Not For Sale Has a New Website.. and Blog!

Attention! I am happy to announce (a little late I know) that Not For Sale Campaign has a new website and a new blog! For information please check visit www.notforsalecampaign.org. Within months of launching this new site we have were named 40 top non-profit websites in the world!

Thanks everyone for following our blog and for being up on everything in Not For Sale Ville!

How To Become A Backyard Abolitionist By Buying Differently

Brant Christopher, Artist in Residence, discusses how anyone can become a Backyard Abolitionist. In the Podcast Brant talks about how every individual can "live differently" by signing up on Free2work to begin buying differently.

Batstone Keynote Address

On February 24th San Francisco held a community forum on human trafficking. Not For Sale had a major presence at the gathering. In the morning I co-moderated a break-out session with the manager of San Francisco's Department of Public Health, Dr. Johnson Ojo.

Not For Sale president, David Batstone, delivered the keynote address. Watch first segment of the keynote below or watch all segments here.



- Mark Wexler

Cadbury to Certify Milk Chocolate as Fair Trade

The Stick... and Now the Carrot

In a landmark announcement Cadbury Chocolate, one of the major chocolate manufactures primarily operating in the U.K. stated that they would certify that their dairy-milk chocolate is Fair Trade by the end of summer 2009. In a statement issued Today, Chief Executive for Cadbury, Todd Stitzer said:
"This is an historic moment for our company. I am proud that the nation’s favourite chocolate bar will display the FAIRTRADE Mark. I was in Ghana last month and saw how vital it is that businesses support their partners and the communities they live in. We believe that by joining forces with the Fairtrade Foundation, we can further improve living standards and conditions for farmers and farming communities, and create a sustainable supply of high quality cocoa for Cadbury."

Through this single decision Cadbury has increased the amount of Certified Fair Trade Chocolate sold by three fold. While Cadbury's decision does not change the need to certify all chocolate produced "Free to Work", it is a step in the right direction.

The movement to ensure all chocolate is produced using free labor began by a small, but persistent, population of people demanding change (the stick) and Cadbury chocolate has responded. Increased responsibility has now turned back to Consumers Advocates. With an increased portion of revenue, we as consumers MUST prove to Cadbury, and the other major chocolate companies, that this behavior will be rewarded with increased profits (the Carrot).

Cadbury's decision will not solve the problem within the chocolate industry, nor do they get a free pass on the rest of their chocolate, but it is a huge step in the right direction.

As consumers we must prove that Fair Trade Certification has a competative advantage over non-Fair Trade Chocolate.

Learn what you can do as a consumer at www.Free2work.org




Kilian Moote
Program Director

New UN Report on Human Trafficking

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is releasing a new global report it conducted on human trafficking today. The report will not mention any new quantitative estimates but instead focus on current global trends.

Some highlights of the report:
-In Central Asia and Eastern Europe 60% of convicted traffickers are woman
-The South African region reported the weakest in combating human trafficking. Of the 11 countries only Zambia has prosecuted suspects since 2003
-79% of the victims were found to be exploited sexually
-Cases of human trafficking previously overlooked included forced marriages, ritual killings, and organ harvesting

Overall the report found that although efforts globally have increased substantially since 2003 the majority of countries still remain ill-equipped to combat human trafficking.

The full-report should be made available on the UN resources page soon.

Kilian Moote

Free2Work Soft Launch!

Not For Sale is excited to announce that Free2Work.org is now up and ready for your consumption.

Free2Work follows in the Not For Sale model of open source activism. It allows you to be a part of the abolitionist process by using your power as a researcher, investigator and news junkie! Free2Work's platform allows you to report information (both good and bad) about companies. If a company deserves recognition as a Free2Work company - which has taken a pledge to independently verify their supply chain - you'll know about them. Conversely if a company needs urging to change their practices they'll be placed on a 'watch list'.

So the next time you're about to buy some chocolate, a new pair of shoes, or even a new car we encourage you to take a look at Free2Work so that you purchase from a company known to do business in a Free2Work manner.

We hope you enjoy navigating around Free2Work and choose to sign up as a Free2Work investigator.


-Mark Wexler

FREE Download - Not For Sale the Audiobook

Get Not For Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade--and How We Can Fight It audio book -- for free! This one-time offer only lasts through the end of February so go download the critically acclaimed book written by Not For Sale Campaign, President, David Batstone. The audio book was made available by the amazing folks at ChristianAudio.com.

While you're there download the brand new Set the Captives Free Bible study brought to you by Not For Sale... again, for free.

Remember, Not For Sale offers many free resources to gear up the abolitionist movement.


- Mark Wexler

HandShadow Props

We've had our HandShadow spot on our homepage for several months now... we'd like to note the praise Minneapolis-based Martin/Williams has been receiving within the PR industry for the stunningly powerful piece created pro bono for Not For Sale. We're also glad to report that the video has been running on the Setanta Sports Network internationally.

- Mark Wexler

No Really... Smash My Car

Thanks to Amanda Kloer at Change.org for alerting us about this dose of creative activism. Do you have any fun/creative examples of advocacy? Post 'em below.

Photo Credit: Beth Suda/Missourian

- Mark Wexler

Hillary Clinton Comments on Slavery

As we've been following over the past few weeks there have been numerous calls for modern-day slavery to find its way onto the radar of the new administration. From our own wildly successful petition to, New York Times columnist, Nicholas Kristof's illuminating articles it looks as if our collective voices are beginning to be heard.

During today's confirmation hearing of Secretary of State Designate Hillary Clinton answered a question on human trafficking:

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA):
I don't think we can look away from the plight of women around the world. Nicholas Kristof confronts this issue in a series of compelling articles… Kristof tells us the story of a Vietnamese girl who was kidnapped at age 13. She was sold into sex slavery in Cambodia. When she refused to see customers, she was tortured brutally with electric shocks and locked in a coffin filled with insects. And Kristof details another story in a piece called "If this isn't Slavery than what is?" in which a young Cambodian girl had her eye gouged out by a brothel owner after taking time off to recover from a forced abortion. I'm introducing some legislation—one is a companion piece to Rep. Carolyn Maloney and another is the Afghan Women Empowerment Act. That's just the beginning. Senator I know how deeply you feel about this so I wanted you to take a little more time to talk about your commitment to this particular issue and obviously I would be so pleased if we could work on legislation to fight this immorality.

Secretary of State Designate Hillary Clinton:
As Secretary of State I view these issues as central to our foreign policy, not as adjunct or auxiliary or in any way lesser from all of the other issues that we have to confront. I too have followed the stories…this is not culture, this is not custom, this is criminal. And it will be my goal to persuade more governments as I spoke with Beijing some thirteen years ago that we cannot have a free, prosperous, peaceful, progressive world if women are treated in such a discriminatory and violent way. I've also ready closely Nick Kristof's articles over the last many months on the young women he's both rescued from prostitution and met who have been enslaved, tortured in every way—physically, emotionally, morally and I take very seriously the function of the State Department to lead the US Government through the Office on Human Trafficking to do all that we can to end this modern form of slavery. We have sex slavery. We have wage slavery and it is primarily a slavery of girls and women. I look forward, Senator, to reviewing your legislation and work with you as a continuing partnership on behalf of these issues we care so much about. And finally, the work that the women of the Senate did in connection with First Lady Laura Bush on behalf of the women of Afghanistan has been extremely important. That program started in the State Department. It was assisted by an organization I helped to start in the White House called Vital Voices. Mrs. Bush has been outspoken on behalf of Afghan women…and other women facing oppression around the world… We're going to have a very active Women's Office a very active Office on Human Trafficking. We're going to be speaking out consistently and strongly against the discrimination and oppression of women and slavery in particular because I think that is in keeping with not only our American values but American national security interests as well.

Many thanks to Sara Guderyahn at The Sheridan Group for the transcription.

-Mark Wexler

Backyard Abolitionist Tour Kick-off and Radio Interview

The Backyard Abolitionist Tour, an innovative presentation on human trafficking combining music, video, and information by David Batstone and musician/activist Brant Christopher Manswar kicked off this week in San Diego California.

To mark the occasion Maureen Cavanaugh of KPBS interviewed David on her morning radio program. Listen to broadcast by CLICKING HERE.

For more information on the Backyard Abolitionist Tour, or to bring David and Brant to your University, Church, High School or Community, CLICK HERE

Not for Sale Campaign

Human Trafficking Awareness Day

Designated by the US Congress, January 11th, 2009 marks the second annual Human Trafficking Awareness Day. Without a doubt education is deeply important to building a full fledged abolitionist movement. We at Not For Sale want to encourage you to bridge your awareness to action. Download abolitionist handbooks, toolkits and more.

+++

Nicholas Kristof continues to shed light upon sexual slavery in Cambodia by looking at the economics of the crime.

-Mark Wexler

Doubting Modern-day Slavery

Responding to skeptical New York Times readers columnist Nicholas Kristof writes some painful, but truthful, words about the reality of modern-day slavery. Read his column, If This Isn’t Slavery, What Is?, about Long Pross a girl who was forcibly held in a brothel in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Learn more about what the Not For Sale team in Cambodia, Transitions, does to assist teenage survivors of sex trafficking.

-Mark Wexler

Happy New Year - A Call

If you aren't familiar with Nicholas Kristof, op-ed columnist for the New York Times, I'd recommend that you start by reading his most recent column. Kristof makes a stirring call to our leaders, "I hope that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will recognize slavery as unfinished business on the foreign policy agenda. The abolitionist cause simply hasn’t been completed".

Read our policy asks and sign our petition to make human trafficking a priority in the next administration here.

-Mark Wexler