Today I researched human trafficking and calculated my slavery footprint at the ‘Made in a Free World’ website. http://slaveryfootprint.org
Their calculations stated that 37 slaves work for me; several of the products I own/use involve slavery somewhere in the supply chain. A realisation that left me feeling more than a little uncomfortable.
There are thought to be 20 to 30 million slaves in the world today.
According to the A21 website http://www.thea21campaign.org/content/the-facts/gjekag:
Only 1 in 100, 000 European traffickers are ever convicted.
Only 1-2% of victims are ever rescued.
Victims are usually women and children, the average age of victims is 12.
But how can I act against this?
In the US advice is readily available and January was Human Trafficking Awareness month. The main suggestions are to raise awareness and demand accountability from the companies you purchase from.
I’m now following a couple of organisations on Facebook that fight human trafficking and have made a donation to the UK organisation Hope for Justice.
http://hopeforjustice.org.uk/human-trafficking-briefing
I’ve also communicated with some of the companies I purchase from to let them know they need to be more accountable and help end human trafficking.