Border to Border
The Human Rights Challenge
Here and Abroad
Presented by:
the Sisters of St. Dominic at Caldwell, NJ
and STM Public Discipleship Ministry
Be generous & you will be prosperous. Help
others & you will be helped. / Proverbs 11.28
Human Trafficking,
a global problem
• An estimated 50,000 women & children are trafficked
into the US every year.
• The largest # of people trafficked into the US come
from East Asia and the Pacific
• The next highest #’s come from Latin America and
from Europe and Eurasia
•
(US Dept of Justice, Health & Human Services, State, Labor, Homeland Security, Agriculture, and the US Agency for Int’l
Development 2004. Assessment of US Gov’t Activities to Combat Trafficking in Persons. Wash, DC: US Dept of Justice.)
Be generous & you will be prosperous. Help
others & you will be helped. / Proverbs 11.28
Think it’s not happening here?
Think again.
• Summer 2004, 60 Peruvian victims of sex trade were found in
Long Island,
• Similar cases in Texas with African choir boys,
• Also in Oklahoma with Indian factory workers,
• Same in California with Asian women & children sold into
prostitution,
• Occurring as well in Maryland, with African servants kept as
slaves by medical doctors & members of foreign embassies,
• Here in NJ with Mexican children in a brothel,
• Also in Florida with Honduran migrant farm workers, and in
• NYC with Mexican deaf-mutes forced to peddle trinkets
Be generous & you will be prosperous. Help
others & you will be helped. / Proverbs 11.28
Catholic Social Teaching
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Life and Dignity of the Human Person
Call to Family, Community and Participation
Rights and Responsibilities
Option for the Poor and Vulnerable
The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers
Solidarity
Care for God’s Creation
Be generous & you will be prosperous. Help
others & you will be helped. / Proverbs 11.28
Some Hard Facts
• Child sexual trafficking is a $10 billion industry worldwide
• Traffickers are the second largest organized crime ring in
history
• This issue affects more than 2 million children around the
world & more than 200,000 children in the US
• Between 50 – 60% of children in sexual slavery are under
age 16
• An est. $9.5 billion in revenue is generated from all
trafficking activities ($4 billion to brothel industry)
Be generous & you will be prosperous. Help
others & you will be helped. / Proverbs 11.28
What can we do?
• Organize a letter-writing campaign – it works!
• Host/support Fair Trade Exchange Program
• Attend Human Rights Workshop on 3/28/06
• Participate in local Crop Walk – Fall 2006
• If not now, when? If not me, who?
Be generous & you will be prosperous. Help
others & you will be helped. / Proverbs 11.28
Additional Actions We Can Take
• International Justice Mission (888-456-4499)works to rescue
girls from forced prostitution by working with indigenous
government officials & even raiding brothels. www.iijm.org
• The Heifer Project (800-489-5575): Buy a farm animal for a
needy woman & you’ll give her the resources to support herself.
www.heifer.org
• Maiti Nepal: This organization crusades to help victims of
sexual trafficking. Sponsor a victim, make a donation, or just
find out more info: www.maitinepal.org
• UNICEF supports children around the world through advocacy,
education, volunteering & fundraising: visit www.unicel.org or
call 1-800-FOR-KIDS (1-800-367-5437)
Be generous & you will be prosperous. Help
others & you will be helped. / Proverbs 11.28
What Else Can Be Done?
• Increase poverty-focused development assistance
• Encourage congressional support of agricultural &
business development in less developed countries
• Support Debt Cancellation measures for foreign
countries least able to repay such obligations
• Urge smart use of government-held food reserves
• Designate at least 10% of our exportable food for
concessionary sales or grants to food-short nations
Be generous & you will be prosperous. Help
others & you will be helped. / Proverbs 11.28
Local Congressional Contact Info
• Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D)
One Gateway Center, 23rd Floor
Newark, N.J. 07102
Phone: 973-639-8700
• Senator Robert Menendez (D)
One Gateway Center, Suite 100
Newark, N.J. 07102
Phone: 973-645-3030
Be generous & you will be prosperous. Help
others & you will be helped. / Proverbs 11.28
Reading Resources /
Reference Bibliography
• “DESPAIR”, by Ed Vulliamy, Amnesty International,
Winter 2005
• “Preying on the Margins”, by Mary Ellen Dougherty,
1/30/06 issue of America
• “United Nations Reform and Human Rights”, by
Silvano M. Tomasi, 9/12/05 issue of America
• “What Carried the Girls Away”, by Eve Conant, Idea
Lab, 2/12/06 issue of NY Times Magazine,
• “The End Of Poverty”, author, Jeffrey D. Sachs
• “How To End Poverty”, 3/14/05 issue of Time
magazine
Be generous & you will be prosperous. Help
others & you will be helped. / Proverbs 11.28
Additional Resources on the Web
• www.congress.org
• www.jubileeinterfaith.org
• www.usinfo.state.gov/gi/global_issues/human_t
rafficking.html
• www.usdoj.gov/trafficking.html
• www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking
• www.antislavery.org
• www.IINJ.org
Be generous & you will be prosperous. Help
others & you will be helped. / Proverbs 11.28