How are you wearing Orange? - Support End to Human Trafficking

I never knew human trafficking was an industry where billions of dollars are made each year by criminals. I just though it happened in very few third world countries on a small scale  but  Wikipedia and other  resources state that It is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world, tied with the illegal arms industry as the second largest, after the drug-trade. Can you believe this?  It is the second largest after drug trade tied with illegal arms.

So I decided to educate myself to find out more and how to help.

Short Definition:

Human Trafficking is the sale, transport and profit from human beings who are forced to work for others.  It is the modern equivalent of slavery. Victims of human trafficking are not permitted to leave upon arrival at their destination. They are held against their will through acts of coercion and forced to work or provide services to the trafficker or others.

According to Wikipedia, the different types of human trafficking include:

• Bonded labor or debt bondage where people become victims and turned into bonded laborers when their labor is demanded as a means of repayment for a loan or service in which its terms and conditions have not been defined.
• Forced labor is where victims are forced to work against their own will, under the threat of violence or some other form of punishment, their freedom is restricted and a degree of ownership is exerted.
• Sex trafficking victims are generally found in dire circumstances and easily targeted by traffickers. Individuals, circumstances, and situations vulnerable to traffickers include homeless individuals, runaway teens, displaced homemakers, refugees, and drug addicts
• Child labor is a form of work that is likely to be hazardous to the health and/or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development of children and can interfere with their education.

What can I and you do to help?

WEAR ORANGE: There are so many ways we can help but one easy, simple and quick way is to:  As consumers and artisans, we can support and bring awareness by wearing the color “orange”. Orange was a color picked by “NOTFORSALE” organization as a color to show that you and I are part of the movement to stop human trafficking. It can be a shirt, tie, string, a purse, shoestring, etc. It does not really matter just an item to signify and bring awareness to this cause.

Other ways include sharing information on human trafficking on twitter, facebook, emails or any other form of social networking.  Also, we can contribute our time and financial resources through donations, rallies, services to the organization, etc. To find out more on human trafficking, visit http://www.notforsalecampaign.org or http://www.humantrafficking.org/

Starting today, I chose to wear my orange colors in my closet and will add handmade orange items to my store as part of my support of the movement to end human trafficking. How will you wear yours?

Enjoy!