The Transit Lounge, the Uniting Church Ezine, has just published an article on human slavery by Jonathan Hirt. Originally from Sydney, Jonathan is currently a fellow at the Not For Sale Campaign in San Francisco. In the article he outlines ten realities Australians need to wake up to in relation to human trafficking.
- Human trafficking is modern-day slavery.
- Australia has a History of Slavery – not all that dissimilar to Human Trafficking.
- Human trafficking does not have to involve the movement of a person across borders.
- Human trafficking is happening in your backyard.
- You are complicit in modern-day slavery.
- People smuggling is not human trafficking.
- The victims of human trafficking are not just “foreigners” – it is happening to people like you and me.
- The traffickers are people who look like you.
- You have a role to play in the movement to end human slavery.
- We can end human trafficking in our lifetime.
Read the full arguments behind these 10 theses at The Transit Lounge. See more on the Australian Not For Sale campaign.
Two of my colleagues, Jason Bray and Michael Crowhurst, are gettting ready to head off to The Philippines to film “Street Dreams“, a documentary on human trafficking there. They’re raising financial support for filming and editing, online at Facebook.
The image above, “Two Times Jailed“, is a photograph by Stefano Mortellaro, taken in Palermo, Sicily. The man, who has been released from prison through a pardon, now faces long term unemployment.