The Fair Trade Project is working to Promote Fair Trade Certified as a consumer option and to cultivate Fair Trade Towns and Universities campaignsin the Central Florida region.

We are currently working on Fair Trade Towns campaigns for Orlando and Winter Park.  We are also gauging interest in a Fair Trade Universities campaign for Rollins College.

We need Steering Committee Members and volunteers for the Orlando Fair Trade Towns campaign!  Email thefairtradeproject@hotmail.com to help:

• Establish a Steering Committee
• Encourage at least 24 Orlando retailers to sell at least 2 Fair Trade products
• Encourage at least 48 Orlando civic groups to serve/use Fair Trade products
• Get media coverage
• Pass a resolution supporting Fair Trade in the Orlando City Council

While Indianapolis businesses prepare to greet thousands of enthusiastic sports fans, local nuns are working make sure the celebration surrounding Super Bowl XLVI doesn’t include incidents of human trafficking.

Eleven congregations of Catholic nuns have partnered with Indianapolis area hotels to educate workers about prostitution and sex trafficking, which are often byproducts of large sporting events, according to the Catholic News Service.

As part of the effort, the women worked with the Indianapolis Department of Health and Human Services to print brochures containing facts about human trafficking, as well as hotlines and shelters workers can contact to report suspicious activity.

“The hotels are going to be busy and we want them to be able to do what they have to do,” Sister Ann Oestreich told the Catholic News Service. “The Super Bowl is a celebration, but we don’t want exploitation to be part of it.”

An estimated 10,000 prostitutes flocked to Miami for the 2010 Super Bowl, according to Cincinnati’s WLWT. In 2011, Dallas police made 133 prostitution arrests.

Similarly, ahead of the 2010 World Cup, officials estimated 40,000 sex workers would flock to South Africa to meet the demands of nearly half a million sports fans, the Christian Science Monitor reports.

And while a 2010 article in the Wall Street Journal reported that number to have been likely exaggerated, human trafficking continues to be a concern during large sporting events.

Indiana officials are also worried about the damage human trafficking can have on victims and the community as a whole.

Gov. Mitch Daniels has asked officials to “toughen” laws, while activists such as Theresa Flores, a woman who was a victim of sex trafficking at age 15, have begun to speak out about the situation.

“The more I speak out, the more survivors reach out to me,” Flores told WLWT News 5. “Middle-class women and even middle-aged women say it happened to them — that they were being forced.”

Speaking with WTHI, Sister Denise Wilkinson said raising awareness of the issue was the first step toward prevention.

“I think it’s so hard to believe this kind of evil exists anywhere near us,” Wilkinson told the station. “So raising awareness and then to point out appropriate steps, possible steps that the ordinary person like ourselves can take to end it.”

Of course, human trafficking isn’t just a problem on Super Bowl Sunday. According to the Grand Rapids Press, an estimated 18,000 people are thought to be brought into the country as part of human trafficking operations each year.

And about 100,000 to 150,000 of the sex workers in the United States are minors who likely start working in the trade as early as 12 or 14-years-old.

Ahead of last year’s Super Bowl, religious nonprofits in Texas stepped up efforts to educate the public about sex trafficking, TIME reports. The groups sponsored PSAs and placed billboards near Dallas in an effort to raise awareness.

For more on the story, watch a video report by WTHI here.

Law enforcement focuses on Super Bowl weekend

By: Dan Corcoran

PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. – While final preparations are being made ahead of Super Bowl XLVI, law enforcement from Florida and elsewhere is honing in on the potential for a spike in child sex trafficking.  The federal government reports that Florida is among the top states where the ugly trade can originate.

Human trafficking is a crisis that unfolds in this country year-round, but when thousands of people converge on one area at one time, it can create a breeding ground for criminal activity, some of which comes from Florida.

Some in law enforcement are setting their sights away from the bright lights of the game and on to the potential for human sex trafficking.

Jeff Goldberg is part of the Human Trafficking Coalition of  the Palm Beaches and said there is a much darker side to the excitement the Super Bowl can bring.

“Basically, it’s modern day slavery,” he said. “Human traffickers and those involved in the sex industry will go to that area because they know people are there, they’re going to spend money,” said Goldberg.

New York, California and Florida are the top three states where the practice of human trafficking can originate, according the federal statistics.

“The sex trade in children is alive and most people turn a blind eye to it,” said Sandy Skelaney, who heads up Kristi House in Miami, an organization dedicated to helping child victims of sex abuse.

South Florida, Skelaney said, can be the gateway for illegal activity states away.

“They have traffickers or pimps that will transport them down here or to a city where there is an event such as a Super Bowl,” she said.
Read more: http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_c_palm_beach_county/west_palm_beach/experts-super-bowl-festivities-leads-to-human-trafficking-from-fl#ixzz1lMLEqfCB

By MAUREEN HAYDEN CNHI Indiana

INDIANAPOLIS — Hundreds of Indianapolis cab drivers being trained in how to show Hoosier hospitality for soon-to-arrive Super Bowl fans are also learning how to recognize sex workers brought in for the event.

The cab drivers are part of a larger group of hotel, restaurant and other service workers in Indianapolis being asked to help identify potential victims of the commercial sex-trafficking industry.

Driving the effort is the National Football League championship game that will be played in Indianapolis on Feb. 5, and all the alcohol- and sex-infused parties and events that transform the game into a week-long spectacle. Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller has said the Super Bowl is the largest sex-trafficking event in the nation.

In recent weeks, more than 700 cab drivers have taken part in the “Super Service” hospitality training offered by staff and volunteers with the Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee. It includes a session on sex-trafficking and the fast-tracked legislation aimed at cracking down on the crime.

“Whenever there’s a large event like the Super Bowl, we know there’s an increase in sex trafficking,” said Valerie Schmitt, coordinator of a human-trafficking outreach effort in Indianapolis. “There’s an increased demand for [commercial] sex and that leads to an increased risk that someone will be victimized.”

She described some of the classic victims of sex-traffickers, including illegal immigrants forced to work off their debts by working as prostitutes or teenagers sexually exploited by adults. She predicted Indianapolis will see an influx of prostitutes, including many who are underage.

“You’re our eyes and our ears …”  she told them. “You meet a lot of people and overhear a lot of conversations that might be helpful in recognizing someone involved in [sex] trafficking.”

She asked them to put the human-trafficking hotline phone number of 888-373-7888 into their cells phones and use it if they suspect anything. Some of the cab drivers looked skeptical; while others pulled out their cell phones to program in the number.

Tim Neville, operations manager for Indianapolis Yellow Cab, the city’s largest cab service, said more than 150 of his drivers had been through “Super Service” training that includes the session on sex trafficking.

“I think it’s great,” Neville said. “This is our community; we live here and want to protect it. Our drivers know how to balance a passenger’s expectation of some anonymity with what could be criminal activity.”

For the full story click here.

Published February 02, 2012| FoxNews.com

“The Super Bowl is a huge human trafficking event,” said State Sen. Randy Head, (R-Logansport). “They’re running sophisticated rings — trading girls from city to city.”

Head says the victims would have gone unnoticed. Thousands of people are already descending upon Indianapolis and there will be more than 150,000 visitors this weekend. The state’s message to pimps and ‘johns’ is a strong one: not this time around.

“Indiana will not tolerate it,” Head said.

The law, which took effect Monday with Gov. Mitch Daniels’ signature, closes previous loopholes. It is now against the law for anybody to arrange for a person to participate in any forced sexual act. Before, Indiana law only prohibited forced marriage and prostitution.

Also, the law makes it easier to prosecute those who sell children into sexual slavery. It reduces the burden on a prosecutor to prove coercion. Before, prosecutors had to prove a victim was threatened or physically forced into sexual slavery. Traffickers could escape prosecution by claiming the victim wasn’t being held against their will.

The new law extends the definition of sex trafficking and increases penalties. There are also new training recommendations for hotel employees and cab drivers. The employees can look for warning signs in possible victims. Experts say red flags include young girls, dressed inappropriately, who seem quiet, insecure and avoid eye contact. They also say it’s suspicious when this profile of a girl checks into a hotel with no luggage.

“What they did is amazing,” said Linda Smith, the president and founder of Shared Hope International. “I met with the governor less than two months ago. He met with the legislature that same week. They fast-tracked a piece of legislation to warn the traffickers – this is not a good place to do business.”

Smith is a former Republican U.S. congresswoman from Washington state. Her nonprofit organization works with states across the country to beef up weak human trafficking laws. Shared Hope International, in conjunction with the American Center for Law & Justice, recently graded Indiana, along with every state in the country, on the scope of its human trafficking laws.

Indiana got a ‘D’. Not long after, Smith began talking with Gov. Mitch Daniels. She says the fact the bill was passed as quickly as it was, in time for the game, provides national visibility and it is a huge win in the war against human trafficking. That being said, she says state lawmakers need to do more when it comes to prosecuting the buyers. She said future legislation should specifically list punishments for ‘johns’ who purchase underage women.

“We’ve got a long way to go, but they made a strong first statement at a perfect time because a lot of people will now know Indianapolis is now watching. Buyers might now think twice before they buy,” she said.

The proclamation sends a message not only to perpetrators, but also other lawmakers across the nation. Smith says lawmakers have the power to eliminate the demand by passing laws like the one in Indiana.

“The Super Bowl — or any large sports game — always draws traffickers and they bring the product line because there are a lot of men that are used to buying commercial sex around these events,” Smith said. “Unfortunately, it draws minors as a product line. People bring in kids. So what has happened in Indianapolis is absolutely amazing. The leadership standing up saying – we’re going to send a message to traffickers saying we’re not a good place for you to be bringing kids or vulnerable women to sell.”

Under SB 1880 the penalty for trafficking would increase from a maximum of 15 years in prison to 30 years. The bill would create additional trafficking offenses, some with maximums of life in prison.

The bill (SB 1880) also would authorize the statewide prosecutor to investigate and prosecute human trafficking cases.

Another provision would let the governor, attorney general and prosecutors to seek court orders authorizing wire taps in such cases.

Originally reported on CBS Miami

Associated Press Writer Mitch Weiss contributed to this report from Charlotte, N.C.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The U.S. State Department is proposing what it calls “significant and controversial” changes to a foreign exchange program that has been exploited by unscrupulous labor brokers and organized criminals in the sex industry, said an internal memo obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press.

The Jan. 18 memo comes more than a year after an AP investigation uncovered widespread abuses in the J-1 Summer Work Travel program, which annually allows more than 100,000 foreign college students to work in the U.S. for up to four months. It came from Adam Ereli, assistant secretary for the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and was addressed to Assistant Secretary of State Ann Stock.

“The reforms we are undertaking will significantly reduce the opportunities for wrongdoing and catch it much more quickly when it does occur,” the memo said.

Some of the most significant changes would be to ban jobs in factories, warehouses and other places like seafood packing plants. The agency also plans on “re-emphasizing the adult entertainment industry prohibition by specifically prohibiting jobs with escort services, adult book/video stores, massage parlors, and strip clubs.”

It would require sponsors to “use particular prudence and caution when dealing with jobs that offer legitimate employment but also have been known to be associated with human trafficking, such as janitorial service, housekeeping and modeling agencies.”

There’s also a provision aimed at protecting American workers, “such as a more precise definition of temporary seasonal employment and a bar against SWT job placements during layoffs or lockouts.”

The memo said the rules would be made public around March. The State Department declined to comment on Tuesday.

The companies the State Department designated as official sponsors — which charge up to several thousand dollars to arrange visas and jobs for the participants — objected to less significant changes made last year and to the anticipated new restrictions.

“They have told us they are taking these complaints to Congress, though we have yet to see any indication of congressional support for their position,” the memo said. “Notwithstanding these potential criticisms, we think a solid case can be made that these changes are needed and that some are needed urgently.”

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton last year ordered a thorough review of the program, and her department had already made several changes since the AP investigation uncovered living and working conditions that some participants compared to indentured servitude. In November it had temporarily stopped accepting any new sponsors and will limit the number of future participants to this year’s level, or about 109,000 students. The State Department also revised its rules to require more oversight by its 53 designated sponsors.

But not all of last year’s changes have been fully implemented, according to the memo because some students will be “grandfathered” in.

“While this will mean that some participants are treated differently than others for a brief at time, to do otherwise, however, would create major problems for our embassies and consulates as placements are cancelled — and possibly visas revoked — for students who paid their fees and made their summer plans in good faith…,” the memo said.

In one of the worst cases of abuse, a woman told the AP she was beaten, raped and forced to work as a stripper in Detroit after being promised a job as a waitress in Virginia.

In August 2011, dozens of workers protested conditions at a candy factory that contracts to pack Hershey chocolates in Hershey, Pa., complaining of hard physical labor and pay deductions for rent that often left them with little money. Then in December, a federal indictment accused the mafia of using the cultural exchange program to bring Eastern European women to work in New York strip clubs.

For the full story click here.

Written by Hema Easley

Her voice cracking and her face flushed, the woman who says she is a victim of labor trafficking and sex abuse described her helplessness and humiliation as her father-in-law used his position of authority to touch her breasts and private body parts.

Her husband and his family, the Jagotas of 28 Butternut Drive in Ramapo, have been accused of bringing her to the United States following an arranged marriage, then forcing her into a life of servitude and sexual abuse.

The woman, 25, whose identity is being withheld by The Journal News because she is the alleged victim of sex abuse, struggled to detail the abuse as she testified during the Jagotas’ nonjury trial in New City. Her hesitation appeared largely cultural. In large parts of her native India, sexual matters, if discussed at all, are only whispered among members of one’s own sex.

“I can’t say it aloud,” the woman said, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before responding to Judge William Nelson’s request that she be specific. “It’s hard for me to say it in front of everyone.”

Four members of the Jagota family — Aman, 62, Pareveen, 57, Vishal, 34, and Rajani, 31 — have been charged with three counts of second-degree labor trafficking, a felony, and one count of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor. The top charge carries a maximum sentence of seven years upon conviction.

Aman Jagota also has been charged with 51 counts of forcible touching, a misdemeanor. The allegation is that he touched sexual and intimate parts of the victim’s body with the intent of degrading and abusing her and gratifying his sexual desires.

The Jagotas have pleaded not guilty.

For the full story click here to go to lohud.com.

There is a “mistake” on this order in regards to chocolate.  Cocoa  beans from The Ivory Coast and Nigeria is listed. Yet, companies like Hershey’s, Cargill and ADM to name a few who buy Ivory Coast cocoa beans still supply our federal government with their chocolate.  During my trip to capitol hill I found out why.  The federal government doesn’t buy cocoa beans, it buy it’s derivative product chocolate. If that ins’t a bunch smoke and mirrors malarkey, then what is?

We believe that in  order to be in line with its intention, these words need to be added: ”and its derivative products.”  If the big candy players can no longer sell to the feds, it would really wake them up.  Additionally, the bids for chcolate would go to ethical chocoalte companies!!  What a great way to give them opportunity they deserve.

A powerful way to get our government in action is to appeal individually to our elected officials.  It seems that if we all write the exact same letter with the exact same subject line (email or written), at the same time, then the offices of our public servants have to take note. Addressing the “mistake” in Executvie Order is something in their scope as a public servant.

It should take only about 15 mintues to send 3 emails. One to each of your Senators and one to your district Congressman on either Feb. the 13th or 14th. Here is a link that will lead you to the contact information of your politicians.  Below is the letter. Please spread the word it’s a numbers game at this point.  Thanks!!!!

THE LETTER WE SHOULD ALL USE:

Subject:  Put some love in Exec. Order 13126 this Valentine’s Day

Dear __________
As your constituent, I am writing you on behalf of Executive Order 13126: “Prohibition of Acquisition of Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor”, signed on June 12, 1999. It’s wonderful that we live in a country that is concerned with the global welfare of children. Unfortunately, there is an omission on this order that needs to be fixed.
Currently, listed is cocoa from Cote d’ Ivoire and Nigeria. For this to have any effect at all I would like to see the words “and its derivative products” included. To my knowledge the federal government has never purchased raw cocoa beans, but it does, through procurement channels, purchase chocolate where the cocoa originated from the two countries in question. I personally see no ethical difference between the raw beans and chocolate.
If your office is unfamiliar with the current situation regarding worst forms of child labor situation in West Africa, may I suggest you take a look at Tulane’s latest report on the Harkin-Engel Protocol. (you can do so by going to: http://www.childlabor-payson.org/)
Adding “and its derivative products” will mean that our federal government will have to shift purchasing to smaller chocolate companies that only use ethically sourced cocoa. I see that as a win for both the sake of the children and a bonus for the many small business that would love to have more opportunity for growth.

 Thank you in advance for your help.

For more on Slave Free Chocolate click here.

According to the New York Times, workers at a factory in Shenzhen, China, owned by Foxconn (a company that manufactures iPhones, iPads and other devices for Apple) regularly work sixteen-hour, seven-day work weeks.

They stand until their legs swell and they can’t walk, and they perform repetitive motions on the production line for so long that some permanently lose the use of their hands. To cut costs, managers make workers use cheap chemicals that cause neurological damage. There has been a rash of suicides at the Foxconn plant, and 300 workers recently threatened to jump off the roof over a safety and pay dispute.

In short, as one former Apple executive told the New York Times, “Most people would be really disturbed if they saw where their iPhone comes from.”

Mark Shields, a self-described member of the “cult of Mac,” started a petition on Change.org demanding Apple exert its influence on its suppliers to improve working conditions for the factory workers that make iPhones, iPads and other Apple products. Click here to sign Mark’s petition right now.

Apple knows it can play an important role in ensuring safe and fair working conditions for the workers at its suppliers, like Foxconn. In 2005, the company released a supplier code of conduct, and it performs hundreds of audits each year in China and around the world to confirm its suppliers are meeting the code’s expectations.

But that’s where Apple’s commitment falters: the number of supplier violations has held steady year to year and Apple hasn’t consistently publicly stated which suppliers have problems or dropped offending suppliers.

The bottom line, Apple executives admit, is that they’re not being forced to change.

One current executive told the New York Times that there’s a trade-off: “You can either manufacture in comfortable, worker-friendly factories,” he said, or you can “make it better and faster and cheaper, which requires factories that seem harsh by American standards. And right now, customers care more about a new iPhone than working conditions in China.”

That means public pressure is the only thing that can force Apple to ensure its suppliers treat workers humanely. If enough people sign Mark’s petition — and tell Apple they care more about human beings than they do about how fast the company can produce the next generation iPhone — the company could be convinced to make real change for the workers at Foxconn and other factories.

 Click here to sign Mark’s petition demanding Apple change the way it does business.

Thanks for being a change-maker,

- Amanda and the Change.org team