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Human Trafficking: You Can Help
Today I'm happy to introduce a terrific guest blogger—my friend Kim Jones, who has a passion for the issue of human trafficking. Human trafficking is one the biggest human rights issues of our day. More than 20 million people are currently enslaved. This is more than at the time of transatlantic slave trade. Women, men, girls, and boys are bought and sold throughout our world. Individuals are trafficked for forced labor, domestic work, and for sexual exploitation. Those who have been trafficked for labor or domestic work many times suffer sexual exploitation by their employers. Those at risk of trafficking are typically at the margins of society with little hope.…
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China Dolls and Other Trafficked Humans
I don’t know about you, but in the past when I’ve heard the term “Human Trafficking,” I’ve pictured scenes from the excellent documentary, “Born into Brothels,” (http://www.moviefone.com/movie/born-into-brothels/19335/synopsis) and assumed the problem started and ended in places like Calcutta—far from my own country’s borders. Yet the USA and other relatively wealthy countries are destinations—prime destinations—for not just a few, but for thousands of men, women, and children trafficked primarily from Thailand, Mexico, Guatemala, Philippines, and China. My own home state of Texas has the highest human-trafficking-arrest rate of any of the American states. And while sex exploitation is often involved, people often also get trafficked for labor exploitation. What exactly is human…
