lives of the sex trade victims, but needs you to help. There are may ways for you to get involved at Shared Hope International:

• Donate
• Shop at the SHI Store
• Host Your Own Event
• Take the Pledge– Become a Defender
• Volunteer
• Become an Ambassador of Hope
• Sign a Petition
• Request more Materials
• Sponsor a Billboard in your Community
• Become a Fan on Facebook

To find out more about Shared Hope International, click here.

Redlight Children

While on a trip to Cambodia in 2002, Guy Jacobson was approached by a group of young girls between the ages of 5-7. One of them offered him this proposition: “I yum yum very good, I no money today, Mama San boxing me (the madam of the brothel will beat me up.)” She was only about six-years-old. Jacobson walked away from this encounter horrified, but also with the determination to do something about the child prostitution he had just been exposed to. With this determination, Jacobson founded Redlight Children. Redlight Children’s main mission is to “end the demand for child slavery and exploitation,” and they do this by raising awareness and fighting against this horrible injustice. One of the many ways Redlight Children approaches this mission is through film and mass media. Jacobson is also the president of Priority Films, a production company dedicated to creating “low budget” but “high quality” films about child slavery and exploitation. Priority Films has already produced a number of films including K11 Project (named after one of the largest brothel areas in Cambodia), “the most comprehensive film project about child trafficking and child sexual exploitation to date,” and Holly, a critically acclaimed feature film. Check out the Redlight Children website to find out more.