"Let's find a way to prevent human trafficking and slavery.": Addressing the root causes of trafficking and slavery.

There are three main root causes of trafficking and slavery:

VULNERABILITY, due to poverty, lack of education, and lack of economic opportunity.

• Every measure we take that increases the education and literacy of men, women and children is an anti-trafficking program.
• Every program that ensures that vulnerable men, women, and children learn the skills they need to access and participate in gainful employment in their local economy is an anti-trafficking program.
• Directly supporting programs and non-profit organizations that provide economic development, micro-lending, employment training, literacy training, and education to our most vulnerable brothers and sisters directly impacts the causes of slavery and trafficking.

CORRUPTION, among governments and law enforcement, as well as lack of sufficient local laws to ensure that trafficking and slavery is prevented and punished.

• Does your state have a state law that punishes and deters human traffickers?
• Does your state law clearly recognize that the men, women and children who are enslaved and trafficked are the victims not the criminals?
• Contact your state representatives.

GREED, among most of us in our country.

• What are our purchasing practices? How does our desire for decent products, cheap, drive slavery and sweatshops in other countries and in the US? Become acquainted with the Socially Responsible Shopping Guide: www.globalexchange.org   Click on sweatshops.
• Do the companies we purchase from know that we value non-slave produced, fair trade goods, which offer laborers at EVERY level of the supply chain, fair wages that can support a family in the workers' own culture?
• Download the Do Not Patronize List – Law firms, restaurants, hotels, retailers, theaters, etc. that do not pay fair wages.  (www.globalexchange.org)
• Do we ask for Fair Trade Coffee?
• Do we ask for Slave-Free Chocolate?
• Do we request "No Sweat" sneakers and apparel? Ask retailers in your area if they know about/would sell no-sweat sneakers.  Their website is www.nosweatsneaker.com and has information you can use with the retailer. The cost of these sneakers is $35.00 a pair.  They pay fairly and make a good profit.