Asian pop stars back fight against human trafficking, August 7

Ricky Martin Fondation: http://www.rickymartinfoundation.org/english/default.aspx

Asian pop stars back fight against human trafficking

Tue Aug 7, 2007 9:48PM IST

By James Pomfret

HONG KONG (Reuters Life!) - Two of Asia's hottest pop acts, Thailand's Tata Young and South Korea's Rain, are to help highlight the fight against rampant human trafficking in Asia in an MTV-backed initiative on Wednesday.

"How could people do this to each other?" Thai pop sensation Tata Young told Reuters by phone from Bangkok.

"To hear all these stories of children and women and men going through human trafficking and exploitation, it hurts me so bad," added the confident, brassy 26-year-old, whose skimpy outfits and best-selling albums have led to her being dubbed Asia's Britney Spears.

Young will help host shows and documentaries on youth music channel MTV which is aiming to raise awareness of what has been described as a "tragic form of modern day slavery" in collaboration with the U.S.-based Agency for International Development (USAID).

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) says economic disparities in Asian countries such as Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia fuel the trafficking of children and women towards Thailand.

Australia, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan are also considered major destinations by the ILO for the trafficking of prostitutes from Indonesia and the Philippines.

Human trafficking is a major global problem, particularly in Asia and Africa. The United Nations estimates 2.5 million people are currently coerced into forced labour or prostitution in a trade worth $7-10 billion annually.

Another Asian star, South Korea's King of Pop, Jung Ji-Hoon -- better known as Rain, will also help MTV publicise the cause.

Read rest of article, visit: http://in.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idINIndia-28869620070807

Collecting loose change for a real change, USA, August 2

Collecting loose change for a real change
Last Updated: 7:57 pm Thursday, August 2, 2007

Collecting loose change for a real change
ANN SHIM STUDENT CORRESPONDENT

I recently graduated from the eighth grade at Queen of Angels Montessori School. I am an abolitionist. The Queen of Angels Montessori School Middle School in Madison Place was challenged as their third trimester project to "be the change you wish to see in the world," inspired by the quote from Mahatma Gandhi. For this project, we had to pick one issue or system that we would like to see changed in the world.

While doing research for a topic, I found out something that most people don't know: slavery still exists today. As I looked into this topic more, I found out that approximately 27 million people are enslaved in places such as South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia today. Over half of them are children. I chose this issue for my change project.

To try to solve this issue and abolish modern-day slavery, I worked with the International Justice Mission (IJM) and The Amazing Change (TAC) to try to instill some of their abolitionist programs in my school community. Through IJM, I launched their Loose Change to Loosen Chains campaign. This campaign was developed by seventh-grader Virginian Zach Hunter two or three years ago when he found out the awful truth about slavery.

For this campaign, each family in my school was sent home with a Loose Change to Loosen Chains cup. I asked them to put their loose change in this cup every night. Our goal was to raise $500, which is how much it costs to free one slave. Three weeks later, I collected our school's loose change. Our small school of just 113 families raised $280! It was then sent to IJM who will use this money to free slaves.

It is important to know that the International Justice Mission does not buy slaves. Instead, they conduct a thorough study of the slave's workspace, wage, and treatment before confirming that the person is officially enslaved. They then get in touch with the law and travel to wherever in the world the slave lives and legally frees them. Although IJM does not buy slaves, this process is still very costly and needs the support of others. The Loose Change to Loosen Chains campaign is one way they raise funding for this cause.

During the time of my campaign, I also set out a petition in our school's office. This petition is distributed by the Amazing Change and is used to try to get our government more involved in the anti-slavery movement and to hopefully raise more funding for this issue. Fourty-seven people in my school community signed to show they care.

Slavery is a very real and dangerous issue in our world today and must be stopped. Here is how you can help:
1. Launch a Loose Change to Loose Chains campaign in your community. (Information available at www.ijm.org)
2. Download the TAC petition for the members of your community to sign and show they care about this issue. (www.theamzingchange.com)
3. Educate Yourself. The more you know about this issue, the more you can help. To find ways to get involved, visit www.ijm.org, www.theamazingchange.com, or www.freetheslaves.org.
Through many different organizations and the programs they are trying to instill, abolitionists around the globe are joining together to abolish

Swedish embassy e-mail link to combat Asian child sex tourism

Posted on : 2007-07-17 | Author : DPA
News Category : Internet

Stockholm - The Swedish embassy to Thailand has set up a special e-mail link on its web site as part of efforts to combat child sex tourism in South East Asia, reports said Wednesday. The e-mail links to the Nordic police liason office located at the embassy where two police officers from Denmark and Sweden liaise with authorities in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and the Philippines.

The Swedish branch of the ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography & Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes) network welcomed the move that if successful could be introduced at other embassies.

"This is not a day too early," ECPAT Secretary General Helena Karlen told daily Svenska Dagbladet, saying the group had suggested something similar for several years.

ECPAT Sweden, founded 10 years ago, set up its own web-based hotline in 2005 and also cooperates with travel companies in an effort to counter child sex tourism.

The group has estimated that nine in 10 Swedish tourists that have seen indications of child sex tourism outside Europe never file any reports.

The Swedish embassy website urges tourists who believed they have witnessed child sex tourism to write down their observations, mentioning the place (town, location, hotel), when the sighting was made, as well as a description of the suspect and child.

Tips could also be filed anonymously.

To date, two Swedish nationals have been sentenced in Sweden for child sex tourism, including one case in Thailand.

Print Source :
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/83639.html