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8 Facts About How Social Media Affects Human Trafficking

social media affects human traffickingNearly two decades into the 21st century, more than 2.5 billion people use social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Youtube. There’s no doubt that these types of digital realms alter human interaction and communication. Many users view these high-tech advances as ways to connect with communities they might not have been able to connect with otherwise. Unfortunately not everyone with social media accounts use them solely to stay connected with old friends and distant relatives; human traffickers utilize social media to recruit, run operations and control their victims. Here are eight facts about modern-day slavery in Europe and how social media affects human trafficking.

8 Facts About How Social Media Affects Human Trafficking

  1. Human trafficking doesn’t only include forced transportation for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. In addition to servitude and prostitution, trafficking also consists of the removal of vital organs and forced criminality, such as pickpocketing, shoplifting and drug trafficking.
  2. Human traffickers lure, abduct and control victims solely for their own financial gain. They may lure victims by offering an escape from extreme poverty or abusive homes. As Professor AnnJanette Rosga, who oversaw the “Research on Child Trafficking in Bosnia and Herzegovina” report stated, “the global sex trade is as much a product of everyday people struggling to survive in dire economic straits as it is an organized crime problem.” Some individuals and families believe that the financial benefits will outweigh the costs of modern-day slavery or that victims will be able to escape. Addressing root causes of what makes people vulnerable to human trafficking, such as poverty, lack of job opportunity and lack of safe migration opportunities, will certainly decrease the prevalence of human trafficking.
  3. Developing European countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Albania each have millions of internet users. These and other Eastern European countries oftentimes have histories filled with corruption, civil strife and authoritarian government that contribute to high unemployment levels, leaving civilians vulnerable. Young girls and women struggling with poverty create optimal conditions for criminals to connect with vulnerable people like them without immediately exposing themselves as criminals.
  4. “Poly-criminal” gangs create fake social media accounts, marketing them as employment agencies to target young and vulnerable victims. Hiding behind fake profile pictures and information can transform any criminal into someone who might seem trustworthy, especially to young people who want to help their families living in poverty.
  5. Likewise, human traffickers will manipulate their victims’ social media accounts to maintain control. Social media oftentimes seems like a connection to friends and family members, but traffickers will restrict or monitor use of social media to keep their victims powerless.
  6. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the world’s largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization, works against human trafficking in several countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Albania. The OSCE recommends combating modern-day slavery through a three-step framework: prevention, which includes raising awareness and addressing root problems, prosecution, which includes investigation and cooperation with international law enforcement, and protection of victims’ rights, which includes assistance and compensation.
  7. La Strada International is a leading network of eight independent organizations that work on a grassroots level to combat human trafficking in Europe. La Strada has offices in Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Macedonia, Moldova, Netherlands, Poland and Ukraine, but they lobby at the international level, advocating for changes in policy and stressing the importance of human rights.
  8. Ariadne is a regional network of 16 organizations in 12 countries, dedicated to combating human trafficking in Southeastern and Eastern Europe. Their most recent joint project focuses on developing effective reintegration models for survivors of human trafficking in the Western Balkans.

While the Information Age continues to bring about life-altering knowledge and technologies, there are always those who will manipulate technological advances for criminal activity. With increasingly new gadgets and technologies, 21st-century caveats include cybersecurity and data privacy issues as well as catfishing. While poverty, lack of opportunity and weak labor rights are some causes for humanitarian injustices, high prevalence and ease for traffickers to disguise themselves and their intentions are how social media affects human trafficking.

– Keeley Griego
Photo: Flickr

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10 Organizations That Help Women Around the World

Female Empowerment
Women face difficulties all over the world but especially in developing countries. Global nonprofit organizations play a key role in promoting female empowerment in areas such as education, health care and employment. They recognize that when you empower women, you empower entire communities and countries.

Here are 10 organizations that help women around the world.

10 Organizations that Help Women Around the World

  1. Women’s Global Empowerment Fund
    This nonprofit organization was founded in 2007 and works to provide women in Uganda with access to microcredit loans, business and leadership development training, literacy, health initiatives and more. Karen Sugar, Women’s Global Empowerment Fund Founder, created the organization with the idea that microfinance, when bundled with educational programming, can increase the potential for women’s empowerment and success.
  2. Center for Reproductive Rights
    The goal of this organization is to help promote a world where women are free to make their own decisions about kids and marriage. The organization strives to create a safe space where women can make these decisions without conflict. According to its website, the Center for Reproductive Rights is the only global legal advocacy organization dedicated to reproductive rights.
  3. World Pulse
    World Pulse makes the list of organizations that help women by using the power of technology and social media to connect women worldwide. They are a social network that gives women the opportunity to connect, unite, share, launch movements and run for office. Overall, World Pulse’s goal is to create a world, online and off, where women can flourish.
  4. The Girl Effect
    Through the idea that creativity empowers, The Girl Effect builds vibrant youth brands. The organization operates globally, from places like Ethiopia to the Philippines, to help girls and women worldwide share their stories of growing into adulthood through mobile platforms. Through self-expression and community support, The Girl Effect believes that every girl can begin to value herself, build quality relationships and get access and education about things she needs.
  5. Global Fund for Women
    The Global Fund for Women supports and advocates for groups led by women who demand equal rights in their communities. This organization fights for some of the most important ingredients for women’s human rights: reproductive rights, freedom from violence, leadership and more.
  6. New Light
    New Light is an organization that provides children of sex workers with a safe haven—especially at night time. The organization is located deep inside the red-light district of Kalighat, Kolkata. New Light has grown from caring for nine children in the year 2000 to 250 children of many different ages currently. The organization provides education, healthcare, nutritional support, a recreational facility, HIV/AIDS care, income opportunities for the mothers and residential care. New Light also fights against gender-based violence.
  7. Global Grassroots
    The mission of this organization is to promote leadership in women and girls in their communities. The goal is to educate women on Conscious Social Change, which is a methodology that “employs mindfulness throughout the process of designing a social solution.” Global Grassroots works to create a world where all women and girls have the ability to pursue their own dreams and ideas and turn them into something impactful in their own community. There are two main programs: Academy for Conscious Change, which works with marginalized and impoverished women in post-conflict regions and Young Women’s Academy for Conscious Change which is for young women who are between high school graduation and university enrollment.
  8. Global Goods Partners
    Global Goods Partners’ (GGP) goal is to provide artisan jobs for women. This not-for-profit social enterprise has partnered with over 60 artisan, women-led organizations throughout Asia, Africa and the Americas. GGP invests all of the proceeds from product sales to provide training, funding and sustainable market access.
  9. BRAC
    BRAC fights against the obstacles that prevent children in developing countries from receiving a quality education including violence, discrimination, displacement and extreme poverty. Although BRAC works to help every child, the organization focuses especially on women and girls and making sure they have the ability to take control of their own lives. The organization provides educational programs in six countries, boasting the largest secular, private education system worldwide. There are more than 900,000 students enrolled in BRAC primary schools all over the world.
  10. CAMFED
    The Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED) is an international non-profit focused on supporting marginalized girls to succeed through education. CAMFED, which is African-led has supported approximately 2.6 million children to go to school. There are 120,000 women involved in their alumnae network that multiplies donor investments in girls’ education.

– Malena Larsen
Photo: Flickr

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Donate Bras to Help Women in Developing Countries

Donate Bras
Undergarments are an everyday article of clothing for women in thriving and wealthy countries. However, in developing countries, bras are often a rarity. Rather than throwing out gently-used undergarments, it is worthwhile to donate bras and make a difference for women in rural and poor communities. In addition to empowering women, the recycling of bras saves money and resources, uses less water and energy and creates a lower carbon footprint. The second-hand clothing market also provides affordable clothing and encourages global entrepreneurship. The following four organizations offer this option for making a difference to developing countries, women and girls and the environment.

I Support the Girls

I Support the Girls’ mission is to help women and girls regain self-respect and dignity by providing them with feminine products. The organization collects and disburses donations of second-hand bras to national and international women and girls who are homeless, refugees, escaping domestic violence and more. Whatever the struggle and wherever the location, I Support the Girls’ goal is to make sure every woman has access to feminine necessities. To date, it has collected approximately 500,000 bras to women worldwide and donated to more than 500 shelters and organizations.

The Bra Recyclers

“If it doesn’t fit… recycle it” is the mission of The Bra Recyclers, LLC. The Bra Recyclers has donated approximately two million gently-used bras to more than 100 domestic and international organizations. Along with supplying undergarments to women in need, it collects and donates bras in hopes of reducing the number of bras in landfills. In addition to supporting girls and women who are escaping domestic violence and human trafficking, the company also donates to breast cancer survivors who lack adequate health insurance.

Free the Girls

This nonprofit organization works in El Salvador, Mozambique and Costa Rica with on-the-ground partners. The goal of Free the Girls is to equip girls and women with the ability to earn an income selling bras in the second-hand market. Free the Girls works to turn gently-used bras into economic opportunity for women in these developing countries. After being featured on CNN’s Freedom Project in 2012, the organization gained the ability to ship more than 30,000 bras to Mozambique, and the number of women in its program grew from three to 24.

Your Smalls Appeal

An organization that started in 2016, Your Smalls Appeal’s goal is to help women and girls in Africa. It collects and donates bras and feminine products for women in impoverished areas in The Gambia, a small country in West Africa. The organization receives and distributes all styles and sizes of bras and sends them to those in need. Additionally, in rural areas of Africa, girls often miss school while they are menstruating. With the help of menstruation kits from Your Smalls Appeal, girls can continue to attend school with dignity and cleanliness.

A commonplace article of clothing to one woman is life-changing for another. Whether for personal comfort and dignity or financial advancement, worldwide access to undergarments is crucial. The four groups above work to decrease waste worldwide, create jobs in developing areas and empower, comfort and support women, wherever they are located.

– Malena Larsen

Photo: Flickr

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Ending Female Genital Mutilation in Sierra Leone

FGM Sierra Leon
Female Genital Mutilation in Sierra Leone has recently become a topic of conversation both nationally and internationally since it is one of the 28 African countries that still partake in the practice. The World Health Organization officially described female genital mutilation (FGM) as “procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.” The procedure usually involves some kind of cutting or removing of the genital flesh of a female as part of the initiation into womanhood. Several organizations are spreading awareness of the devastating results of this barbaric procedure and working to end this practice once and for all.

Why FGM Occurs?

The reasons for the procedure of FGM depend on the culture, they but usually fall into four categories: psychosexual, as a way to control female sexuality and maintain virginity; sociological and cultural, the practice is viewed as a vital tradition to the cultural heritage; hygiene and aesthetics, as some communities view the external female genitalia as unappealing and unclean; and finally, socio-economic factors since FGM is often a pre-requisite for marriage and the right to inherit.

The procedure is often performed with penknives, razors or even cut glass, and can result in severe pain, bleeding, cysts, infections, complications in childbirth, infertility and in extreme cases, death. The initiation can also often result in psychological issues from the trauma and pain of the event as well as from the inability to experience sexual pleasure thereafter. An estimated 200 million women and girls have undergone the procedure worldwide, with a staggering 90 percent in Sierra Leone.

Challenges in Stopping the Practice

The practice is ingrained into the culture and holds high social significance. In fact, 69 percent of women and 46 percent of men aged 15-49 believe in the continuation of the practice. FGM has been viewed as an initiation into womanhood and has been an important cultural touchstone for the people of Sierra Leone. This makes it difficult to stop the practice, as many see it as socially embarrassing and being unworthy of marriage if they have not received the initiation.

Another challenge faced to end FGM is that many Soweis, who usually perform the initiation, refuse to end the practice as they see it as a threat to the traditions of the Bondo society. They also receive large amounts of money for the initiations and do not want to lose this source of income.

Organizations Working to End FGM

The Amazonian Initiative Movement (AIM) is a non-governmental organization aiming to end the procedure. It was founded in 2002 by Rugiatu Turay, a victim of FGM herself, and many other women while living in a refugee camp in Guinea during the Sierra Leon’s civil war. AIM activists visit villages and speak with the women who perform this procedure and try to convince them to give it up. They have convinced 700 practitioners from 111 villages to stop practicing FGM.

AIM believes that one of the most efficient ways to begin the ending of practice is to teach women how to read and write since most of the procedures are performed by illiterate elder women. Providing them with the knowledge to read and write will open opportunities for them to pursue alternate means of income and reduce their interest in performing FGM.

Another non-governmental organization, AMNet, is fighting against the old fashioned initiation rite. AMNet works with Soweis, the senior female community members, to change the social stigmas surrounding women in regards to FGM in local communities. The group has high profile supporters like Sia Koroma, the first lady of Sierra Leone, which helps bring attention to their cause.

Legislation is Needed

Non-governmental organizations are working hard to provide knowledge on the issues surrounding FGM, but formal legislation against the practice will further help end the societal pressures and stigmas that encourage the continuance of the initiation rite. Several countries have banned the practice, including more than 20 countries in Africa and most Western European countries. Ending the practice has also become a part of the United Nations 2030 sustainable development agenda.

Female Genital Mutilation in Sierra Leone is not yet illegal, though progress is being made to eradicate the procedure. The country recently ratified the African Unions 2003 Maputo Protocol on Women’s Rights, stating in Article Five of the protocol that female genital mutilation should be prohibited by the government in order to finally end the procedure.

Female Genital Mutilation in Sierra Leone has been a huge cultural touchstone for many communities. The procedure, though, is highly dangerous for females in many areas of their mental and physical health. Many of the activists fighting to end the procedure recognize that immediate ending of the practice will not work, but could lead to underground practices, as the social and cultural significance of the initiation is far too important to many communities. Instead, they hope to use education to spread awareness about the harms of the practice, hopefully, changing opinions over time with respect to cultural significance.

– Mary Spindler
Photo: Flickr
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The Progress of Maternal Health Care in Belarus

Maternal Healthcare in Belarus
Fewer than 30 years ago, maternal health care in Belarus was not treated as a top priority in the country and the numbers show it. In 1990, 33 out of every 100,000 live births resulted in the death of the mother. By 2015, that number had decreased to four out of every 100,000.

Reasons for Bad Maternal Health Care in Belarus

The reasons for this precipitous drop are numerous, but some stand out more than others. For a long time, public health in Belarus revolved around containing the fallout from two momentous events. One was the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 that directly affected more than 2.2 million people in Belarus, half a million of whom were children. Charities, nongovernmental organizations and United Nations system organizations focused on providing emergency care to those who had been exposed to dangerous amounts of radiation.

The other event was the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), health care in Soviet-era Belarus was centered on the Semashko system. In this system, industrial workers, believed to be the source of productivity and prosperity for the Soviet Union, were essentially considered more important than the rest of the population. This resulted in addressing their immediate health needs first while overlooking larger public health concerns and it also meant that health care professionals were not as highly regarded as industrial workers. Low pay and little respect for medical workers perpetuated a cycle of subpar health care in Belarus.

Government Initiatives

Independence from Russia brought economic decline for Belarus in the short-term, but it also created an opportunity to revamp the country’s approach to public health. Maternal health care in Belarus received some overdue attention. Between 2005 and 2010, several health resolutions were initiated under the new Government of the Republic of Belarus, including a greater focus on reducing maternal mortality rates.

One such initiative was to build health facilities in rural areas, so that expectant Belarusian mothers in agricultural townships would have the same access to care as their urban counterparts. Another was to create a multileveled perinatal care system, made possible with the support of the head of state who approved the allocation of funds to improve maternal health care in Belarus. This included employing almost 2,700 obstetrician-gynecologists to treat a population of roughly 4.8 million women of fertile age. This initiative was implemented in 2005.

The Progress of Maternal Health Care in Belarus

A doctor visit at the earliest point in a known pregnancy is optimal for the health of mother and child. To ensure that expectant mothers would adhere to this guideline, a monetary allowance was given to them as an incentive for seeing a doctor within the first 12 weeks of their pregnancy. As a result of this bold initiative, prenatal visits within the first trimester increased by approximately 93.5 percent.

Paid maternity leave in Belarus lasts between 126 and 140 days, depending on the difficulty of the labor. Fathers are encouraged to play an active role in the birthing process, with maternity wards made to accommodate families. Today, maternal health care in Belarus ranks 26th in the world. Belarus is a shining example of how a country can evolve over a matter of mere decades and transcend seemingly insurmountable difficulties.

With a maternal mortality rate among the lowest in the world and a compassionate and comprehensive maternal health care system, Belarus has defied expectations across the board. The aid provided to the country during the low points in Belarusian history following the Chernobyl disaster and the fall of the Soviet Union was an important stepping stone toward a healthier and more independent Belarus. The state of maternal health care in Belarus is a magnificent reflection of that.

– Raquel Ramos

Photo: Google

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UK Agency: Laws to Measure Gender Inequality

Gender_Inequality
A new collaborative study published by the Great Initiative and Plan UK, two development organizations who work to promote female rights, reported that the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DfID), reached a great success in the implementation of a new legal statute that will measure the impact of the agencies foreign aid operations in reducing the prevalence of gender inequality.

The International Development (Gender Equality) Act, which was put into effect last May, placed a responsibility on the United Kingdom to continually assess and implement strategies designed to strengthen gender equality within countries who received funding for development. The report praised DfID for establishing a new international precedent for the integration of the issue of gender inequality into broader humanitarian efforts and noted the UK should encourage other Western nations to take similar measures.

Many developed nations have gotten involved in the battle against gender equality in recent years, including the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who launched the Millennium Development Goal 3 Fund in 2008. This investment of nearly $100 million proved to be the largest ever government gift to support development organizations working to support gender equality efforts. According to the Association for Women’s Rights in Development, the fund succeeded in impacting the lives of 220 million people, including 65.5 million women and girls, and provided assistance to over 100,000 women’s rights organizations.

The study concluded, “We were delighted to find that the act has both driven, and joined forces with, other measures to promote gender equality. At the time of our analysis (May 2015), 64 percent of the business cases in our sample contained a clear statement addressing gender impact and only 18 percent of business cases lacked this statement,” referring to 44 development projects analyzed as part of the study.

A specific case study included within the report analyzed the impact of a DfID-funded program to repair and resurface a road within Western Uganda on gender equality. Mariella Frostrup, a founding trustee of the Great Initiative who was familiar with the study, stated, “It surprised us, and indeed it turned out to be one of the most transformative projects we found in our evaluation. It identifies women’s land ownership, violence against women, women’s employment and social norms and stereotypes as issues to be addressed.”

She continued in explaining, “It mandates that 25 percent of jobs on the project are reserved for women, that women’s safety and security is guaranteed and that gender sensitization and awareness projects are run alongside the actual construction.

Justine Greening, the International Development Secretary of the UK, explained in a June interview that DfID was determined to continue pursuing the issue of gender inequality, specifically working to reduce the occurrence of female genital mutilation and child marriage. Two of the largest issues associated with gender inequality, officials hope to reduce the persistence of such human rights violations by providing continual funding and assistance to developing and impoverished regions.

– James Thornton

Sources: The Guardian, Devex
Photo: Flickr