Dear Friends of The Home Foundation,

California Against Slavery is now circulating a state-wide initiative petition for signatures.The initiative would deter traffickers with stiffer criminal penalties and fines, aid district attorneys in prosecuting human trafficking offenses, increase protection for human trafficking victims, and mandate human trafficking training for law enforcement officers. The CAS initiative is consistent with human trafficking legislative bills introduced but takes it further.  For instance, the key language in AB559 sponsored by Assembly member Swanson is in the CAS initiative.  AB559 expired last month without leaving the Assembly.  It would add to the human trafficking offense anyone who “causes, induces, or persuades” a minor into sex trafficking or attempts to do so.  Our initiative has the identical language, but goes further.  For instance, the initiative eliminates some huddles for prosecutors by removing the consent of the minor, his/her history of sexual conducts, and claim of oblivion about the minor’s age as defenses by the traffickers.  The initiative also has evidential protection for these victims. AB16 also introduced by Assemblyman Swanson mirrors the intent of our initiative.  It would have added human trafficking as an offense under the Three Strikes Law. Introduced in December 2008, this bill like AB559 also died in the Assembly last month. Of seven bills introduced in the state legislative session last year, only one passed (AB17).   One of the provisions of AB17 allocates forfeited assets to community based organizations for cases involving minor sex trafficking. Our initiative expands this to labor cases and cases involving victims of any age. It will also make sure that at least 50% of the seized trafficker assets will be routed to community-based organizations that provide direct services to trafficking victims. The initiative will undeniably make California’s anti-trafficking law a stronger deterrence mechanism and provide more protection for victims than currently. If given the chance, we believe that California’s voters will pass the initiative to speak up against human trafficking.  Thus it is crucial that the initiative gets on the ballot.   We need 600,000 voter signatures by March 31, 2010, to qualify for the November 2010 ballot.  That is 6,000 Californians getting 10 friends to gather 10 signatures each.

For more information, please visit our website www.CaliforniaAgainstSlavery.org. Thank you for your collaboration to fight human trafficking in every corner of the world.

Regards,
CAS Team

Consumerism & Human Trafficking: A Socio-political View from an Eastern European Perspective By Vladimir Ubeivolc
March 2010

One of the hard questions today is, “What is the main reason for human trafficking?” In the past, people compared human trafficking with slavery. Wealthy individuals wanted to have a cheap labor force, so they initiated “crusades” to Africa and enslaved people. Africans didn’t have a choice; nobody asked, “Would you like to work at my farm, dear?” Masters forced, sold, bought, and used people as they wanted.

The second half of the twentieth century is known as a period of human rights’ victory. Western countries stopped predatory wars and many countries from Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe proclaimed their independence. However, the world faced the second wave of slavery in new forms that were more inventive, resourceful, and wilier. There are no armies, no ships with slaves and horses in one hold; there are no soldiers and guns. But how are recruiters winning? How are they entrapping that new generation of victims?

Let’s think about the reality in the majority of the world. Why do many people (especially youth) want to escape their countries? The most common answer is that they don’t have a job. This could be true for some African and Asian countries, but what about for Eastern Europe? Maybe not. Let me give some examples from Moldova (part of the former Soviet Union). Click here to read more.

Vladimir Ubeivolc is president of Beginning of Life, a Non-Governmental Organization in Moldova.

While more and more people each day become aware of the dangerous world of human trafficking, many people in the U.S. believe this is something that happens to foreign women, men and children–not something that happens to their own children and neighbors. They couldn’t be more wrong. In this powerful true story, Theresa Flores shares how her life as an All-American, 15-year-old teenager was enslaved into the dangerous world of sex trafficking while living at home with unsuspecting parents in an upper-middle class suburb of Detroit.

When you purchase this book a portion of the proceeds will be given to the Home Foundation!