Exciting News

Just got an e-mail from International Justice Mission, one of my favorite slavery-fighting groups:

We are very excited to announce the launch of IJM’s new Web presence. The site www.ijm.org was designed to give you unprecedented access to the work and people of IJM. As we work together to end slavery and oppression, we hope this new front door to IJM provides the resources and inspiration to unite and strengthen all of our efforts.

The enhanced technical capacity of the new site provides many avenues to explore IJM’s work, including expanded multimedia options, casework stories, first-person accounts from field staff and agency information by region and casework element.

The site’s frequent updates will keep you informed of exciting developments – whether they occur in Africa, on the Hill, in a congregation or at a Campus Chapter meeting.

Go check out the new site, and if you're so inclined, sign up for an e-mail or make a donation. These folks are doing great things!

Sounds Like Good News ...

Sounds like the U.S. government is still taking trafficking seriously. I haven't taken time to look over this thoroughly, but I'm happy to read that the visa program for victims of trafficking is being strengthened.

Can you imagine what it would feel like to finally be free from your oppressors, only to be treated as a criminal yourself and be deported to your home country and treated as a leper by your family and friends? Or be snatched up again by other traffickers because your financial situation is even more dire than it was the first time around? This bill is important because it makes a distinction between people who are brought to this country against their will and those who are merely entering illegally.

Talk About Crafty!

In case this isn't already obvious, slave traffickers are extremely slippery, deceitful people. This blog post is just one example of their wiles.

Lord, give us even more creative ways to stop the evil!

"Uncoordinated and Inefficient"

"The fact that slavery—in the form of human trafficking—still exists in the 21st century shames us all. Governments, international organizations and civil society are devoting considerable efforts to counter it, but there is still an information deficit about the extent of this tragedy. Only by understanding its depth, breadth and scope can we design policies to fight it. This understanding still eludes us: efforts to counter trafficking have so far been uncoordinated and inefficient. This Report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is our first attempt to close the knowledge gap."

—From the Foreword by Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa Report, UN report on Trafficking in human beings: Global Patterns

A commenter on my previous post directed me to the UN site about human trafficking. It looks as though there is some good information. (Thanks, Tushar!)

Just looking at the introduction to the UN report on global patterns in trafficking, a phrase jumped out: "Efforts to counter trafficking have so far been uncoordinated and inefficient."

Today my prayer is that God will help each person fighting this evil to recognize ways to cooperate with other fighters.

Lord, prevent us from duplicating our efforts, fighting one another, wasting time and resources and ignoring the efforts of other people of good conscience. Open our eyes to new ideas and new allies as we seek to save the oppressed.

Another interesting point in the introduction is that there is an "information deficit." Within our local group, many of us are involved in some type of communications, mostly writing. This is probably not a coincidence ...