Tomorrow, December 2, is the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery. It commemorates the date, in December 1949 (!) that the UN General Assembly adopted a convention to suppress trafficking, exploitation and prostitution of persons. I’m blogging about it today in the hopes that you will do at least one thing to commemorate this important day. Although it is something that civil society has condemned for decades, slavery is alive and well today throughout the world. In fact, trafficking in persons is estimated to be the second largest “business” of organized crime.
Soroptimists STOP Trafficking is a campaign to end human trafficking, a form of modern day slavery. For Soroptimists outside of the United States, December 2nd provides a great opportunity to raise awareness about this issue and its impact on women and girls. Soroptimists in the US are encouraged to plan a Soroptimists STOP Trafficking event or activity in conjunction with January 11, the National Day of Human Trafficking Awareness. Whether you are inside or outside the US, the SIA website has lots of resources to help—and hopefully most of you are already planning to do something. (Visit www.soroptimist.org and click on the “sex trafficking” button, right from the home page.)
I’ll be giving tips for how to get personally involved in this issue during a panel discussion on human trafficking that will be held tomorrow, December 2, at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time (GMT-8).The show will be broadcast live over the internet as part of the “Voices for Justice” blogtalkradio series. The other panelists include experts on trafficking and slave labor from Oregon. Listen in and learn more about what you can be doing to end human trafficking and improve the lives of women and girls locally and around the world. To listen to the show live (or to listen later at your convenience), visit
http://www.blogtalkradio.c
Isn’t it about time we collectively took steps to make sure that the UN’s Convention becomes no longer necessary?
