The RAP

Human trafficking, slavery, and labour exploitation happen in Australia, in our local communities.  As part of our ongoing work to end human slavery ACRATH has funded an anti slavery Radio Awareness Project, The RAP.

With generous support from Anti-Slavery Australia, The RAP has produced community service announcements for radio to build awareness and provide information about human trafficking and slavery in Australia today.  The intention is to reach individuals and communities most at risk of exploitation, particularly Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CaLD) communities. 

To date the RAP has produced 14 CSAs in:

• Thai
• Mandarin
• Malay/Indonesian
• English.

The CSAs are currently being broadcast on 3ZZZ, Melbourne Ethnic Community Radio, and North West FM in Melbourne.  We are working to increase the distribution of the CSAs to Ethnic Radio programming across Australia. 

BE INVOLVED

• Do you host a local ethnic radio program?  Would you be interested in sharing a message on anti-slavery with your audience?
•  Or, would you be available to help by recording a scripted anti-slavery community service announcement (CSA) in your own language (other than English)?
• We are interested in hearing ideas on generating greater awareness and information to CALD communities.

Contact:  Brigid Corcoran, ACRATH  vicprojects@acrath.org.au

Speech made by Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, Permanent Observer to the United Nations in New York

Mr. President,

Today’s meeting presents the international community with an opportunity not only to assess the progress achieved since the adoption of the United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons in 2010, but also to renew our commitment to work together and to condemn with one voice the abhorrent and immoral practice of trafficking in human beings.  Read more…

Southeast Asia’s Human Trafficking Conundrum

International Organization of Migration (IOM) Indonesia chief of mission Denis Nihill said the changing nature of human trafficking made it more difficult to tackle. “There’s been a lot of work done on the Greater Mekong Region for many years on trafficking, but it’s become more complex, as it’s now inextricably woven with labour migration, which is a much more difficult nut to crack because it is less easy to detect than trafficking linked to the sex industry.”  Nihill also pointed to the difficulties of tackling internal trafficking.

A 2012 UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report on human trafficking recorded more than 10,000 cases of trafficking in persons in South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific between 2007-2010, but it is unclear what the situation is today.

“Nobody has been able to convincingly demonstrate the scale of the problem, let alone come up with clear ways of how to address it,” Sverre Molland, a lecturer at the Australian National University in Canberra who specializes in human trafficking, told IRIN, humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Read more… 

Flagging Electronic Fingerprints of Traffickers

A roundtable discussion brought together major financial institutions and law enforcement agencies to discuss closer cooperation in the fight against human trafficking, a global business worth $32 billion a year, according to the U.S. State Department.  The roundtable, held in New York, was co-hosted by  Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance and the Thomson Reuters Foundation.  It was part of a new initiative joined by JP Morgan Chase & Co, Citigroup Inc, Bank of America Corp, Wells Fargo & Co, Toronto Dominion Bank, Barclays, Western Union and American Express to fight trafficking.

“All sorts of electronic and digital fingerprints are left when you have a crime committed or a business enterprise is being run,” said Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance.  “Trafficking at its heart is a crime motivated by money, and we have seen over the course of our prosecutions that there is much to be made. Financial institutions are in a unique position to spot red flags in banking activity and report them to law enforcement.”  Read more…

Something Rotten in the US Tomato Industry

Florida’s tomato farms supply 50% of all U.S. fresh tomatoes  but have also been called America’s ‘ground zero for slavery.’ Countless workers are held against their will, threatened with violence and forced to haul hundreds of heavy tomato buckets a day for little to no pay.  Thankfully, a new solution called the Fair Food Program has been proven successful. The Fair Food Program is working to enforce a policy of zero tolerance for slavery on tomato farms.

Click here to find out how you can encourage the major supermarket chains to participate in the Fair Food Program and protect the rights of workers on Florida’s tomato farms.

Nigerian Police Uncover ‘Baby-Factory’

Following a house raid, Nigerian police found six pregnant teenage girls.  It is alleged the two men and a woman who were arrested at the scene were operating a child trafficking ring.  The girls had been lured into the house and promised money for their babies. Police are still trying to unravel details of the situation.  This is not the first such raid in Nigeria.  Human trafficking, which includes the selling of children, is the third most common crime in Nigeria.

Read more …

Recommendations to the US President

In April 2013 UNANIMA International was represented in Washington DC at a meeting organized by the U.S. Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) in collaboration with the Bakhita Initiative (U.S. Catholic Sisters United Against Human Slavery) for 12 leaders of groups of women religious who work against human trafficking. During the meeting UNANIMA attended a ceremony at the White House for the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The occasion was the Council’s formal presentation of its report on “Building Partnerships to Eradicate Modern-Day Slavery.” The report begins: “There are more slaves in the world today than at any other point in human history, with an estimated 21 million in bondage across the globe.” (International Labor Organization). The report is excellent, with 10 specific recommendations for the President.   Download a copy of the report here.

Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) Report

The Crimes Amendment Legislation (Slavery, Slavery-like Conditions and People Trafficking) Act 2013 has made forced marriage a crime under Australian law.  A forced marriage is defined as a marriage that is not freely and fully consented to because of the use of coercion, threat or deception.  In Australia there is a lack of data about the frequency of forced marriages.  However the AIC has undertaken research directed at understanding the role of marriage and partner migration in the trafficking of persons.  In March 2013 they released a Research in Practice document entitled Forced and servile marriage in the context of human trafficking.  Dowload a copy of the document here.

Anti-Human Trafficking Newsletter Vol 11 No 5

The May 2013 issue of Stop Trafficking concentrates on the issue of Forced Marriage.  It includes articles on Forced Marriage Prevention and Handling Forced Marriage Cases.  The newsletter reminds us of the importance of girls being valued and educated to promote child rights and prevent poverty.

Download the May Issue of Stop Trafficking here.

Latest ACRATH News

The latest ACRATH Newsletter gives an indication of some of the activities ACRATH members have been involved in so far in 2013.  Items include the ACRATH National Conference,  an advocacy visit to Canberra, new slavery legislation and the ACRATH RAP (Radio Awareness Program).  Readers are also invited to take part in a campaign to encourage supermarkets to have more Easter Eggs manufactured with certified cocoa on their shelves  in 2014.

Download the ACRATH Newsletter here.