Black History Month: The Importance of Advocating for Racial Justice Within the Anti-Trafficking Movement
Take action to abolish forced prison labor!
Hello Activists,
We hope you had a great start to February and that you will join us in celebrating Black History Month! We encourage you to read about the origins of Black History Month, its significance, and the importance of advocating for communities of color in all areas including the area of human trafficking, which disproportionally impacts Black women and girls in the United States. This week we featured a blog post about the ongoing yet unnoticed trafficking crisis impacting Black communities and a podcast about forced prison labor. We hope you can spread awareness and educate others on these very important issues that don’t always come up in conversations about human trafficking but are nevertheless deeply embedded in this movement. Thank you for fighting against exploitation with us and as always, we welcome your feedback!
Let’s take action together
Prison labour is a form of modern American slavery used by multiple large corporations across the world. Under the 13th amendment to the United States Constitution, slavery was merely reformed rather than abolished. Racial justice in the USA cannot be achieved until prison labour is abolished completely.
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This Week..
ACTIVISTS OF THE WEEK:
Josue Ango
Photo credit to: US Department of State
Josue Ango is a driving force against gender based violence and human trafficking in Burkina Faso. He serves as the National Coordinator for the Working Group on Child Protection including Trafficking in Persons, which brings together Burkinabe government agencies, and national and international organizations, to coordinate anti-trafficking efforts.
Throughout his career, Josue Ango demonstrated an unwavering commitment to building the Burkinabe government’s capacity to address gender based violence and trafficking. Among many of his efforts, he has organized and conducted trainings for numerous stakeholders, including government officials, social workers, police officers, and traditional and religious leaders on children rights and also drafted the National Program to Combat Child Labor in the mining sector, which included new provisions to strengthen protections for children. In addition, he played a critical role in recognizing the need for and developing a solution to establish stronger cooperation between Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire to combat cross-border human trafficking.
Recognizing the interacted economic issues that create vulnerability to trafficking, Josue Ango has also worked tirelessly to reduce the destitution of youth in Burkina Faso’s two major cities, Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso, through projects focused on the social and economic empowerment and reintegration of homeless youth. In recognition of his efforts to combat trafficking, he received the US Department TIP Award in 2018.
FOR YOUR EYES:
The Two FBI Agents Killed in a Florida Shooting Were Dedicated to Preventing Crimes Against Children
MindGeek Executives Testify Before Ethics Committee Over Allegations of Illegal Content on Pornhub
NBC On the Boarder of Death: Temporary Farmworkers Exploited Under H-2A Visa Program
Danette Mitchell: Human Trafficking Crisis in Black Communities
FOR YOUR EARS:
👉 If you enjoy staying informed about the stories, initiatives, and people within the counter human trafficking movement, share to tell others about it:
FOR YOUR EYES
Photo credit to: CNN
The Two FBI Agents Killed in a Florida Shooting Were Dedicated to Preventing Crimes Against Children: FBI Special Agents Daniel Alfin and Laura Schwartzenberger, who died in a Florida shootout on Tuesday, devoted their careers to investigating crimes against children and were answering to an investigation into child sexual abuse.
Photo credit to: CTV News
MindGeek Executives Testify Before Ethics Committee Over Allegations of Illegal Content on Pornhub: MindGeek executives David Marmorstein Tassillo and Feras Antoon testified in front of Canada's federal ethics committee on Friday after Pornhub was accused of profiting off of and hosting child sexual abuse material.
Photo credit to: NBC News
NBC On the Boarder of Death: Temporary Farmworkers Exploited Under H-2A Visa Program: The Trump administration expanded the H-2A visa program allowing farmworkers to labor in the United States. However, many have spoken out against the numerous abuses and exploitative practices they’ve faced in the United States agricultural sector.
Photo credit to: Marketplace
Human Trafficking Crisis in Black Communities: Danette Mitchell writes about the ongoing crisis of increased human trafficking in Black communities amidst the pandemic and the overall apathy of the media and law enforcement to address the problem. Read this blog post to find out more!
FOR YOUR EARS:
Photo credit to: Apple Podcasts
Ending Human Trafficking Podcast 242: (podcast, 28 minutes) Dr. Sandie Morgan and International Modern Slavery & Human Trafficking Response Coordinator, Priscilla Santos discuss the new team put in place in the Salvation Army organization. This team is now responsible for a new approach by the Salvation Army to end human trafficking. Learn more!
Photo credit to: NPR
NPR The Uncounted Workforce: (podcast, 9 minutes) This podcast looks closer at the prison industrial complex and the overlooked issue of prison labor which has been a part of the U.S. economy since at least the late 19th century.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this issue of Liberty Line, a weekly newsletter dedicated to providing you with the most pertinent information surrounding the stories, initiatives, and people within the counter human trafficking and sexual exploitation movement. To learn more about the The Liberty Coalition, visit: www.thelibertycoalition.com