David Batstone
Auteur de Not for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade--and How We Can Fight It
A propos de l'auteur
David Batstone was a founding editor of Business 2.0 magazine and a contributor to the New York Times, Wired, the Chicago Tribune, Spin, and the San Francisco Chronicle. He is the recipient of two national journalist awards and was named the National Endowment for the Humanities Chair at the afficher plus University of San Francisco for his work in technology and ethics. Batstone is also the executive editor of Sojourners magazine. Gifted as an entrepreneur, Batstone plays an executive role in a niche investment bank operating internationally in the entertainment and technology industries. During the 1980s, he founded and directed a nongovernmental agency dedicated to economic and human rights in Latin America afficher moins
Œuvres de David Batstone
Étiqueté
Partage des connaissances
- Sexe
- male
- Professions
- professor (ethics)
- Organisations
- University of San Francisco
Sojourners magazine (executive director)
Membres
Critiques
Prix et récompenses
Vous aimerez peut-être aussi
Statistiques
- Œuvres
- 7
- Membres
- 487
- Popularité
- #50,715
- Évaluation
- 3.9
- Critiques
- 9
- ISBN
- 23
- Langues
- 2
Despite the diverse locations and types of slavery, slavery and human trafficking stories have common themes. Slavery and human trafficking exploit the weakest members of society. These are usually people who live in poverty or in an unstable community (refugees are a prime target). The government and justice systems of the countries the victims are trafficked from, trafficked to, or both are willing to look the other way (because the government is corrupted or not powerful) or they treat the victims as criminals (e.g., treating underage sexual slaves as prostitutes or trafficked people as illegal immigrants). These factors together work to create a human slave trade with a large supply base and few real consequences for human traffickers.
The traffickers gain power over their victims by first recruiting those with little social power, often taking advantage of a crisis in a family or community. The victims are removed from their home communities and taken to communities where they are looked upon as undesirable outsiders or even criminals. The victims lose all control of their life and are often threatened with violence towards themselves or their families if they attempt to escape. The victims are treated as nothing more as a way for the slave holder and traffickers to gain money.
That is the dark side of the story. There is no sugarcoating how terrible it is. However, there is a movement to fight human trafficking and slavery. This movement has several objectives. First, victims of the slave trade should be rescued, cared for, and taught how to rebuild a life that may seem hopelessly torn apart. Second, the movement hopes to use and strengthen laws against slavery and address the corruption in many locales that causes members of the justice system to look the other way or even participate in the slave trade. Finally, the modern abolition movement hopes to decrease the factors which make people so vulnerable to human trafficking in the first place. This includes deterring potential oppressors, providing economic and community stability to at-risk communities, and giving local authorities the knowledge and power they need to recognize and stop slavery.
This book left me with one urgent question: How am I going to help? Well, I do not know of too much I can do, but here is how I will start. My husband and I have been looking for good causes to donate too, and we will certainly put some of the organizations mentioned in this book high up on our list (especially those that focus on the community strengthening, educational, and vocational training aspects of ending slavery). I have signed up for the weekly newsletter on the Not For Sale Campaign website to keep the issues in my consciousness. When I am looking for gifts, I will check the various stores that sell the products made in the vocational training of former slaves such as the Made By Survivors store and Night Light Design. These actions are not nearly enough, but maybe my little bit will help, and maybe, just maybe, my increased awareness will help me notice if I come across an opportunity to do something more.… (plus d'informations)