SCC Bake Sale For Free the Slaves

This past Thursday the Art Grindles Introduction to Honor's class hosted a bake sale and faculty/student awareness day in front of the library. Homemade baked goods were donated and sold to raise money for the group's world aid project.

Video Emancipation Stories

http://www.freetheslaves.net/Page.aspx?pid=316

SCC Celebrates Feb 27th Global Anti-Slavery Day!

Seminole Community College Students Celebrate Anti-Slavery Day to End Slavery. This year, on February 27th, SCC will be participating inthe 1st annual Anti-Slavery Day. Colleges and Universities from allover the country will be working to raise awareness about modern-dayslavery.



Currently it is estimated that 27 million people are held in some form of slavery. Most people’s images of slavery is the one of slave ships and plantations. But today’s slavery exists in a verydifferent form and transcends all types of labor. Slaves are no longera long-term investment, they are merely disposable tools which areused to increase profits. Most slaves are forced to work inagriculture, mining, and prostitution. Often slaves work in factoriesthat feed our global economy, like cocoa, cotton, oriental rugs,diamonds and silk.

It is important to realize that sweatshops and other exploitive laboris, although terrible, not slavery. Sweatshop workers and migrantlaborers are exploited by being paid very little, forced to work longhours and often abused at their workplace. Slaves are subjected to allthese conditions, but additionally they have lost their free will andthey cannot walk away. Most slaves are paid nothing at all, and thephysical and psychological violence used against them is so completethat they cannot escape their condition as a slave.

Slavery is illegal in every country although it exists in almost everycountry. The vast majority of the world’s slaves are in SouthAsia. Although, Africa and South America both have large numbers ofslaves in some areas. The problem of increased trafficking intocountries in North American, Europe, South East Asia, has left many ofthose countries with an increase of slavery.

Slavery is universally seen as a violation to our basic human rightsand yet it continues to exist. If you would like to join our effort toeradicate slavery please contact _. Together we can end this globalinjustice!

and as heart beats bring percussionsfallen trees bring repercussionscities play upon our souls like broken drumsredrum the essence of creation from city slumsbut city slums mute our drums and our drums become humdrumscause city slums have never been where our drums are fromjust the place where our daughters and sons becomeoffbeat heartbeatsslaves to city streetsand hearts get broken and heartbeats stopbroken heartbeats become breakbeats for niggas to rhyme on top,but…::Saul Williams::

Human Trafficking, Courtney Koppel, SCC Student

http://select.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/opinion/22kristof.html?_r=1

A young mother named Meena was prostituted at the age of 12. She had a son and daughter 1 year apart. Her children were taken from her at birth. She fought to get them back but failed. One day she ran away to get help. The police had no interest. So she married a pharmacist and went back several times to the Brothel to get her children back. Her son was the first to escape. With the help of his mom, and a organization called Apne Aap, they got the girl back. By now she was 13 and is in the hospital recovering from beatings and internal injuries. However, the trafficker is after Meena, her children, and the organization that helped free them. Their lives are threatened every day due to their bravery

Countries Ignoring Human Trafficking by SCC Student Christopher Nye

In an article from the International Herald Tribune by Mike Heinrich provided some shocking information. This article was published just 3 days ago on the 12th which makes me happy knowing that perhaps everyday loads of new people are enlightened on the subject. The article goes on to say that the UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) is fighting hard to get some straight facts from many countries and get a new statistic on human trafficking. The UNODC is having a hard time because 40% of affected countries did not file a single conviction which is crucial to deterrence. The UNODC has said that only 63% of the countries in their survey have enacted a anti-human trafficking law which took a special U.N. protocol took place 5 years ago. The laws have helped and the incidents of human trafficking have risen but like many 3rd world countries, such as Africa, lack legislation or the will to crack down on the problem. Some countries do not send out information to the U.N. either because of embarrassment or they are too disorganized. Many countries had no information to give out to the U.N. such as China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Libya, Tunisia, Madagascar, and some Central African countries. At least the U.N. is not dismissing the problem.

http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2009/02/12/europe/OUKWD-UK-UN-TRAFFICKING.php

International Herald Tribune "Migrants Endure Brutal Trips to Leave" by Adrienne Nunez, SCC Student

Mohammed Sharif is 26 years old. He is a taxi driver in Bangledesh. Lured under the impression that he was going to Malaysia to make 5 times the amount of money that he was currently making he agreed to pay over 1000 US dollars to be taken there. So that he could better support his 3 kids, widowed mother and 3 younger siblings. On the boat, Mohammed along with 100 others were shoved down into the hold and only feed dried rice with water once a day. After 4 weeks (the trip that was only supposed to last 3 days) the patrol came and arrested everyone on the boat. They all ended up in jail and when the captives were released, if you could call it that, they were placed on a boat without paddles, food or water and told to go home. They were arrested again later and told that they needed to to raise $1185 for bail. Mohammed's family sold their land and other valuables and were able to make his bail. He now owes his family over $1,500 and thinks that it will take him over 80 years to pay back.

Migrants Endure Brutal Trips in Desperate Attempt to Leave Bangladesh For Jobs by SCC Student Jacqueline Gomez

Another sad story about human trafficking was reported recently by The Associated Press. One of the victims told his story to the press rather than potentially being jailed by the authorities. Sharif, a Muslim, along with hundreds of men now living in Bangladesh had tried to get to Malaysia, where there is much higher paying employment. Originally, Sharif and thousands had fled their native country of Myanmar to live in Bangladesh. They were being persecuted by the Myanmar leaders because they were a minority Muslim group. Sharif and the other migrants had to paddle boats to a large tanker, and the tanker was supposed to take them to Thailand. From there, they would walk through the forest into Malaysia. However, the tankers engine went out, and they drifted for four weeks on the waters.

To hide from patrol boats, they were required to live in a small area below deck, and could only come out at dark. They received little food, were beaten, and three men died. Finally, authorities from a naval patrol ship arrested everyone and dropped them off in Thailand. They were imprisoned there for two weeks under worse conditions; then, were put on small boats with no food and told to go home. They landed on Myanmar where the authorities put them in jail. There they were only fed rice twice a week and badly beaten again. Sharif finally got home after his family scrapped together money for his release. Human trafficking has been a continuously horrific problem in these countries as well as other parts of the world.

Migrants endure brutal trips in desperate attempt to leave Bangladesh for jobs By: Parveen Ahmed

Five Guilty of Forcing Women into Prostitution by SCC Student Stefhany Houghton

My article is titled "5 guilty of forcing women into prostitution in LA" published February 12, 2009 in the International Herald Tribune. This article is short and to the point, and it's title is self explanatory. But I found this article to be very interesting because it brings into prospective the reality that human trafficking is occurring here in the United States, it is not just a foreign issue, where we as the "stronger" nation sends money to help or people to volunteer, this is an issue that is affecting our country as well.

Most people are not even aware that these situations happen and that these horrible people exist, imagine having the woman you employed to clean your house be a slave that has been smuggled in here to be sold like an object, a woman who is being threatened with physical and emotional abuse if she doesn't't do her job right. We as Americans are not aware that these things happen here too, we are the main attracters of human trafficking, therefore we are not immune to this issue. Our country is the reason these horrible people are able to easily convince young, uneducated girls to be brought here with false promises of brighter futures, so we should try our best to help these victims and help them truly obtain that brighter future. Visit Web Site

When American Dreams Lead to Servitude by Sunjung Lee, SCC Student

Ms. Okeke is 68 years old, born in Nigeria. She agreed to come to the United States to cook, clean and care for the children of a Nigerian couple living in Staten Island. She said they promised to pay her $300 a month. There were promises of a house and tuition, she added, for her two children back home. She admits now that she toiled 12 years for a paycheck that never came. Not one cent.

After many year, her case is revealed regardless of her reporting. This is not uncommon, said advocates for victims of human trafficking. Fear, uncertainty and cultural taboos make it hard for women like Ms. Okeke to speak out. Although human trafficking has been a federal crime since 2000, efforts in the New York State Assembly to criminalize human trafficking and provide services for its victims have yet to succeed while advocates and politicians struggle to reconcile competing concerns over punishment and assistance.

For me, it is amazing there is no practical law against this human trafficking. Although politicians — especially at the federal level — inveigh against human trafficking as a crime that enslaves thousands of people, especially women forced into prostitution, policy experts said there were no reliable figures on the extent of the problem. The federal government cites a figure of up to 800,000 people being trafficked internationally, with more than 14,000 of those entering this country. I think people should take care of making strong foundation of protect them as law, not only just take care what have been done.

New York Times, April. 24.2007 By David Gonzalez

U.N. Encourages Response to Human Trafficking - Lori Seeds

In an article for BBC News, entitled, "UN Calls for Trafficking Action," it is reported that the U.N. is calling for all nations to do more regarding human trafficking. There is still no hard data about the number of victims worldwide, according to the article. The U.N. published a report titled, "Global Report on Trafficking in Persons," to urge governments to strive to learn more about the problem of trafficking and the causes of it. The U.N. hopes that, by bringing light to the issue, they can help governments increase the conviction rate of those arrested for trafficking.

Source: BBC News online. 02/12/2009 Story from BBC NEWS

U.N. Encourages Response to Human Trafficking - Lori Seeds - SCC Student

Sex Slaves in Cambodia - C. Chmielewski

Somaly Mam, a former child prostitute, has made it her responsibility to save other children from horrible sex acts around the world. Children can be sold to pay off a perpetrators debts. Some families are also guilty in selling their own relatives because of poverty. Although some victims are labor servants, the vast majority of slaves are kidnapped and brought into prostitution. When Mam finally found an opportunity to leave the brothel (where she endured beatings and rapes)she married a french man and moved to France. Mam ended up going back to Cambodia drawn by the stories of those whose suffering had been even worse than her own. More people should be aware of stories like Somalys’ and be inspired to do more because of them.

http://smithsonianmag.com S.C.C. Student - Chmielewski, Christine

Brazil's Rainforest & Slavery - Joseph Russell, SCC Student

A problem that I believe is of some importance not only because of the human rights abuses associated with this issue, but also the environmental ramifications of its existance, is the issue of slave labor used in clearing Brazil's rainforest. This is yet again a problem that arises from a steep economic disparity among citizens in Third World nations and the voracious appetites of the First World consumers. Who, in the end suffers and is marginalized as little more than a commodity by corporations that see profits as more important than human dignity? In this case, the brazilian peasants who flock to the rainforests in search of work, virtually turned into slaves. Slave labor clears Amazon jungle to make way for cattle ranching and soybean fields, with the EU(European Union) and the United States as the top benificiaries of these products. Most "Brazilian hardwoods" sold in the US are from former rainforests cleared by slaves. Two woods to be aware of are called Jatoba and Ipe. This is an issue that we could highlight for its dual effects on not just impoverished Brazilians, but everyone on this planet. This was the article I found on this issue:http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/brazil/taint.htm