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| (Image from In Plain Sight) |
WARNING: THIS POST HAS CONTENT THAT MAY BE DISTURBING TO SOME READERS. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED!
Let Us Abolish Modern Slavery
We
Will
End
Slavery
In
The
21st
Century.
-Paul Whiting
(a.k.a., Small All White in the Forest)
"I am no barrier to its sun; the light and I are as one!"
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My Writing About Donating For Human Trafficking Awareness Day (for 2014): Please join me this National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, which is yearly (annually) on January 11th, by donating to the organization(s) of your choice working to abolish modern slavery, or human trafficking, in our lifetime! –Paul Whiting (written January 13th, 2014, revised July 18th, 2022, revised January 11th, 2023 and revised March 7th, 2023)
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My Writing About Donating For Human Trafficking Awareness Day (for 2022): For National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, which is yearly (annually) on January 11th, I made donations via Charity Navigator today, January 11th, 2022, to organizations that are working toward ending modern slavery, or human trafficking as it is formally called. Plus, I also included a donation to Charity Navigator, because they are a charity too. And I really appreciate being able to utilize Charity Navigator's charity rating system in order to assess which charities receive their 'give with confidence' rating. I also appreciate being able to donate to multiple charities at the same time—all in one convenient transaction, rather than having to process individual donations on each charity's website—which makes supporting anti-human trafficking organizations via Charity Navigator that much more worthwhile. –Paul Whiting (written January 11th, 2022, revised January 17th, 2022, revised July 18th, 2022, revised January 11th, 2023, revised January 16th, 2023, revised March 7th, 2023 and revised March 21st, 2023)
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My Writing About Donating For Human Trafficking Awareness Day (for 2023): National Human Trafficking Awareness Day is yearly (annually) on January 11th in America. So, I donated today, January 11th, 2023, to organizations that are working toward ending modern slavery, or human trafficking as it is formally called. And I donated to both national and international anti-human trafficking organizations to symbolically recognize modern slavery, or human trafficking, as being an extremely serious issue in America, as well as worldwide. –Paul Whiting (written January 11th, 2023, revised March 7th, 2023 and revised July 30th, 2023)
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My Writing About Donating For Human Trafficking Awareness Day (for 2024): In observance of National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, which is yearly (annually) on January 11th in America, I donated today, January 11th, 2024, to organizations that are working toward ending modern slavery, or human trafficking as it is formally called. And I donated to both national and international anti-human trafficking organizations to symbolically recognize modern slavery, or human trafficking, as being an extremely serious issue in America, as well as worldwide. –Paul Whiting (January 11th, 2024)
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My Poetic Notes:
The reason that I wrote this poem can be summed up with the following statement: I am working on being aware of whether I am buying anything made by a slave labor and, so I have taken the WalkFree.org pledge* for 'A World Without Slavery,' because "I believe our generation can build a world without slavery!"
Plus, I republished this poem on my "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" blog on National Human Trafficking Awareness Day 2022, which is observed on January 11th each year. And when I was searching for organizations that I could donate to, which are working toward ending modern slavery, or 'human trafficking' as it is formally called, I found "20 Ways You Can Help Fight Human Trafficking" from the U.S. State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (please see below) and so I did what I could in order to "join in the fight against human trafficking."
And one of the things that I did (as mentioned above) was to donate to organizations that are working toward ending modern slavery, or 'human trafficking' as it is formally called, via Charity Navigator, which is "the world's largest and most-utilized independent nonprofit evaluator, empowering millions of donors by providing them with free access to data, tools, and resources to guide philanthropic decision-making."
Also, beginning in January 2013, I tried to create a post for virtually every holiday and special occasion of which I was aware, but I realized by September 2014 that I did not have enough time and energy to continue posting for every holiday and special occasion. And I decided to keep the poems in that series which were the most relevant to this blog, of which this is one.
And this poem was also published on my "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" blog (please see the hyperlink below for the blog), since I feel that the message in this poem applies to the message that I am trying to convey through "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer."
This poem was written in Portland, Oregon.
-Paulee
https://paulwhitingwriting.blogspot.com
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"Human trafficking" from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia—which is funded primarily through donations from millions of individuals around the world, including this blogger (I make a totally affordable monthly donation):
"Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extraction of organs or tissues, including for surrogacy and ova removal. Human trafficking can occur within a country or trans-nationally. Human trafficking is a crime against the person because of the violation of the victim's rights of movement through coercion and because of their commercial exploitation. Human trafficking is the trade in people, especially women and children, and does not necessarily involve the movement of the person from one place to another.
People smuggling (also called human smuggling and migrant smuggling) is a related practice which is characterized by the consent of the person being smuggled. Smuggling situations can descend into human trafficking through coercion and exploitation. Trafficked people are held against their will through acts of coercion, and forced to work for or provide services to the trafficker or others.
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), forced labour alone (one component of human trafficking) generates an estimated $150 billion in profits per annum as of 2014. In 2012, the ILO estimated that 21 million victims are trapped in modern-day slavery. Of these, 14.2 million (68%) were exploited for labour, 4.5 million (22%) were sexually exploited, and 2.2 million (10%) were exploited in state-imposed forced labour. The International Labour Organization has reported that child workers, minorities, and irregular migrants are at considerable risk of more extreme forms of exploitation. Statistics shows that over half of the world's 215 million young workers are observed to be in hazardous sectors, including forced sex work and forced street begging. Ethnic minorities and highly marginalized groups of people are highly estimated to work in some of the most exploitative and damaging sectors, such as leather tanning, mining, and stone quarry work.
Human trafficking is the third largest crime industry in the world, behind drug dealing and arms trafficking, and is the fastest-growing activity of trans-national criminal organizations.
Human trafficking is condemned as a violation of human rights by international conventions. In addition, human trafficking is subject to a directive in the European Union. According to the 2018 and 2019 editions of the annual Trafficking in Persons Reports issued by the U.S. State Department, Belarus, Iran, Russia, and Turkmenistan remain among the worst countries when it comes to providing protection against human trafficking and forced labour."
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking
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*"I Believe In A World Where Everyone Can Walk Free" from Walk Free:
https://www.walkfree.org
"20 Ways You Can Help Fight Human Trafficking" from the U.S. State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons:
Anyone can join in the fight against human trafficking. Here are 20 ideas to consider.
1. Learn the indicators of human trafficking on the TIP Office’s website or by taking a training. Human trafficking awareness training is available for individuals, businesses, first responders, law enforcement, educators, and federal employees, among others.
2. If you are in the United States and believe someone may be a victim of human trafficking, call the 24-hour National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or report an emergency to law enforcement by calling 911. Trafficking victims, whether or not U.S. citizens, are eligible for services and immigration assistance.
3. Be a conscientious and informed consumer. Find out more about who may have picked your tomatoes or made your clothes at ResponsibleSourcingTool.org, or check out the Department of Labor’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor. Encourage companies to take steps to prevent human trafficking in their supply chains and publish the information, including supplier or factory lists, for consumer awareness.
4. Volunteer and support anti-trafficking efforts in your community.
5. Meet with and/or write to your local, state, and federal elected officials to let them know you care about combating human trafficking and ask what they are doing to address it.
6. Be well-informed. Set up a web alert to receive current human trafficking news. Also, check out CNN’s Freedom Project for more stories on the different forms of human trafficking around the world.
7. Host an awareness-raising event to watch and discuss films about human trafficking. For example, learn how modern slavery exists today; watch an investigative documentary about sex trafficking; or discover how forced labor can affect global food supply chains. Alternatively, contact your local library and ask for assistance identifying an appropriate book and ask them to host the event.
8. Organize a fundraiser and donate the proceeds to an anti-trafficking organization.
9. Encourage your local schools or school district to include human trafficking in their curricula and to develop protocols for identifying and reporting a suspected case of human trafficking or responding to a potential victim.
10. Use your social media platforms to raise awareness about human trafficking, using the following hashtags: #endtrafficking, #freedomfirst.
11. Think about whether your workplace is trauma-informed and reach out to management or the Human Resources team to urge implementation of trauma-informed business practices.
12. Become a mentor to a young person or someone in need. Traffickers often target people who are going through a difficult time or who lack strong support systems. As a mentor, you can be involved in new and positive experiences in that person’s life during a formative time.
13. Parents and Caregivers: Learn how human traffickers often target and recruit youth and who to turn to for help in potentially dangerous situations. Host community conversations with parent teacher associations, law enforcement, schools, and community members regarding safeguarding children in your community.
14. Youth: Learn how to recognize traffickers’ recruitment tactics, how to safely navigate out of a suspicious or uncomfortable situations, and how to reach out for help at any time.
15. Faith-Based Communities: Host awareness events and community forums with anti-trafficking leaders or collectively support a local victim service provider.
16. Businesses: Provide jobs, internships, skills training, and other opportunities to trafficking survivors. Take steps to investigate and prevent trafficking in your supply chains by consulting the Responsible Sourcing Tool and Comply Chain to develop effective management systems to detect, prevent, and combat human trafficking.
17. College Students: Take action [PDF] on your campus. Join or establish a university club to raise awareness about human trafficking and initiate action throughout your local community. Consider doing one of your research papers on a topic concerning human trafficking. Request that human trafficking be included in university curricula.
18. Health Care Providers: Learn how to identify the indicators of human trafficking and assist victims. With assistance from local anti-trafficking organizations, extend low-cost or free services to human trafficking victims. Resources from the Department of Health and Human Services can be found on their website.
19. Journalists: The media plays an enormous role in shaping perceptions and guiding the public conversation about human trafficking. Seek out some media best practices on how to effectively and responsibly report stories on human trafficking.
20. Attorneys: Offer human trafficking victims legal services, including support for those seeking benefits or special immigration status. Resources are available for attorneys representing victims of human trafficking.
https://www.state.gov/20-ways-you-can-help-fight-human-trafficking
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July 30th, 2023 Update: World Day Against Trafficking in Persons is yearly (annually) on July 30th worldwide. So, I donated today, July 30th, 2023, to organizations that are working toward ending modern slavery, or human trafficking as it is formally called. And I donated to both international and national anti-human trafficking organizations to symbolically recognize modern slavery, or human trafficking, as being an extremely serious issue worldwide, as well as in America. –Paul Whiting (July 30th, 2023)
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July 30th, 2024 Update No. 1: World Day Against Trafficking in Persons is yearly (annually) on July 30th worldwide. So, I donated today, July 30th, 2024, to organizations that are working toward ending modern slavery, or human trafficking as it is formally called. And I donated to both an international and a national anti-human trafficking organization to symbolically recognize modern slavery, or human trafficking, as being an extremely serious issue worldwide, as well as in America. –Paul Whiting (July 30th, 2024)
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November 6th, 2024 Update No. 1 [My Writing About No Longer Being An 'Online Activist' In Any Way, Shape Or Form]: Due to Donald Trump winning the 2024 Presidential Election—and until further notice—I am no longer being an 'Online Activist' in any way, shape or form, which includes no longer signing petitions from political, social, environmental and charitable organizations, and no longer sending letters to my Representative and Senators in Congress, as well as no longer making donations to political, social, environmental and charitable causes. Full stop! I am also unsubscribing from any of the emails that I used to receive from political, social, environmental and charitable organizations. In fact, I am even cancelling all of my monthly political donations to the main Democratic fundraising and coordinating organizations, as well as to the USO (United Service Organizations), in addition to cancelling all of my monthly news organization subscriptions, or news organization donations, because I am absolutely terrified of this second Trump administration. And I fully expect that democracy in America as we know will be over! So, I am choosing to not engage in any 'activism' whatsoever—plus, I am not even sure that I will be exercising my 'civic duty' by voting in any upcoming elections because, as a (formerly) donating and a (potentially former) voting Democrat, I totally fear the retribution of President Donald J. Trump. Full stop! –Paul Whiting (written November 6th, 2024 and revised November 7th, 2024)
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This "Small All White in the Forest" Post No. 172 was edited on November 7th, 2024.
"Poetry is using the fewest words possible in order to describe all that is possible to describe." –Paul Whiting [June 1st, 2022]
