This Anti-Human Trafficking Device created by a group of Middle Schoolers makes top 10 list in National Contest!
We've got BIG news for you, and you, and you!
Hello Activists,
We’ve got some exciting news hot off the press for you all this week! Our very fun and talented co-writer, Ximena, just got engaged to her very special beau, Andrew!🥳💍✨
Send lots of love and happy feelings to this newly engaged couple!
…
And without further ado, enjoy this weeks newsletter!
Let’s take action together
The UK Government is planning to make life even harder for wrongly detained survivors of human trafficking, by making it more difficult to be released from prison-like detention.
If the changes the Government proposes are passed, we will see prison-like treatment instead of protection and support for survivors of trafficking.
This means that fewer victims will be willing to speak out for fear of being treated like a criminal once they escape from their traffickers.
Anti-Slavery International is spearheading a UK campaign calling on MPs to sign up for a Parliamentary motion that could secure a debate and potentially end this harmful plan. Please write to your MP now asking them to sign up for the motion by 22 April to allow people in current bondage to live freely and with dignity.
👉 Take a minute to submit your letter here
Click here to learn more about our “why”.
As always, thanks for being part of our growing community of activists and as a reminder, we love hearing from you! All feedback is welcome!
This Week..
ACTIVIST OF THE WEEK:
Nick Grono
Photo credit to: WordPress
Nick is the inaugural CEO of the Freedom Fund which is the world's first private donor fund dedicated to ending slavery and is an ambitious seven-year effort to raise and deploy $100 million to combat modern slavery. It was launched by President Bill Clinton at the Clinton Global Initiative in September 2013.
Prior to this, Nick was the CEO of the Walk Free Foundation, a leading international actor in the fight against modern slavery. During his tenure, Walk Free built a global movement with over 5 million supporters, launched the first ever Global Slavery Index, and joined with Humanity United and the Legatum Foundation to establish the Freedom Fund.
Before Walk Free, Nick was the Deputy President and Chief Operating Officer of the International Crisis Group (ICG), the world’s leading conflict prevention NGO, headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. At ICG he was responsible for the oversight and management of ICG’s programs and operations in some thirty countries around the world. Nick has testified on conflict and human rights issues before the European, UK, Dutch, and Australian Parliaments.
He has written widely on international justice, conflict prevention, human rights and modern slavery, with opinion pieces published in the International New York Times, the Guardian, Foreign Policy, the Christian Science Monitor, and the Boston Globe, amongst others. He is also the co-chair of the Jo Cox Foundation, and a board member of Girls Not Brides, the Global Partnership to End Child Marriage.
Nick is a lawyer by background and, prior to ICG, he was Chief of Staff and National Security Adviser to the Australian Attorney-General. He has a law degree with first class honours from the University of Sydney and a Master’s in Public Policy from Princeton University.
👉 Check out this recent blog post written by the Freedom Fund entitled: Preventing Trafficking and Protecting Vulnerable Young Women Through Economic Empowerment
FOR YOUR EYES:
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: National Center on Sexual Exploitation
Unseen: The Boy Victims Of The Sex Trade, Part I: Right or wrong, the noise around sexual abuse and exploitation subjected onto women often drowns out the experiences of male victims and survivors. Much of this is to do with the fact that women hold the majority rate of impact with this sort of crime. When discussing human trafficking it’s easy to acknowledge that males are impacted to a certain degree… but only by labor trafficking, right? The truth is, boys and men are also affected by sexual exploitation and trafficking. In 2015, a national survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that nearly 4 million men had been victims of sexual violence just in the previous year. More than 2 million of those men were subjected to unwanted sexual contact, and more than 800,000 said they were “made to penetrate” another person. In addition, LGBTQ men are at an even greater risk than heterosexual men: More than 40 percent of gay men and 47 percent of bisexual men say they have been sexually victimized, compared compared with 21 percent of straight men.
👉Find the full report, here
👉Check out this recent article by the Washington Post discussing this topic, here
Photo credit to: Fox 5 Atlanta
Georgia students' anti-human trafficking device makes finals of national contest: A bright group of girls from a Tucker Middle School created an innovative silent alarm that could be placed like a fire alarm in airplane bathrooms. If a victim of human trafficking triggers the alarm, it alerts flight attendants, pilots, and the authorities. The device also releases an adhesive for the victim to inconspicuously wear so that they can be tracked after getting off the plane. They were selected as 1 of 10 finalists in Samsung’s Solve For Tomorrow, contest.
Voting will continue through the month of April and if this team wins, they’ll receive a Grand Prize of $130,000.
👉Vote for the Tucker Middle School team, here!
Photo credit to: Facebook
Searching for a child in a private world: Sarah Gardner is the Vice President of External Affairs at Thorn which is a non-profit building technology to defend children from sexual abuse. She helped lead Thorn's efforts to win the TED Audacious Prize in April 2019, creating a plan to eliminate child sexual abuse from the internet. Listen to her 15 minute TEDxWarwick entitled Searching for a Child in a Private World, where she examines why online child protection cuts across some of the most controversial topics of our day, and challenges viewers to help build a world where every child can live free from abuse. In 2021, with movement towards encryption well-underway, one expert asks: how do we ensure child safety in an increasingly private online world?
👉Read this article on Why Vulnerable Kids Depend on Government & Big Tech Getting Data Privacy Laws Right, here.
Photo credit to: National Sexual Violence Resource Center
Why Many Survivors Do Not Self-Identify: When discussing the nuances of Human Trafficking and how one may exit “the game” it’s important to talk about their mindset as a victim of Human Trafficking. The reason behind this, is due in part to the amount of power and control a trafficker exerts to his/her victims, can create barriers to victim self-identification. If a victim cannot self-identify and/or see they are in a trafficking situation, exiting can be difficult. The writer of this article, Dr. Shobana Powell, is a clinical social worker, community organizer, and human rights activist advocating at the intersection of gender-based violence and racial justice.
FOR YOUR EARS:
Photo credit to: Unsplash
Protecting Trafficked and At-Risk Youth: Federal and State Laws Explained: (podcast, 43 minutes) In this three-part series we focus on child welfare’s response to youth victims of human trafficking who are in out-of-home placements. Experts explain federal laws related to human trafficking (in this first episode), it's translation by the states (second episode), and implementation by those providing services to trafficked youth (third episode).
👉Find the second part of this series, here.
Photo credit to: Fight the New Drug
True Justice Will Be Unique: Working Toward Justice in the Ever-Changing World of Human Trafficking: (podcast, 51 minutes) In this podcast episode, you’ll here from Kirsta Melton, Chief Executive Officer of the Institute to Combat Trafficking and the Deputy Criminal Chief of the Human Trafficking and Transnational Organized Crime Section of the Attorney General of Texas. She explores the evolution of human trafficking and its scope worldwide, how technology has both helped and hindered efforts to stop human trafficking, her involvement in the takedown of Backpage.com, and how the Institute to Combat Trafficking is working to decrease human trafficking through on-location programs, trainings, and investigation/prosecution assistance.
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