The Global Partnership to End Violence Against Women Summit, which is being held during the week of March 8th in Washington, DC, is the result of a partnership between Vital Voices Global Partnership, Avon Foundation for Women, and the US State Department. It is the first step of a coordinated effort to end violence against women through innovative solutions, the sharing of best practices, and co-ordination of strategies. The three-day summit will focus on the three most pervasive crimes against women: human trafficking, domestic violence, and sexual assault, which includes rape as a weapon of war.

This event brings together the public and private sectors from fifteen countries for a series of panel discussions and working groups facilitated by leading journalists and activists. Sectors include business, government, law enforcement, the NGO community, media, and academia.

“It is time for governments to invest significant resources in a coordinated global effort to end all forms of violence against women. This summit is the right step forward and I am encouraged to see people like Dr. Mukwege, Eve Ensler and Ambassador CdeBaca joining forces as part of this public-private partnership. Together, we can create a world where women and their children no longer need to live in fear,” said Somaly Mam.

Bill Livermore, executive director of the Somaly Mam Foundation, said “We are thrilled that Somaly Mam is taking part in this important effort to end violence against women. As a survivor herself, she knows all too well the key role that survivors must play in creating effective, innovative solutions to the global tragedies of human trafficking, rape and domestic violence. The solution will take collaboration from all sides: government, nonprofits, private organizations, and individuals. We’ve seen the progress that can be made through our own partnerships with the Cambodian government, the UN and companies like The Body Shop and LexisNexis. This summit is an excellent example of that type of collaboration, and an important step toward ending the suffering of the millions of women and children who are victims of violence and the crime of modern day slavery.”

When Idaho Baptist church members were recently arrested for trying to take 33 Haitian children out of the country without proper documentation, many here in the U.S. applauded the group for take-charge altruism in the midst of chaos. However noble the group’s intentions may have been, this action represents the single worst prescription for protecting vulnerable children throughout the world.

That’s because to save children everywhere from slavery and exploitation, we need governments to strictly enforce the rule of law. The detained church members apparently placed themselves above Haitian law. The harm they did by ignoring the established laws of Haiti far outweighs any good they might have done for these few children.

When it becomes possible, Haiti should vigorously investigate the church members. Based on initial reports, the authorities may have reason to charge them with kidnapping and even human trafficking. It appears that there were a number of children in the group who not only have parents but also had no idea where they were going. One girl told a relief worker that she thought she was on her way to a summer camp. What’s immediately clear is that there are no circumstances where children should ever be placed in the care of individuals without a process in place to ensure the children’s safety and rights.

For decades, Haiti has been fertile ground for human traffickers who pray on the vulnerabilities of the poor and those in crisis. Traffickers have exported Haiti’s children as part of illegal adoption schemes or worse, for their exploitation as sexual and domestic slaves. Following the recent earthquake, there is growing concern by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and relief organizations like Save the Children that these activities are on the rise.

This is nothing new. Natural disasters around the world historically have left thousands of children at risk of exploitation. Following the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia, reports from UNICEF that children were being prayed on by pedophiles and human traffickers led Scotland Yard to establish a special unit to address the issue. Aid agencies in India have documented a pattern of increased trafficking following floods and other natural disasters that have forced thousands of children into brothels and other forms of slave labor.

The world is increasingly outraged by this.

Just three months ago, the United Nations formally established the “Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children.” These guidelines are aimed at providing a common reference for procedures, standards of care, and human rights for children who are not living with their parents. They apply to children in emergency situations, such as the children of Haiti.

We believe the situation in Haiti should reinforce the need for the immediate adherence to these guidelines by all emergency care providers around the world.

These UN guidelines are proving valuable to the dedicated and highly trained professionals on the ground in Haiti who are doing everything they possibly can to address the needs of children as quickly as possible. Relief organizations have established “safe places” for orphaned or unaccompanied children. Relief workers search the streets looking for homeless children to shelter. Pediatricians attend to the injured. Psychological counselors are helping traumatized children deal with the loss of family and the world they once knew.

As hard as it is to stand back and watch children and families in crisis, we must give the Haitian government and aid professionals the ability to do their work. Clamoring to adopt a Haitian orphan or jumping on a plane does not help.

The most important thing we can do to protect vulnerable children in Haiti and around the world is to demand that governments enforce and non-governmental organizations respect the rule of law.

Cambodian girls hold up glasses of the before and after water at the M'Lop Tapang Center for Street Children

A Child’s Right provides clean and affordable water to children in orphanages, street shelters, rescue homes, schools, and hospitals around the world.  The organization recently partnered with The Somaly Mam Foundation to provide drinking water to all of our shelters.  A Child’s Right is the only clean water organization with a narrow focus on impoverished, vulnerable and institutionalized urban children.  Since its founding in 2007, A Child’s Right has provided clean water to over 250,000 children in five countries, and plans on expanding its services to thirteen countries over the next six years.

Eric Stowe, the Founder and Director of A Child’s Right, is the visionary behind the organization’s success. Like so many social entrepreneurs, Eric takes a hands-on approach, working on many of the installations himself and refining practices and technologies to address the unique needs of the populations that his team serves. It is his commitment and relentless focus on innovation that has resulted in the low cost, high-capacity systems that A Child’s Right is known for.

Somaly Mam Report – What was the spark that turned you into the social entrepreneur who launched A Child’s Right?

Stowe – I had been working in 11 countries in hundreds of orphanages prior to starting A Child’s Right. My focus then was on providing clean and safe water to orphaned and institutionalized children long term. In 2006, while working in Cambodia, I saw that the need encompassed so much more than what I was then focused on.

Children in the urban and peri-urban sphere are normally overlooked by water agencies. The organizations land in the capital city of a country and then travel to the remote corners of the country to provide first time water access to rural villages. Incredibly hard and amazing work, to be sure. But my focus was on the children in the cities without water; on sites with high concentrations of vulnerable children. So I turned my attention not only to orphanages, but also to poor schools, street shelters, rescue homes, clinics and hospitals. We opened our doors in January 2007, and have since opened offices in four countries serving more than 250,000 at-risk children potable water.

SMR – We have witnessed the positive impact that regular access to clean and affordable water has had on the lives of survivors at our shelters. What is one of the most memorable experiences that you’ve had in bringing clean water to children around the world?

Stowe – The best memories since my organization’s inception, and there are many, have been at rescue centers for trafficked women and children. Being able to provide just one very small piece toward the rehabilitation of the incredible survivors I have met, has lit a fire in me to begin initiating a much broader focus on rescue and rehabilitation centers within our larger mission. We currently work extensively with Maiti Nepal, and AFESIP/Somaly Mam Foundation in Cambodia. That is not enough. We want to focus on every reputable center in Southeast Asia doing work on behalf of survivors. It fits our mission, and we are working hard to make it a reality.

SMR – Does anything set ACR’s methods and technologies apart from other approaches to clean water?

Stowe – My initial vision was to ensure that every child we serve has water equal in quality to that which I give my own son – not similar, but equal. Cutting corners or only providing part of the water solution suggests that the people we serve deserve less. So we created a system that would attend to all the issues that cause waterborne diseases, while also ensuring high quality taste and providing high output flow. Everything is made in Chicago, transported to our country offices, installed by our staff, and overseen for years to come. It is a different approach in the water field. However, it’s important to recognize that no single approach will solve the global water crisis. It will take our collective efforts and methods to make a dent.

SMR – Which organizations are eligible for ACR’s help?

Stowe – Organizations working on behalf of vulnerable children: street shelters, orphanages, rescue homes, schools, clinics. We need access to a water source, whether it is municipal water, well water, pond or stream. We need at least some electricity to run our equipment. And, most importantly, we are looking for good organizations in developing countries that can benefit from the one thing that we specialize in: clean water.

For our online application, anyone can contact us at acr@achildsright.org

Watch A Child’s Right with Somaly Mam

In-store campaign display

The Body Shop stands as a model for how corporations can make a difference. The Somaly Mam Foundation has partnered with The Body Shop and their Stop Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People Campaign to raise funds and awareness to combat the epidemic of sex trafficking.  We had the opportunity to catch up with Shelly Simmons to talk about the campaign and The Body Shop’s role as a good corporate citizen. Shelley is the Brand Communications Director for The Body Shop in the US, Canada, and Mexico.  She oversees the Stop Sex Trafficking Campaign, and worked with MTV to create The Body Shop and MTV’s HIV and AIDS awareness campaign.  In addition, Shelley oversees The Body Shop Foundation in the Americas, which donates funds to grassroots organizations working on issues of environmental protection, animal welfare, self-esteem and human rights.

Somaly Mam Report – The Body Shop has shown an extraordinary commitment to being socially responsible. When did that start and what impact has it had both inside and outside your company?

Simmons – The Body Shop was founded on the belief that business could and should be a force for positive social change.  It has never been an “add on” for The Body Shop or something we do because it’s fashionable.  Our founder, Dame Anita Roddick, was a social activist and a businesswoman – a pretty incredible combination.  So, when she opened the first store of The Body Shop in 1976 in the UK she did so with the intention of helping to change the world for the better.   To this day her philosophy remains at the very foundation of our business.

SMR – In creating the STOP campaign The Body Shop is leading the way for corporations to take on tough issues like trafficking. Was it a difficult decision to make?

Simmons – Deciding to launch Stop Sex Trafficking of Children & Young People wasn’t a difficult decision to make because we have a heritage of taking on challenging issues and bringing attention to them. We like a challenge!  Before Anita passed away she had been very involved in understanding more about the issue of human trafficking and exploring how she could help bring it to public attention.  She passionately believed that The Body Shop was the perfect platform to raise awareness on human trafficking.  We decided that the best way we could honor her memory was to launch this campaign and really help to drive a difference on the issue.  So, here we are today, campaigning in shopping malls and street locations in 65 countries across the world.

SMR – Whey you consider the hurdles that other companies might face in convincing key decision makers to build campaigns around issues like trafficking, what advice would you give them?

Simmons – I think we’d advise any company looking to support challenging issues like trafficking to simply be brave and to explore how they can best bring value to the table.  It isn’t always about fundraising and it certainly isn’t about becoming an expert on a complex issue.  People generally are very compassionate and want to help, they want to make a difference.  By becoming a vehicle or a platform to enable people to do their bit, you can make a powerful difference in the world.  We are all global citizens and businesses in particular have incredible resource to lend to those tackling some of the world’s most challenging issues.  For us, we are a communications channel, but for another business it could be providing IT support, or HR expertise or legal counsel.   Just like every individual, every business has something valuable to offer.

SMR – How has the campaign engaged your employees at your corporate offices and stores?

Simmons – Our people in our Home Offices and in the stores are passionate beyond belief about helping to stop sex trafficking of children.  They have taken time to learn about the issue, to understand some of the complexities and to be able to share their understanding and passion with our customers, who in turn have also become so engaged with helping to support the campaign.   Many of our people have signed up to become supporters of our campaign partners and want to know what more they can do to help.  Some are fundraising in their own time.  And we want to support them in doing so.  Their energy and enthusiasm is infectious and inspiring.

SMR – Many cause-related marketing efforts often don’t have much depth beyond the principal messaging. With the STOP campaign you have brought together key partners in the anti-trafficking movement, sponsored a significant report on the trafficking of children, and developed campaign-branded products like Soft Hands Kind Heart Hand Cream. Please tell us more about the vision behind the campaign and how you see the various components contributing to the effort?

Simmons – Quite simply we want to help drive significant change on the issue of sex trafficking of children, everywhere it exists, which is everywhere in the world.  We want an end to the trafficking of children for sex and we want support for the survivors, because they have a right to a safe and happy life, just like we all do.  For us, it is not cause-related marketing, it is campaigning.  We have committed to this issue because at the end of our campaign we want to be able to say to our customers – this is what we achieved together.  Not what The Body Shop achieved but what we all achieved – our campaign partners, our customers, and supporters of the issue.  This year we were invited to take part in the Clinton Global Initiative here in New York to share our experience of launching the campaign and our message really was a call to action to all corporations.  With creativity and imagination we can all do something to help.  Our campaign efforts were described as an “exemplary approach” to tackling this issue and we were proud to receive such acknowledgement.

SMR – How have customers responded to the STOP campaign?

Simmons – The response from our customers has exceeded all our expectations.  I think many people are shocked, many had no idea that trafficking of children could possibly still exist in the 21st century but overwhelmingly our customers are compassionate human beings who just want to do something to help.  We tell our customers that you can be a part of the campaign in any way that you are comfortable. If you want to just buy the fundraising product and raise money for our partners that is wonderful.  If you want to get involved, then here’s our campaign partners contact details and here’s what you can do.  Throughout the campaign we will be continuing to develop ways to engage the support of our customers and I look forward to sharing more news on that later in 2010.  Watch this space.

SMR – Many people want to do more to support efforts to eradicate human trafficking. What message would you like to share with our readers about steps that they can take?

Simmons – I think sometimes issues can feel overwhelming and you don’t really know how you, as an individual, can make a difference.  The reality is that with every positive action we take, whether it is giving a donation, volunteering, writing a letter or supporting a campaigning organization, we are helping to effect change.  The best piece of advice I ever heard on campaigning was from Anita.  She liked to say “if you think you are too small to make a difference, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room.”   Every time I feel myself falter I remember those words, because they ring so true.

Visit the campaign site

Read the Global Child Trafficking Report

I’d like to extend my deepest thanks to all of you on behalf of the victims that your support has helped rescue, shelter, and heal. The support has been a gift of life and new dreams for so many young women and girls.

Srey Mai is one of these girls. She was sold to a brothel at the age of 5 and rescued when she was 6 years old. Having been diagnosed with HIV, we thought she only had 6 months to live. She received a flood of love and gifts from supporters and with this help we were able to provide her with all the necessary care for recovery. Her hair has grown back, her skin has healed, and she has been transformed into a young girl who can spend her time playing and learning. She is just one of the many girls whose life has been saved with your help and who can now become the successful young woman that she one day will be.

I am incredibly proud of the girls in our shelters who have survived the horrors of slavery, rape and torture, and found the strength to start new lives.

This December I witnessed thousands of Cambodians take part in anti-trafficking day. At the fundraising event we held, I saw many poor people participating and contributing because they wanted to help victims and are just sick of living with this inhuman crime. I am deeply moved to see my people slowly moving away from the culture of blame and shame that has haunted victims for so many years.

I am so proud of survivors like Sina Vann and Srey Pov who have decided to participate in our Voices for Change program to become advocates for change. The are helping in the shelters and are joining me to expose the horrors of human slavery.

This year at the Clinton Global Initiative we announced our new and innovative micro-enterprise program that in 2010 will start helping survivors establish sustainable small businesses.

These successes help me feel like we’re making a difference, but there is still so much to do. South East Asia has been hit hard by the global economic crisis and this has put many more girls at risk. Along with our partners, we are establishing preemptive programs that focus on keeping these girls out of the hands of traffickers. We need more help to reach all of the high-risk regions and to grow our life-saving programs.

Although this is the first year that we have not faced a food shortage, our shelters continue to run out of critical supplies that include vaccines and other medical necessities. Our doctors need better on-site lab equipment, our vocational and computer training programs are in need of up-to-date equipment, and we need to increase our capacity to rescue and shelter more victims.

I am committed to providing much more than nutritious meals and a safe environment to the girls in our programs, and there are many more that we currently don’t have the resources to help. I am determined to rescue and heal as many victims as possible and protect the vulnerable by taking pre-emptive actions to address the root causes that are forcing so many of my young Cambodian sisters into brothels.

Please help me sustain and grow our current programs so that we can save more young girls from the horrors of modern day slavery and end human trafficking.

Share the stories and spread the word about modern day slavery - the light that shines on these issues is the most powerful weapon we have. Only by building a strong network of champions for this cause can we hope to eradicate this horror in our lifetime.

Your ongoing financial support is critical to the survival and success of our current programs and will help us protect, rescue and heal the thousands of girls who still need our help.

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Somaly Mam Foundation today by visiting:

www.somaly.org/donate

Sincerely,
Somaly

Show your support for survivors, buy a survivor-made Akun bracelet and wear it to tell the world about human trafficking!



Please share this with your friends and family, together we can end human trafficking in our lifetime!

Reality Check

Today there are 27 million people being held as slaves which is more than at any other time in history.
Learn more about Slavery in the 21st Century – Free the Slaves

The U.S. spends more in a single day fighting drug trafficking than in it does in an entire year fighting human trafficking
From Time Magazine’s article: South Africa’s New Slave Trade and the Campaign to Stop It

Thousands of kids are trafficked in the U.S. every year.
One of many stories of trafficking minors in the U.S. – Human trafficking industry thrives in Portland metro area

Human trafficking is the second largest criminal enterprise in the world.
Read Eve Blossom’s Huffington blog post

Progress

The Obama administration and congress have indicated that they plan to put more resources and increase U.S. efforts in the fight to stop human trafficking.

On January 4, 2010 the president proclaimed January to be National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

Read the proclamation

Even better, for every gift bag or box sold, The Body Shop will make a 5% donation to the Somaly Mam Foundation as part of its new child sex trafficking campaign. The Body Shop launched the Stop Sex Trafficking of Children & Young People campaign to help provide protection and care to children and young people trafficked or at risk. This global campaign aims to inspire long term change, to stop the unimaginable abuse which affects millions of children and young people around the world. So surprise someone special with a hand-picked gift assortment and bring joy to a child in need. It’s the beauty of giving.

Visit www.thebodyshop-usa.com or your local The Body Shop store to purchase.

New York, NY (PRWEB) December 1, 2009 — Long Pross, a human trafficking survivor who was sold into sexual slavery at the age of 13, will be featured on the Oprah Winfrey show on Tuesday December 1st.

Somaly Mam with Children in Cambodia – Photo credit: Michael Angelo

In the brothel that imprisoned her, she endured countless rapes, beatings, electrocution, forced abortions and having one of her eyes ripped permanently from her face as punishment for her resistance.

This will be the second show of a two part series based on Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn’s new book, Half the Sky.  The book takes a hard look at the shocking human rights abuses and lack of opportunities that many women and girls face around the world. The slavery of young women and girls in the sex trade tops the list. The Oprah Winfrey show has established an online giving registry that is inspired by the books call to action and the recognition that women and girls will play a vital role in global progress. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, George Clooney, Ben Affleck and Demi Moore will join Oprah and the authors to discuss human trafficking and other issues.

Through Long Pross’ story, we get a glimpse of how millions of young girls have their lives so tragically torn apart. In her story we also see the courage and strength that she shares with other survivors that have been able to turn their personal pain into impassioned voices for change.

Somaly Mam, a sexual slave survivor and the founder of the Somaly Mam Foundation, is helping Long Pross through her painful recovery. The foundation is currently in the process of identifying a doctor who will perform prosthetic eye surgery on Long Pross’ missing eye.

According to the United Nations, over 2 million children around the world, some younger than 5 years old, are either kidnapped or sold to the sex trafficking industry every year.

In an average lifetime, that translates into 140 million children who will face these horrors. As a proportion of the U.S. population, that would be one out of every two people.

Human trafficking is not limited to developing countries – it is a serious and growing issue that is happening right here in the United States. In October, the FBI and local law enforcement rescued 52 children and arrested nearly 700 people including 60 pimps on charges of child prostitution. Just this month, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called trafficking a grave problem in the U.S.: “Trafficking thrives in the shadows, and it can be easy to dismiss it as something that happens to someone else, somewhere else. But that’s not the case.” The average age of entry for prostitution in the U.S. is 13 years old.

Modern day slavery and the sexual abuse of children is a global crisis. Survivors like Long Pross and Somaly Mam are determined to change this reality.

Nicholas D. Kristof tells Long Pross’ story on his blog and in video:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/opinion/04kristof.html?_r=1

More about Half the Sky:
http://www.halftheskymovement.org/

Follow Somaly Mam on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/somalymam

Join supporters on the Somaly Mam Foundation Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/somalymamfoundation

ABOUT THE SOMALY MAM FOUNDATION:
The Somaly Mam Foundation is a nonprofit public charity committed to ending modern day slavery around the world.

Human trafficking, a multi-billion dollar industry, is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world. With over one million women and children sold into sexual slavery each year, it is a global crisis that must be stopped. More resources are critically needed to support the rescue and rehabilitation of these young victims.

Founded by sexual slavery survivor, Somaly Mam, the foundation supports rescue, shelter and rehabilitation programs across South East Asia, where the trafficking of women and girls, some as young as five, is a widespread practice. The Somaly Mam Foundation also runs global awareness and advocacy campaigns that shed light on the crime of sexual slavery and focus on getting the public and governments involved in the fight to abolish modern day slavery.

Our Vision: A world where women and children are safe from slavery.

Our Mission: To give victims and survivors a voice in their lives, liberate victims, end slavery, and empower survivors as they create and sustain lives of dignity.

More about the Somaly Mam Foundation at:
http://somaly.org

This fall the Foundation invited the staff of shelters, social service agencies, and anti-trafficking organizations based in Southeast Asia to submit nominations for scholarship recipients. The scholarships are intended for a survivor of sex trafficking who has shown aptitude for leadership and who has a specific plan of action or project that will enable her to act, or increase her impact, as an advocate against human trafficking or whose work will lead to a reduction in the social stigma experienced by trafficked people; or, a staff member at an anti-trafficking service provider or other agency to pursue educational or other opportunities that will enhance his or her capacity to work more effectively to end trafficking or its social stigma. 

The Somaly Mam Foundation is delighted to provide this opportunity for survivors of sex trafficking and their allies to strengthen their ability to speak out against human trafficking and its social stigma. We look forward to keeping you abreast of their progress.

In an eye-opening hour, Oprah will feature several stories of women overcoming adversity to realize a better life for themselves. In conjunction with this two-part series, Oprah has launch a new registry online at www.oprah.com/forallwomen, where the Somaly Mam Foundation’s work to support sexual slave survivors is featured. Tune-in to the “Oprah” show on December 1st to hear Oprah’s call to action and to see how we can change the course of history. Check local listings for time and channel.