What happens if the US does not sign the TPP

I know most of us have not read or thoroughly understand exactly what the TPP involves but it does include pieces that set standards for wages, the environment, human rights, and human trafficking.  These standards are all United States standards.  If we do not sign the TPP, China has already started working on a trade agreement that does not include the United States and would not change or improve these standards.  It will create a power vacuum in Asia that China will happily fill without the United States presences.  This was presented on a radio show right before Thanksgiving.  Below is the link for the radio show.  I found it very fascinating as I did not know the piece about human trafficking was included.

  http://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2016/11/22/thomas-friedman-thank-you-for-being-late

Truckers Against Trafficking

I discovered this Facebook page from an Upworthy (on Facebook) video about Truckers Against Trafficking. Using social media to expose trafficking could be a pretty powerful way to inform people who may not be aware.
https://www.facebook.com/Upworthy/videos

https://www.facebook.com/truckersagainstrafficking/

The world’s first massive open online course about contemporary slavery.

Ending Slavery: Strategies for Contemporary Global Abolition' is the world’s first massive open online course about contemporary slavery. The course is free. Lead by Kevin Bales, a leading expert in contemporary slavery, the course will cover the most cutting-edge research available.

As well as an opportunity to deepen your knowledge of different forms of slavery today, learn about ground-breaking research and examine strategies to end historical and contemporary slavery. You’ll be part of brainstorming a new guide to ending slavery, covering every level from the individual to the United Nations.

The course begins on the 17^th October, 2016 and will run for four weeks, with certificates available. No prior knowledge is necessary, but you will have the opportunity to debate with others solutions for the future of the abolitionist movement, towards a world free from slavery. 

Click to register now.

  https://www.walkfree.org/modern-slavery-online-course/?utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=https%3a%2f%2fwww.walkfree.org%2fmodern-slavery-online-course%2f&utm_campaign=MOOC&utm_content=MOOC_Custom_Launch_EN_FullList_01Oct16 

Alamo Area Coalition against Trafficking

AACAT initiatives

• Short-term drop-in evaluation and treatment center for high risk runaways and misdemeanor youth offenders

• Public Awareness Campaign

• Training: Schools, Law Enforcement, Victim Populations & Industry Groups

• Data based targeted law enforcement interdiction strategy

• Passage of targeted bills in next legislative session

Check out the website
 https://sites.google.com/site/aacatsa/

Thanks to Dr. Ambrose for informing us about this site.

Check out this new book

Threadbare: Clothes, Sex, and Trafficking

A new book by

by Leela Corman, Delia Jean, The Ladydrawers, Melissa Mendes andAnne Elizabeth Moore

“Ever wondered who makes your clothes? Who sells them? How much they get paid? How the fashion and sex industries are intertwined? Threadbare draws the connections between the international sex and garment trades and human trafficking in a beautifully illustrated comics series. Anne Elizabeth Moore, in reports illustrated by top-notch comics creators, pulls at the threads of gender, labor, and cultural production to paint a concerning picture of a human rights in a globalized world. Moore's reporting, illustrated by members of the Ladydrawers Comics Collective, takes the reader from the sweatshops of Cambodia to the traditional ateliers of Vienna, from the life of a globetrotting supermodel to the warehouses of large clothing retailers, from the secondhand clothing industry to the politics of the sex trade. With thoughtful illustrations of women's stories across the sex and garment supply chain, this book offers a practical guide to a growing problem few truly understand.”  https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/books/6190   and learn more http://bkaccelerator.com/threadbare-new-book-fashion-sex-trafficking/     

Thanks to Melinda Adams for informing us about this book.  

The Polaris Project

The Polaris Project offers help to victims of human trafficking and modern-day slavery. Overview of programs for victims, and details on how the public can participate.

Please visit the link below for more information

https://polarisproject.org/

Thanks to Kathy Vargas for informing us about Polaris. 

How many slaves work for you?

On the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, September 22, the website and mobile app Slavery Footprint was launched in 2011. Take the survey and find out about how many people may be involved in supporting your life style. Who dug the minerals in your smartphone or picked the cotton for your T-shirts? Where did the chocolate or cinnamon come from? Go to this link and take the survey http://slaveryfootprint.org/ As we know more, we can be a part of the “Made in a Free World” network. Tim Minahan has said, "In our advanced modern age, it is unacceptable that forced labor exists in our supply chains. Businesses have the ability to eradicate modern slavery by making more informed and ethical sourcing decisions. And networks like Made In A Free World can deliver the transparency and intelligence to empower global companies to achieve this worthy goal." http://madeinafreeworld.com/business

San Antonio Against Slavery

SAAS, that is, San Antonio Against Slavery holds meetings and workshops throughout the year, with guest speakers and a variety of program topics related to human trafficking. Human Trafficking is the world's second largest criminal enterprise behind the narcotics trade. Unsuspecting United States citizens, including children, are coerced, kidnapped, and sold into slavery by the false promises of employment and a better life. They are held against their will and forced into lives of illicit sex or labor. Human traffickers are profiting an estimated $32 billion a year in the global market. In the US about 78% of the forced labor is domestic servitude, farm work, and factory work and about 22% is sex trafficking. National Human Trafficking Hotline: 888-373-7888. E-mail: info@SAAgainstSlavery.com. Learn of local activities

Catholic Relief Services Educating on Modern Slavery

Catholic Relief Services teaches about, advocates against, and has action campaigns against human slavery. Learn of Three Things You Can Do To End Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery. 1. Your voice is a gift. Use it to urge Congress to act. 2. Support CRS anti-trafficking work around the world. Much of our work helps people stay in their homes. Traffickers prey on migrants seeking employment or escape from conflict. When we can help people find meaningful, dignified work where they live, they are far less likely to risk believing promises of better lives elsewhere. 3. Join us in prayer for our sisters and brothers held captive in deplorable working conditions. Get information and many helpful links from CRS http://www.crs.org/get-involved/learn/slavery-and-human-trafficking Also CRS has resources especially for universities http://university.crs.org/human-trafficking Perhaps you would want to attend their free upcoming Amistad training weekend in San Antonio, Texas, November 4-6, 2016. For more information about the Amistad Movement, visit http://www.usccb.org/about/anti-trafficking-program/amistad.cfm I usually go to Sunday Morning Services at Mission Concepcion where on the first Sunday of each month and other special occasions, we have a sale of Catholic Relief Services Fair Trade products. I can't do much, but I try to buy and drink Fair Trade Coffee because I like coffee and I don't want for the persons bringing me this morning treat to be trapped in their work. Do you know a group that would sell Fair Trade products? Do you ask for Fair Trade products?

Incarnate Word Sisters' Corporate Stance Against Human Slavery

You are invited to work in partnership with the Incarnate Word Sisters, the founders of the University of the Incarnate Word, learning about and working against human slavery. Read about our corporate stance http://www.amormeus.org/en/justice-peace-and-integrity-of-creation/ Follow the blog of the Incarnate Word Sisters Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation Committee on issues of human slavery http://saccvi.blogspot.pe/search/label/Human%20Trafficking