8 Things You Should Care About: Part II

Following on from yesterdays post about the different issues that we must consider when we want to do something about human trafficking, here are my second four. -  Gender Inequality

When you consider that 80% (US trafficking in persons report) of the transnational victims of human trafficking are women and girls we are forced to ask questions about equality of women around the world.  Many of us don't feel this inequality so vividly in our western lives but the undercurrents are there.

They are there when we challenge gender roles, they are there when we look at parenting styles, they are there when we open our newspapers, in the lyrics of songs on the radio and in the representation of women in our governments and boardrooms.  Unfortunately we still have a long way to go to and until we see brave men and women promoting, supporting and empowering each other in all areas of achievement, life and leadership, we cannot expect to see changes that particularly view females as weaker, easy targets and prey.  And that is just the challenge for more developed countries.

If we then take in the treatment and view of females in developing countries, you can see how trafficking thrives:

-  Dowry systems in South Asia put a price on girls from a young age, this tradition sets the girl up as saleable goods in her own eyes, and everybody else’s.

-  Many developing countries have traditional community attitudes and practices that tolerate violence against women.  This facilitates trafficking.

-  Nearly half of women in Uganda and more than half in Tanzania reported having been physically abused by a male teacher.  Education and opportunities are compromised.

-  Lack of legitimate and fulfilling employment opportunities for women, particularly in rural developing communities can lead to risky migration decisions.

Who are the women and girls around you?  Are you promoting their worth and value?  Are you encouraging them to lead?

-  Poverty

Traffickers exploit need. The people they prey on are those struggling with poverty, desperate to improve their lot in life. Whether it's a family in Dehli with 8 mouths to feed or a family in Derry barely surviving below the breadline; poverty is a brutal force that can drive people to desperation and give exploiters a green light.  We need to be tuned in to poverty around us if we want to see who could be vulnerable to being trafficked.  This isn't an exercise in scaremongering, but the reality is harsh.  How can you tackle poverty where you are?  It could be something simple like donating to a local food bank or hamper programme.   How can you tackle poverty around the world?  Keep up with organisations like Oxfam and Save the Children for ways to get involved or participate in their work.

-  Sexualisation

I've discussed the prevalence of over-sexualised music and imagery in the mass media on the blog before.  It's not a secret that we are ALL exposed and lured in by the sexy things of our culture.  It's like a car crash in the middle of the road and we're all snatching a nosey as we drive past.  Some stop to look longer than others - literally buying into meaningless sexualised culture provoked and promoted by sleazy outlets on our magazine racks, satellite tv stations and video games.  I'm bored of it all.  This culture of value on the most provocative headlines is wasting away our sense of worth and is turning people into commodities to be consumed.

Did you know that the average age of first Internet exposure to pornography is 11 years old?  ELEVEN.  Where do you even go from there?

The more we continue to let this issue spiral, the more responsible we all are for the desensitisation to sexual violence and the increase of exploitation.  Campaigns like No More Page Three are calling out the unnecessary and blatantly misogynistic traditions that most of us have come to accept - add your voice to this.  Where can we inject dignity and place value in our culture that redeems this?

-  Ethical Living

Do you buy stuff?  Do you know where it comes from?  You would be surprised to know how many of the everyday products we buy and use are contaminated by practices that exploit and abuse human rights.  It's a tricky business sourcing stuff that is made ethically but we can be wiser and more deliberate about our consumer habits.

Our family is committed to traffik-free chocolate - chocolate that is certified by Fairtrade/Rainforest Alliance/UTZ.  Stop the Traffik has been leading the way in campaigning the big chocolate companies and informing the masses:

'Over a third of the cocoa that makes the world's chocolate comes from the Ivory Coast, Africa. It's highly likely that the beans that make your favourite chocolate bar come from here.  Thousands of boys as young as 10yrs old, from the Cote D'Ivoire and neighbouring countries, are trafficked to pick and harvest these beans. Their freedom is taken and they are forced to work long hours on the cocoa plantations without receiving any money for their work. They are beaten and work in dangerous conditions using machetes to open the cocoa beans.'

It's just one small change, but if the average person spends £200 on chocolate a year, I know where I'd rather give my cash.  You can join in too - Stop the Traffik are calling people to action on this to mark EU Anti-Trafficking Day by signing up to a thunderclap to bombard one of the biggest chocolate companies to be accountable for promises they have made to make their chocolate 'traffik-free'.  DO IT HERE! 

Another go-to website for ethical information is Ethical Consumer.  It rates companies and brands based on several different criteria.  Find out where your stuff comes from.  Make sure you are contributing to this issue with your wallet.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on some of this stuff - do you agree?  What have I missed?  Do you feel like there is something within the last two posts that you can grab onto and do something about?  I hope you can.  We need you.

8 Things You Should Care About

I don't often talk about my work on here.  I reckon most people know what I do and keep up with our social media outlets for information but this week feels significant.  This Friday, October 18th marks EU Anti-trafficking Day. I work in this field, around this issue every single day.  There isn't a day in my life that goes by now without some sort of conversation about slavery and exploitation - so most days feel like anti-trafficking days to me.  However, I know that the issue of modern day slavery can sometime seem so overwhelming to someone not so engrossed or familiar.  The statistics are suffocating:

21 million people in forced labour in the world today. That's about the same as the population of the whole of Australia.

Every country in the world is effected by this crime.  Source countries, destination countries, internal trafficking.

Sexual exploitation.  Forced labour.  Domestic servitude.  Forced crime.

80% of victims are women and girls.

I could go on and on and on.

But how do we connect to it all?  How do we make sense of numbers and figures in order to not be paralysed by the scale of the problem?

My job requires me to do just that.  To think about how every day people can engage in this issue, find what they can offer and put it to use.  Big ways and small - it all matters.

So I've been thinking about some of the ways you might not know that you can care about human trafficking that really make a difference.  You don't need to be on the front line giving inspiring speeches, debating policy and campaigning.

Over the next 2 posts, I'm going to share 8 important issues that are connected to human trafficking.

If you are wondering how to connect - here are four things you can start caring about today:

-  Education

“I think of it often and imagine the scene clearly. Even if they come to kill me, I will tell them what they are trying to do is wrong, that education is our basic right.”  – Malala Yousafzai

Malala is quite right.  The right to education is something we should all be passionate about.  Informed and empowered young people around the world is what we need.  With education, certainly comes power.  The power to understand, to make good choices, to have opportunities that can quash the vulnerabilities that oppressors and traffickers prey upon.

Whether you live in Belfast or Bangladesh - protecting and promoting education must be a priority.   Do you thank the teachers at your children's school?  The Times reported in September that "Currently the only official guidance teachers have to talk about sex and relationships to pupils was last updated in 2000, some 13 years ago, and does not mention internet porn, sexting or social media." - I'll get to the issue of sexualisation as a big contributing factor in this issue tomorrow - but if you think it's important that we educate young people about this stuff rather than let Channel 4 do it, you can add your voice to The Times campaign with a few clicks on the keyboard here.

-  Getting to know your neighbour

I blogged about this before here and for AskWhatNow - seeing what goes on in your neighbourhood, investing and connecting to your local community can be life-changing.  For you and for others.  Livability UK states that '5 million people aged over 60 say they now consider the television to be their only source of company'.  This statistic is just an example of how disconnected we actually are to each other, in an age where we are technologically able to be connected the most.   This message is so simple, but less practiced in our society than ever before.  If trafficking exists in our housing developments and estates - how will you spot it if you don't know who you live around?  How can you create a culture of 'looking out for each other' where you rest your head?

-  Social Inclusion

Similar to getting to know your neighbour - how intentionally inclusive are you?  Human trafficking thrives in places where people are isolated and hidden.   My co-workers at CIP are a shining example of social inclusion for the migrant & ethnic minority communities here in our area.  I have been moved to tears seeing and hearing the stories of how lonely people far from home have been welcomed, educated and befriended by the programmes CIP runs.  Are there people in your town that are hidden?  That don't know how to access support, friendship and care?  Find somewhere to volunteer.  This matters.

-  Job Security

At the end of the day, if we can't get job security and employment rights sorted here within a democratic society, what hope is there for people in countries with more corrupt governments?  Exploitation is exploitation.  We can dress it up but it still smells the same.  Take zero hour contracts for example.

The BBC explains: 'Zero-hours contracts, or casual contracts, allow employers to hire staff with no guarantee of work.  They mean employees only work as and when they are needed by employers, often at short notice, and are only paid for the hours they work.  Some zero-hours contracts oblige workers to take the shifts they are offered, others do not.  Sick pay is often not included, though holiday pay should be, in line with working time regulations.'

With the increase of zero-hours work contracts (up to 1 million people in the UK) in the job market, there is a real weakness in the system leaving people with very little security, financially fragile which can often lead to vulnerability.  Some workers have disclosed the impact such uncertainty has had on their mental health - noting breakdowns and depression.  Big companies like Sports Direct, Pub chain JD Wetherspoons and Cineworld have up to 80% of their staff on zero-hours contracts.

This murky underworld has also seeped into academia and exposed the levels of discrimination that go along within it.   According to research carried out by UCU nationally, 'permanent contracts are most likely to be awarded to University and College teachers 'who's face fits within the existing culture of an institution' while female lecturers, black staff, lesbian and gay workers are disproportionally likely to be employed on 0 hour contracts.'

All of this is connected to how we value each other and what we contribute to society - a core theme in the issue of exploitation and trafficking.  Does your employer use these contracts?  Are you promoting equality and fairness in your job in all areas?

*steps gracefully off the soapbox*

Have a think over these four issues.  Make the connections to your own life, views, decisions.  Is there something here you can do differently/better/new?

I'll be back tomorrow with four more issues to stir the pot...