Child Trafficking is Happening in Your Neighborhood

Hi everybody,

I was recently invited to attend a UNICEF speakers event focusing on child trafficking and the atrocious ways adults often abuse children. 

The invitation I recieved for this educational outing.

Child trafficking happens all over the world, it might even be happening in your own neighborhood. Dr. Susu Thatun, a chid protection specialist, spoke about trafficking and migration with regards to her work with UNICEF. 

Me with Dr. Susu Thatun ~  s

What exactly is child trafficking and why is it happening so close to you? 

The US is considered one of the major destinations for trafficked victims. Anyone can be traficked regardless of gender, citizenship, education, class, and age. 

A map of America, and it's trafficking levels.

Child trafficking has been compared to modern-day slavery that subjects children, women, and men to force, fraud, or oppress for the purpose of exploitation. 

Sad Fact:  More than 1.2 million children are trafficked around the world every year, and this number is increasing. 

Trafficked children can be forced into three main industries including, sexual trafficking,  labor trafficking, and domestic servitude.

Sexual trafficking includes prostitution, pornography and sex tourism. Sexual trafficking occurs in everyday places such as nail salons, truck stops, massage parlors, and online solicitation where children are forced to sell their bodies to strangers.

Sadly, most women and children trafficked are uneductated, poor, and live their lives vulnerable to men. 

They are often sold by their families then brought and held captive in America. 

Some slaves are forced to work in factories making tennis shoes and other every-day items we use. 

Nike has allegedly used child labor for years.

Child slave labor produces many products we currently use, such as gold, sugarcane, coal, cotton, rice, tobacco, cacao, diamonds, garments, bricks and carpets. 

A large amount of exploitive labor is done in agricultural work. 

A young boy in a Bangladesh silver factory, imprisoned where he has no life.

Here's an easy way for you to tell if a company has made a product without child labor.  Find the "Fair Trade" symbol, indicating the item was not made by a child slave.

Fairtrade Labeling Organization International

Another form of slavery is when women and children are sold to be houskeepers without any compensation. This is called domestic slavery.

A ten year old Egyptian girl, Shyima Hall,  was sold by her parents and smuggled to a family in Orange Country. She was forced to live a miserable life as a personal maid, forced to sleep on a bare, dirty mattress in a windowless garage. She lived in squalor, was denied doctor appointments, kept out of school and the family called her "stupid girl". 

Shyima was rescued after a tip from a neighbor. She has since gone on to college and has become an American citizen. 

Shyima Hall telling her story as a domestic slave, and the family she was forced to care for. 

Supply and Demand

As long as there are bad people willing to buy children there will be bad people willing to sell them. 

We need to be aware of the products we buy. 

We need to prosecute traffickers. 

And we need to support organizations who fight for the children.

Here's a link to my fundraising page for UNICEF. Please consider donating to end child trafficking. 

http://inside.unicefusa.org/goto/emanzadventures

Thanks, 

Emmanuel 

How could anyone do this?

When I heard of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary school I felt confused and saddened. How could anyone do something so horrible to innocent children?

The innocents were only a couple of years younger than me, with the rest of their lives to live. They probably jumped out of their cars that morning, quickly kissing their mom or dad good bye not ever thinking that would be their last moments with them.

Then they die.

How devastated the parents must be.

The community must feel helpless, no one was able to prevent the shooting.

Even though the shooter killed himself, he still got away with his crime.

I'm so sorry for the families who've lost their loved ones.

Let this not go unnoticed.

Our country should be safe.

We want the best for our children.

Thanks,

Emmanuel