Secret Diary Writer airs her frustrations (again)

Secret Diary writer airs her frustrations.

Now, I know I have now started two of these posts of late having a bit of a moan but this is something I feel I have to get off my chest…

I know all countries around the world are feeling the impact of the current global money madness (am bored of writing and hearing the words rece**ion, cru?ch, dow!-turn and have banned them from my vocabulary) BUT, the following is ridiculous.

You know, I don’t think I need to actually write anything, I’ll just show you two headlines and maybe you can guess why I have come to the conclusion that someone out there has got their priorities all mixed up.

 

Oh the life of an intern

Hello and good afternoon to all of our avid blog readers! I’m a new intern at STOP THE TRAFFIK and here is a conversation I just had with our regular blog poster:

Regular blog writer (in slightly demanding voice); “write a blog post”

Me; “on what?”

Regular blog writer; “whatever”

So here you go! I think I’ll use this podium opportunity to tell you about my experiences thus far in my new role here. Having done a couple of other previous internships, I can happily say that STT is the best I’ve been involved with. Firstly, the guys are an interesting (and interested) bunch of dedicated activists and it’s hard for their passion and commitment not to rub off. So that’s great. Secondly, and this is without doubt the best bit of working here, they actually seem to trust me, appreciate me and genuinely listen to my input and point of view. This may seem insignificant but trust me, being listened to and taken notice of is a scarce condition in internships, so cheers guys!

I’ve been sent on workshops, attended meetings, met activists and collaborators, written letters, sent merchandise out, done research…..everything really! Thirdly, and on a more somber note, I’ve learned a whole load more about the abhorrent modern day trade in human beings and I’ve had my desire to help STOP THE TRAFFIK solidly stirred up. So I’m going to use my last words here to thank you for visiting this website and reading this blog…..and urge you to think about something you can do today, tomorrow or next week to help end the misery experienced by so many people in the UK and world wide. Just a little something, anything, that might help in the fight against trafficking.

Cheers guys! Have a happy afternoon.

Freedom and fashion

Is it just me or is it immensely frustrating that the high street stores are still selling their suspiciously low priced t-shirts which we all know deep down inside have been made inhumanely, unethically and at the expense of innocent peoples’ welfare? We all love a bargain but how much longer will we line the pockets of the ‘fat-cats’ instead of the people who actually deserve it?

Recently I heard about a company called Freed Fashion. They were established in 2007 to raise awareness of the issues of the sex industry and human trafficking in Cambodia whilst employing and training disadvantaged women affected by these issues. Love it.

The founders, Rosie Dobby and Jen Graham, travelled to Phnom Penh in Cambodia to work in partnership with an NGO called Daughters of Cambodia. Daughters assist women in voluntarily leaving the sex industry, provide them with counselling and employs them to make things like such as cakes, jewellery and bags.

Rosie trained 4 young women in t-shirt production and provided them with necessary equipment and training… Freed Fashion was born!

The t-shirts retail at £10 and can be bought through their website www.freedfashion.com. There are two main designs, I’m torn between the irony of walking round with ‘Made in Cambodia’ on my clothes (I am a pasty, red head) or wearing the message ‘Freed’ with pride as a reminder of how free I am and how my t-shirt has set someone free from slavery for life.

So, I’m convinced. This kind of work makes the sort of difference to peoples’ lives that you and I will probably never fully be able to get our heads round but I don’t think £10 is an unreasonable amount to pay for a t-shirt that has set someone free as opposed to worked them senseless for no money at all. No brainer really.

Sadly, the high street stores have been winning until now – production has had to be stopped due to a lack of funding but any profit made on the t-shirts will be donated to Daughters so the welfare of the women is still being put first. How refreshing.

SECRET DIARY WRITER shares her writing

I had to write a piece for a girls teen magazine so thought I’d share it with you….

 

Trading lives

How much does it cost to buy a new summer dress?

How much do you think it would cost to buy the person making the dress?

Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? Surely you can’t buy a person? What may seem ridiculous is actually a sad reality: you can buy a person and they’re not that expensive.

Buying and selling people – know as human trafficking – is the fastest growing global trade. Every year hundreds of thousands (some say millions) of people are up for sale, on the market, available to the highest bidder. And like a summer dress, when it’s been worn or the owner becomes bored, it is sold to someone else and replacement.

Human trafficking is to be taken, tricked or forced into leaving your home and being exploited and treated like a slave in places like a factory, someone’s house or the sex industry. You can be trafficked to another country or just another part of your own city.

Every single day when you’re at school, 420 people will be trafficked internationally.

 

Roshni’s story. I am from a small Indian village. My parents didn’t have enough money to pay for both me and my brother to go to school, so I stay home. Looking for a way to earn money, I asked an employment agency what a girl with little reading and writing skills could do. A wonderful man said he had the perfect job in the fashion industry! I was so excited; I’ve never had fashionable clothes! Now I work in a cramped, dusty, sewing factory in a little side street in a Mumbai slum. I work at least 9 – 12 hours a day, have little to eat and the ‘wonderful accommodation’ turned out to be a mattress on the factory floor with 15 others. The air is so thick with chemicals and dust I find it hard to breath. I had to borrow money to get here so have to keep working until it’s paid off, which could be forever. Taken from the book STOP THE TRAFFIK. People Shouldn’t be Bought and Sold

 

This story is not unusual. All over the world people are being transported into lives they didn’t choose. From being trafficked onto a cocoa plantation in Cote D’Ivoire to an older boyfriend in Northampton forcing you to work as a prostitute, from a country far away to your own high street – it’s happening and 80% of victims are girls and women.

Why women and girls?

Countless facts show that women and girls are more likely to be affected by poverty, more likely to be left in conflict zones, more likely to be in refugee camps, more likely to be economically discriminated against, less likely to go to school and less likely to have absolute control over their own lives, bodies and futures. Women are also objectified, much more than men, in pretty much every society.

OBJECTified. Object. Something you can you buy something you can own.

It’s in these conditions that traffickers select their victims and sew their lies. In a culture where women and girls are worth less, seen as objects and have limited workplace skills, a trafficker doesn’t have to promise the world, just something better with more options, like a job selling ice-cream in London (the 15 year old who took that job was sold in Heathrow airport for £4000 and forced into prostitution).

To learn about issues connecting girls and trafficking, as well as finding out how your story can meet Roshni’s, join STOP THE TRAFFIK’s new campaign START FREEDOM.

If we don’t unite globally to combat trafficking, next to the dress stand at your local market you may soon be able to buy a 13 year old dress maker.

Sign up, get on board: you have the power to make a difference, it’s time to use it.

STOP THE TRAFFIK Vacancies

STOP THE TRAFFIK ACT-v
Regional Coordinator x 4

8 hours/week for 20 months August 2009-March 2011
London, Southwest, Northwest, Northeast. Home-based.

Human trafficking is the world’s fastest growing crime. Whether it’s in clothes you wear, the chocolate you eat, the local sex industry or your favourite Indian restaurant, it affects every community in every country.

STOP THE TRAFFIK is looking for 4 regional coordinators to motivate, facilitate and support the growth of local volunteer groups aged 16 – 25.

The ideal candidate would have experience working with, supporting and motivating young people, knowledge of their region and local communities, project management and excellent communication skills.

For more information and an application pack, please email info@stopthetraffik.org.

Application deadline: 9am Monday 20th July 2009
Interviews to commence the following week

London Theatre goers…

The Maid

“The Maid” is set to be a compelling and thought-provoking production showing at Rich Mix, London’s up-and-coming cross-arts centre.

It is a dark play about the story of a single woman trapped in the sex industry working as a maid. As punters bombard her with phone calls and her world crashes down around her, she is forced to make a decision that would surely change her entire life. This performance will challenge the viewer and reveals the true darkness of human trafficking in the sex industry. This rich theatrical experience definitely should not be missed!

By Shelia White | Directed by Vernon Douglas
An Odd Man Out production
Thurs 25 and Fri 26 June | Venue 1 | 7.30pm | £12, £10 concs

Africa’s trafficked footballers

The Scandal of Africa’s trafficked footballers

“To play for Chelsea is my dream, my family are so happy and well supported now” so intones Didier Drogba, Chelsea’s talismanic, Ivory Coast born striker. Drogba, and other famous African players such as Michael Essien, Emmanuel Eboue and Nwankwo Kanu making their fortune playing in Europe’s premier competitions have become the weavers of dreams for millions of children across Africa. In countries such as Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon the images of these millionaire footballers adorn countless billboards and bedroom walls. Unfortunately, the dreams these figures inspire are increasingly becoming nightmares as unscrupulous ‘agents’ exploit the hopes and ambitions of a generation of boys and young men.

Two ways to exploit…

As the price of young, quality European talent has soared in recent years, clubs across mainland Europe have been looking further afield for their next potential superstars, with Africa providing a wealth of talented players, many of whom have become enormously successful.

Last year, Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA, football’s global governing body, argued that Europe’s richest clubs have been engaging in “despicable” behaviour which amounts to “social and economic rape” as they scour the developing world for talent. Whilst there is no doubt that the behaviour of some clubs needs serious examination, for example the practice of signing players as young as seven on tightly binding contracts, effectively ‘buying’ them from their parents, the more sinister and troubling practices to be found in African football are of cause for far greater concern.

As demand for African players has risen across Europe, so called ‘academies’ have sprung up across Africa, with the problem being particularly acute in western states of Ghana and the Ivory Coast. In Accra, the Ghanaian capital, these ‘academies’ can be little more than an organized kick about under the watchful of eye of the ‘agents’.

For those with a shred of talent, the offer is resoundingly the same, and the stories depressingly similar. An ‘agent’ will approach a player with the offer of a trail for a major European club such as Paris st. Germain, Marseille or Real Madrid. A large fee will be demanded up front to cover the travel expenses and the accommodation, which, depressingly often is raised by the parents of the boy selling their home. Of course, once the boy signed his first professional contract this ‘small’ fee will pale into insignificance. Once this money has been raised, the boy is trafficked to Europe, most commonly through Morocco, into Spain and onto mainland Europe. However, as is becoming increasingly clear, the majority of these boys are simply being trafficked into Europe with no trails lined up whatsoever, and being forced to work on the streets of Europe’s capital cities as hawkers of novelty tat and thieves. As these boys and young men have a bonded debt to their traffickers, are in a strange and foreign country and have no recourse to funds or support networks, they are incredibly vulnerable to exploitation.

Whilst evidence of these children being forced into work is currently patchy and anecdotal, it is clear that the vast majority of these kids are simply being abandoned when they arrive in the destination country. This cruel exploitation makes up just one more element in the global trade in human beings and is a reprehensible element of the global game which needs severe examination. Whilst the major clubs may not explicitly be involved in the trafficking and exploitation young African players, the lure of playing football in Europe is a great draw for many. These clubs need to accept the two way nature of this relationship and take responsibility for the demand side of the issue which clearly lies at their feet.

Football is a great force for global unity and prosperity but this ugly side of the beautiful game needs urgent attention, before its reputation is tarnished forever.

Secret diary of a STOP THE TRAFFIK worker….

Can’t stop. In a rush.

So much to do. So little time.

My to do list….

- Write an article for a London based refugee and asylum seeker magazine

- Set up ACT groups around the country

-  Promote (the rather excellent) Start Freedom

-  Answer 76 emails (yikes!)

-   Advertise for our newly funded ACT V project designed to enlist over 100 new volunteers between the ages of 16 and 25

-  Meet with a lady setting up STOP THE TRAFFIK ACT projects in Bangladesh

- Make a cup of tea

-  Write a blog posting about why women are more vulnerable to trafficking (tomorrow, I promise!)

- Design a lesson on forced street crime

- Train 2 ACT volunteer groups piloting a new excellent research based, intervention project

- Work out how to use a new database system

-  Tweak a document

-  Make a second cup of tea

-  Bake some cookies for my niece

-  Go for a swim

- Organise two 2 hour youth led training workshops

- Other stuff I don’t have time to list

If anyone feels they would like to help, I could really use a good, easy cookie recipe. I am thinking white chocolate and raspberry, please feel free to send me suggestions / tips.  (The last lot I made were a little bit crispy / totally burnt)

Best get cracking…..

Buy? Or don’t buy?

Buy? Or don’t buy?

This test is an initiative of Fairfood International. Fairfood is a non-profit, campaign and lobby organisation that encourages the food industry to make its supply chains sustainable. In this way, Fairfood wants to contribute to fighting global hunger and poverty: ‘Eat fair, beat hunger!’

In the supermarket you have to choose between all kinds of products. When you make these choices, do you also consider how purchases in your shopping-basket are produced?

Do the test, add up your points as you go along and check your buying behaviour

 Question 1. When I go shopping, I pay special attention to

1. The brand and price.
2. The ingredients.
3. The certification label on the packaging.
4. Nothing, I just buy what I like.

Answer 1.

1. Who doesn’t? But when there are two brands of the same price and quality, you might choose the brand that is produced in a more sustainable way.  2 points
2. Ah, a conscious consumer. Did you know that three-quarters of supermarket products contain ingredients produced from developing countries? And that some of the ingredients’ supply chains (e.g. sugar, peanuts, pepper, and palm oil) things are amiss, such as bad working condition and environmental damage? 4 points
3. Clever certification labels tell a lot about a product. Some certifications attach importance to good working conditions; others pay more attention to the environment or to the health of consumers. 4 points
4. Of course you can choose whatever you like. But you can also eat well and responsibly. 0 points

 

Question 2. I associate the term ‘sustainable food’ with

1. Left-wing politics, doesn’t interest me one bit.
2. Fresh, unprocessed products and a healthy eating pattern.
3. Consuming more consciously, and by doing so helping to reduce hunger and poverty in the world.
4. 100% perfectly produced and traded food.

Answer 2.

1. Left wing? Don’t believe it. Politicians of all colours, from extreme right to the far left and from conservatives to Green socialists, make a strong stance for sustainable food products. Read their statements on http://www.fairfood.org/en/.  More statements from international politicians will follow. 0 points

1. Sustainability is not the same thing as healthy. Crisps, peanuts, cake and sweets can also be produced sustainably and traded fairly. 1 point
2. An excellent ambition. About 5,000 people die everyday of starvation and poverty related deaths while there is enough food in the world. According to the campaign and lobby organisation Fairfood, Western trade policies are a significant cause of this iniquity; however, the solution lies certainly with consumers too: ‘Eat fair, beat hunger!’ 4 points
3. Well, it’s not possible to guarantee that a product is a 100% perfect. Fairfood encourages progress. A product becomes sustainable if, compared to other similar products from competing brands, it is better for people, the environment and the economy. 3 points

 

Question 3. Doing shopping with attention to sustainable products, in my opinion

1. It is not necessary.
2. Costs too much time. Is not worth the effort bicycling from one organic and health food store to the other.
3. It’s important. But I do not know how most products are produced.
4. It is easily done. All my groceries are produced sustainably.

Answer 3.

1. Perhaps you’re already consuming quite a few products which are good to humankind, environment and economy.  An everyday supermarket can be selling sustainable products. 0 points
2. You don’t have to. Most supermarkets have a considerable selection of sustainable products. 1 point
3. Great, you’re going for it. 3 points.
4. Very good! You seem to shop very consciously. 4 points

 

Question 4. I consider sustainable products

1. Expensive.
2. Poorly available.
3. Taste bad.
4. None of the above misconceptions.

Answer 4.

1. Sustainable products are not always expensive.  There are many very cheap supermarket products that are produced with consideration for people, the environment and the economy. 1 point
2. Certainly not!  Even in a very ordinary supermarket there are higher than average sustainable products sold for your everyday shopping, like, soft drinks, sandwich fillings, fruit, etc. Check http://www.fairfood.org/en/ for more information. 1 point

1. Shame on you! Sustainable products are just as good and tasty as their non-sustainably produced counterparts. Go and do a fair taste again! 0 points

1. Of course! 4 points

 

Question 5. I check for certification labels on the packaging of my purchases.

1. True, because I want to know whether a product is produced organically or not.
2. True, because I want to know whether a product is produced sustainably and traded fairly.
3. True, because I want to know weather a product is healthy for me or not.
4. Untrue, seals of approval tell me nothing.

Answer 5.

1. There are several labels that ensure that several products meet specific requirements concerning animal welfare, the environment, and agricultural methods.  3 points
2. Fairtrade is an international certification organisation and Fair Trade Original is a trade organisation that has its own products. Both stand for good working conditions and fair production and trading. 4 points
3. Your own health is very important, but how about the health & wellbeing of the people who produces your product. Fairfood is an independent organisation that encourages consumers to eat and drink sustainable products. This includes, among other things, assessing the relative sustainability of supermarket products. In this assessment, Fairfood takes into account people, the environment and the economy – hence, the full picture of sustainability. Fairfood is not a label.  2 points
4. That is possible. Many products without certification are produced and traded sustainably. 0 points.

 

Question 6. If my supermarket doesn’t sell any sustainably produced chocolate,

1. I just buy the chocolate that they have.
2. I buy something else; I am not a chocoholic.
3. I go to another shop.
4. I ask the manager whether he or she wants to include sustainably produced chocolate on their shelf.

Answer 6.

1. A shame. Chocolate is delicious, but the production of many chocolates are contaminated with child labour, slavery, poverty and hazardous pesticides. 0 points
2. You are right, plenty to choose from. 3 points
3. Good idea. Many supermarkets sell sustainable chocolates. 3 points
4. That is super! Every mini-lobbying helps. 4 points

 

Question 7. Okay, of course I know that in order to grow soybeans deforestation on a large scale, erosion, environmental pollution and oppression of small farmers are involved. But I

1. Never eat soybeans. I’m not vegetarian.
2. Only eat soybeans if they are included in food products, so not very much.
3. Try to eat products with ‘green’ or Basel soybeans.
4. Have signed the soybean petition, or I am going to do this.

Answer 7.

1. Soybeans are not just meat substitute. By eating meat, dairy products, and eggs, you also eat soybeans. The protein-rich scraps of soybeans are used for animal feeds. At least five kilos of soybeans are needed for one kilo of meat. 1 point
2. This will disappoint you. Around 60% of supermarket products contain soybeans. 1 point
3. Great! The production of ‘green’ or Basel soybeans takes the environment and working conditions into account. Some major companies have already switched to using responsible soybeans. 4 points
4. The soybean petition is being used to lobby companies in the hope that they will start purchasing sustainable soybeans. This has already succeeded with several producers! Support the lobby, visit http://www.fairfood.org/en/. 4 points

 

Question 8. When a company is not transparent about its production methods,

1. I do understand this. But every company must still abide by the law.
2. I do understand this. A company has better things to do.
3. I do understand this. It is impossible to know everything about a product, especially with products from developing countries.
4. I don’t accept this. As a consumer, I have the right to know what I support with the products that I purchase. Who knows?  Perhaps the company has something to hide?

Answer 8.

1. Well, there are indeed international treaties and standards in the area of sustainable and responsible production. However, there is not much transparency and there is a lack of actual regulations. 3 points
2. Okay, certainly this is quite a task for big companies to identify everything in all individual products. But this is actually part of the role of the management to be transparent. Incidentally, sustainability is certainly more frequent now on companies’ agendas. 1 point
3. This is certainly difficult, but, every company should know how their products came about, from farm to table. Unfortunately, too many companies still have no explanation about the origin of their products. 2 points
4. As long as companies refuse transparency about how a product is produced and traded, you cannot make a good choice as a consumer. Therefore, Fairfood recommends consumers to give preference to products that are transparent. 4 points

 

Question 9. The responsibility for the level of sustainability of the food on my plate lies mainly on

1. The industry and the trade.
2. The supermarkets and the catering industry.
3. The government and the EU authorities.
4. Me.

Answer 9.

1. Farmers in developing countries often receive no more than a starvation wage for their harvests. Buyers and traders are also not so fussy when it comes to working conditions (child labour, dangerous pesticides), the environment (falling ground water levels, overfishing, deforestation) and the economy (corruption, cartels). Fairfood places a major share of the responsibility for making products sustainable to the food companies.
   2 points
2. Increasingly, more supermarkets and restaurants take the initiative by focussing on more ethical purchasing. The idea is: if they provide more attention and room for sustainable products, consumers will follow on their own accord. 2 points

3.    Unfair free-trade treaties and farming subsidies threaten the developing countries’ competitiveness and with this also the ability of millions of workers and farmers to support themselves. Moreover, there is still no obligatory legislation concerning the traceability of the products.2 points

4.     Consumers – thus you – have a lot of power. If there is more demand for sustainable products, companies must provide more supply in order to meet this demand. 2 points

 

Question 10. ‘Eat fair, beat hunger!’ This sounds good, but

1. What can I contribute to making the world market more sustainable?
2. Can it cost our jobs if products from developing countries have free access into Europe?
3. To be sure, I just buy nothing at all from  these questionable sectors, such as tea, coffee, chocolate, soybeans, peanuts, rice, sugar, oranges, Brie, prawns?
4. No buts. I want to commit to consuming sustainable food and beverages for a fairer world. What can I do?

Answer 10.

1. Perhaps you think you cannot contribute but everybody’s contribution is helpful to a better world. 2 points
2. That remains to be seen. If the production and trading would be more ethical and sustainable in the developing countries, a new middle class might emerge there, who would have more to spend. The people there could then also start buying products from European countries. 1 point
3. Let’s be realistic. Almost nobody can go without their daily shopping. And that is absolutely unnecessary, too, because relatively sustainable products from ‘bad’ sectors are fully available. 3 points
4. Full marks. In the first place: you buy supermarket products consciously. In addition, you can also assist actively by signing petitions at http://www.fairfood.org/en/act/sign-for-fairfood/. Have you become really enthusiastic? Submit yourself as a supporter, trainee or pollster. 4 points

 

 

Now… how many points did you score (and be honest)

Up to 13 points

Phew. You do live very much in the here and now. Without much trouble, you could also help to make the world a bit more sustainable. So, what’s stopping you?

14 to 27 points

You are on the right path, but still wrestling with the practical understanding. Hopefully, this test has given you some new tips.

28 to 27 point

Sustainability is not just blah blah for you; you really believe in it and act accordingly. You are a trendsetter!

 

Kids and Cannabis

As part of its National Tackling Drugs week, Crimestoppers have been running a campaign which focuses on the issue of large scale cannabis cultivation. The campaign attempts to draw attention to the increasing prevalence of cannabis factories springing up in two and three bedroom houses in residential areas all over the UK. I have just done a quick internet search and it seems this problem doesn’t just affect the UK but is a global problem.

But ‘why is STOP THE TRAFFIK interested in this issue?’ I hear you cry.

Well let me explain.

Many of these cannabis factories are being set up by gangs originating from South East Asia (one of the world’s trafficking hotspots) who use trafficked children as ‘gardeners’ in these factories.

Children from China, Thailand and Vietnam are the most common targets, and boys as young as ten years old have been found working in these factories. What’s worse is that when they  do come into contact with the authorities they are often treated as criminals – due to the fact they’re cultivating cannabis  – and not as victims of trafficking.

What’s even more worrying is that, according to a recent Home Affairs Committee Report on human trafficking in the UK, this cannabis gardening activity represents part of a wider trend seeing trafficked children from South East Asia being forced into all sorts of criminal activity, from pick pocketing, to begging, to selling fake DVDs. Again, this is not just happening in the UK but all over the world.

So what can you do? Well, on the Crimestoppers website there is some excellent information and guidance on how to spot a potential cannabis factory in your area, including a helpful video, and advice on who to call in case you suspect anything.

Trafficking children for the purpose of criminal exploitation is just one of the wide and varied practices that the international trade in people helps to service and we need all the help we can get to put an end to it. So visit the website and find out what the indicators are that cannabis may be being cultivated in your area……and use your nose to put a stop to trafficking.

http://www.crimestoppers-uk.org/default.asp?sID=1244209721141