Babies, Brides and The Everyday Demand for Human Trafficking
I do love a good urban myth. You can usually spot them a mile off. You know, the kind of story that you desperately want to be true because it makes for a fantastic mental picture- like the idea that Isaac Newton discovered gravity via a falling apple, or that the world would be put … Read more
Olympic mascots made by Chinese workers in exploitative conditions
The London Organising Committee for the Olympic games (LOCOM) has strict ethical guidelines for Olympic suppliers, however, The Sun exposed that these are not being met. The Sun article states that the cuddly toy versions of the Olympic mascots, Mandeville and Wenlock, have been made in factories in China where workers are paid just … Read more
Global News Round 13.05.2011
Czech Republic As immigration policy gets stricter, human trafficking increases in the Czech Republic. The country has a history of being associated with trafficking but its association is changing form. Where it once was a transit point and trafficking to the Czech Republic was mostly for sexual exploitation, the country is now becoming a destination … Read more
Global News 20/12/2010
China In the shadows of the skyscrapers and shopping malls that mark China’s economic transformation, homelessness is increasingly rife. You’d think that homeless shelters would be integral to tackling this growing problem – but reports from Beijing suggest that one such shelter has been exploiting the very people it claimed to be supporting. 11 residents … Read more
Global News 18/11/2010
US Last week in New York, the UN launched a fund which will provide legal, humanitarian and financial aid to victims of human trafficking. Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki-Moon summed up the plight faced by trafficking victims quite neatly: “Many victims end up stranded, friendless… and may not ask for help because they … Read more
Global News 04/11/2010
US Baseball is not a thing that I know much about, or have ever really paid much attention to. I remember playing it a few times in PE lessons at school and recall the teacher instructing me to “swing really hard in case I hit it”. I feel that this teacher may have failed to … Read more
Forced Labour in China’s booming economy
A Chinese gang “shanghaied” (kidnapped) a young man, held him for three weeks and put him on a boat near Indonesia where he worked as a fisherman. He did this without pay and by force. Eventually he jumped overboard, swam to freedom and returned to China where a Hong Kong gang “shanghaied” him again. He … Read more
Global News Summary 29.3.2010
Human Trafficking Increases on Sino-Burma Border A woman from a small village in Burma recalls the story of how she was tricked and exploited. A man approached her and offered her a job in a factory in China so she would be able to support her family. Upon crossing the border with many other Burmese … Read more
