Stella Fella Bow Tie Friday Campaign

St Joseph’s Nudgee College Social Justice League “Stella Fellas”

On Friday, September 7, students and staff from St Joseph’s Nudgee College in Brisbane will raise awareness about Human Trafficking by taking part in Project Futures’ Stella Fella Bow Tie Friday campaign (www.stellafella.com).

Stella Staff

Staff and students will wear bow ties to school on Bow Tie Friday to highlight the importance of being advocates for those trapped in the sex trade, and to promote good male role models (Stella Fellas) who will stand up against sexual exploitation in the world.

The College’s Social Justice League will also lead an educational campaign about Human Trafficking across the College and local media.

We encourage all ACRATH followers to support this great campaign.

ACRATH Members head to Canberra

A group of women religious from around Australia will make their sixth annual pilgrimage to Canberra next week in a bid to influence policies affecting people trafficked into Australia.

The fifteen women, Catholic sisters and their colleagues, are all members of Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans (ACRATH). They will spend a week (August 19-24) in Canberra speaking to Members of Parliament, Advisors, Embassy staff, departmental officials and Church leaders in their continuing endeavours to ensure trafficked people access their human rights.

For more information about their requests to Government  click here.

Concerned Religious Hold Public Forum

Photo courtesy of NZ Catholic

Catholic Religious Against Human Trafficking is a relatively newly-formed group with members from several religious orders, including the Dominican sisters, the Society of Mary sisters, the Sacred Heart sisters, the Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary, the Josephite sisters, and the Franciscan friars.  They recently hosted a forum in the crypt of St Benedict’s Church in Auckland.  Keynote speakers at the forum were  Dr Christina Stringer, senior lecturer at the University of auckland’s Department of Management and International Business and her co-researcher Glenn Simmons.  Through their research and the interviews they have conducted with Indonesian crew members they have concluded that many Indonesian crew on Korean chartered fishing vessels in New Zealand waters are victims of human trafficking for forced labour.  To download a forum report which appeared in NZ Catholic click here.

Anti-Human Trafficking Newsletter Vol 10 No8

The August 2012 issue of  Stop Trafficking highlights current issues regarding labour trafficking globally and in the U.S.

Download your copy of the newsletter here.

A Red Earth Films Documentary

Red Earth films is pleased to announce the Australian tour of the Street Dreams documentary. The film is a collaboration of passionate and supportive individuals and organisations with Jason Bray (director/producer) and Mike Crowhurst (editor/cinematographer/producer) at the helm. Street Dreams explores the world of girls trafficked into the South East Asian sex trade, and those trying to save them. Through interviews, hidden camera footage and input from those working on the edge, Street Dreams is a raw and gripping look at the hopes and dreams of those struggling to free themselves from the ruthless international flesh trade that threatens to consume their very souls.

Street Dreams is embarking on a national tour of Australia starting with the World Premiere in the 17th of August. For more information about the film and this tour, please click here.

Research Findings

Brianna Lee, a member of ACRATH in Western Australia, will give a presentation on the barriers to accessing services that victims of human trafficking encounter.  Her talk will be based on the research she has been doing as a PhD Candidate at Murdoch University School of Law.

Date:        Monday 27th August

Time:      2pm

Venue:   Catholic Religious Australia (CRA) Meeting Room
36 Collins Street
Annandale, NSW 2038

Click here for more details.

United Nations Association of Australia

The United Nations Association of Australia Media Peace Awards recognise those in the Australian media whose work raises understanding and awareness of human rights, social justice and humanitarian issues both in Australia and internationally.

Nominations for the Media Peace Awards 2012 are now open.  Click here for more details.

Solwodi Newsletter No 92, June 2012

The latest newsletter released by Solwodi (Solidarity with Women in Distress) reports on trafficking and prostitution – the situation in Germany 10 years after the prostitution law had been passed.  In another article a human trafficking survivor speak of the struggles she has faced after being awarded compensation.

Download here.

Sign the On-Line Petition

Despite campaigns stretching back to the 1800’s slavery continues to exist today.  Slavery or human trafficking is involved in the production of goods such as cocoa, seafood, bricks, clothing, rugs and palm oil in some countries.  These goods are being exported and sold around the world including in Australia.  A number of international treaties attempt to address this issue together with laws in the countries where these goods are produced. However, adequate enforcement of both laws and treaties is often lacking.

Australian law makes it illegal for any Australian company to engage in any financial transaction involving a slave, regardless of where it occurs in the world. However, no effort is currently made to identify Australian companies importing goods that involve the use of slavery in their production.

Send a message urging the Australian Government to require companies to take all reasonable steps to ensure the goods they import and sell in Australia are free of slavery and human trafficking before they end up on store shelves.  Sign the on-line petition here.

Women Trafficked From One Town to Another

A Mt Isa police district inspector has commented on an increasing problem in inland mining towns in Queensland.  The Australian newspaper reports Inspector Paul Biggin as saying “women and girls who cannot speak English, or who have a very low level of English, and a very low level of education, are basically being trafficked for sex, from one mining town to the next.  They are working on a fly-in, fly-out basis, two weeks here, two weeks in the next town and so on; they are being advertised as available in the local newspapers, and they are coerced or threatened into doing it”.  For more information click here.