This past weekend, World Concern made waves as they held their annual Free Them 5K Run/Walk. With more participants than ever, World Concern is now able to make an even greater impact in the fight against human trafficking. Watch a recap of this tremendously successful and (and not to mention fun) event below, and learn how you can join in next year!
For More Information on World Concern: click here
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Get ready, as this June marks Global Breakthrough’s second annual Artists Against Injustice Concert at Soulfood Books in Redmond. Join us June 30th as we come together to fight human injustices such as poverty, human trafficking, and neglect of children with disabilities. Come make an impact while enjoying good music, good coffee, and incredible artwork. Watch the clip below to see what’s to come!
Click here for more information on Global Breakthrough’s Causes.
A documentary in the works, Rape for Profit powerfully captures the desperate need to end prostitution in Seattle. A small but powerful team of three consults with experts, interviews victims, and then hits the streets to unveil the horrors of girls being coerced into sex trafficking. Watch the story unfold below:
To learn more about Rape for Profit: click here
Want to get involved at Global Breakthrough? Click here
With the month of May now upon us, everyone from the Eastside area is talking about the 2012 Tee-Off Against Trafficking Event. Held annually, and hosted by the Eastside Women of Purpose, participants not only golf, eat great food, and win unbelievable prizes, but they are simultaneously partnering to end human trafficking at home and abroad.
The evening will also include an impassioned speech by Dr. Saisuree Chutikul, a child and woman advocate in Thailand for over 50 years. The event of the year, make sure you don’t miss out. Space is limited, so grab your friends and family members and reserve your spot!
To register: click here
Event Details: click here
Want to get involved at Global Breakthrough? click here
Romanian students raise awareness by dressing up as caged brides to symbolize the women trapped in human trafficking.
The Numbers:
The U.N. crime-fighting office said that 2.4 million people worldwide are victims of human trafficking at any point in time, and 80% of those trafficked are being exploited as sexual slaves.
Yuri Fedotov, the head of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, said that 17% of those trafficked perform forced labor in homes and sweat shops.
M. Cherif Bassiouni, an emeritus law professor at DePaul University in Chicago, said every year, criminals earn $32 billion for running human trafficking networks. Two out of every three victims are women.
According to Fedotov, only one out of 100 victims of trafficking is ever rescued.
Causes:
Actress Mira Sorvino, the U.N. goodwill ambassador against human trafficking, said there is a lack of strong legislation and police training to combat trafficking. Even in the United States “only 10 percent of police [...] Continue Reading…
At Global Breakthrough, we love to highlight organizations that are continually speaking on behalf of and helping those who are in need. Arts Aftercare is perhaps one of the most innovative (and certainly one of the most creative) non-profits working to end human trafficking, and bring restoration to victim’s lives.
Arts Aftercare brings together art therapists, dancers, musicians, etc. to not only work with recovering victims, but also to share the story of modern day slavery through their music and art.
We are also excited to announce that one of their bands, JUBILEE will be playing at Global Breakthrough’s annual Artists Against Injustice concert on June 30th at Soul Food Books in Redmond. We invite you to join us as we work together to bring an end to modern day slavery and other human injustices.
To learn more about Arts Aftercare: click here
Want to get involved at Global Breakthrough? Click here.
Traditionally, women make up a large portion of the untapped market of potential workers in Arab nations. Restrictions on women create a major barrier on realizing this potential. Fay Niewladomski, CEO of the training firm ICTN based in Lebanon, speaks on these restrictions:
“I have been here since 1972 and I have seen a tremendous revolution in how women interact in society and how women interact in business. What has not happened is that our legal system and our political system has not moved. If you were to look at the law, even in a country that claims to be as liberal as Lebanon, technically if your husband wanted to prevent you from traveling, he can. Technically you cannot open a bank account as a married woman, your husband has to do it. However, in practice these laws are not enforced.”
Progressive thinking has employers more accepting to the idea of [...] Continue Reading…
With Easter weekend upon us, millions of children all over the U.S. are looking forward to waking up Sunday morning to a basket full of candy and chocolates. On another continent, however, chocolate means an entirely different thing to its children. Many children on Africa’s Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) have never even tasted chocolate but hold it in their hands on a daily basis. These children are laborers and often slaves.
The Ivory Coast is home to 40% of the global production of cocoa, making it the leading supplier (1). Low cocoa prices drive the need for farmers to employ cheap labor for their own survival, and often these laborers are children. It has been estimated that nearly half a million children work on the cocoa plantations in extremely poor conditions (2). Another 10,000 are nothing short of enslaved (3).
According to the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF), for any child, [...] Continue Reading…
This week Global Breakthrough team members travel through Cambodia to gain understanding of the rampant sex trafficking operations at work there. Struck by poverty and desperation, this is a country where women and children are sold at large. Below, a team member presents in a form of free writing, a powerful depiction of their experience thus far:
What I see today
Greed
Beauty
Need
Pain
Hope
Desire
Hurt
Love
Fear
Individuality
Shame
Resentment
Faith
Longing
Desperation
Kindness
Hopelessness
Potential
I walk around considering:
What can I see in her face?
What can I see in his eyes?
I have no words. No response. No reaction.
Just a small sense of each of the emotions I saw, especially pain, and then such intense feelings of overwhelming love. There is no need here for a love of pity or sympathy. A love from someone of ‘more’ to someone of ‘less.’
The only love needed here is an unconditional, inspiring, empowering, creative, powerful, immediate and everlasting unstoppable love.
Love that does not require words alone but that speaks [...] Continue Reading…
The staff from Hope North, a 40 acre community for former child soldiers to call home, respond to Kony 2012 by not only raising awareness, but also by focusing on the first-hand stories from the civil war survivors, promoting education, and creating hope.
Hope North instills hope for war-torn Ugandan refugees, orphans, and child soldiers who escaped by providing a safe place to live and rebuild their lives with vocational skills training and education. Founder Okello Sam, himself escaped from an LRA abduction, devoted himself to teaching children and keeping them safe.
The website is bursting with pictures and videos of their safe campus, school, and vocational training center. You actually get to see the work they are doing in Uganda and the impact they’ve had in creating opportunities for these children.
“Hope North is a much-needed sanctuary for young people whose lives have been stolen by a brutal civil war. I [...] Continue Reading…
