“I strongly believe that love is the answer and that it can mend even the deepest unseen wounds. Love can heal, love can console, love can strengthen, and yes, love can make change.”  ~Somaly Mam

Hershey pledging money to educate cocoa farmers

Chocolate encourages the body to release endorphins, chemicals that make us feel good. But for the millions of children who are enslaved on cocoa plantations in West Africa, home to 70% of the world’s cocoa, chocolate is less than sweet.

 

The Hershey Company has pledged $10 million to educate cocoa farmers on improving their trade and combating child labor. You will be able to purchase a new version of the Hershey Bliss brand, which will be made with ingredients from 100% Rainforest Alliance-certified farms (mostly in Ivory Coast and Ghana) later this year.

 

To read the entire article, click here.

Yoga Freedom Project

Yoga is rejuvenating, relaxing, and calming. But the yogi activists of the Yoga Freedom Project are not taking the fight against modern-day slavery calmly. What started as just a small idea in early 2011 has turned into a global movement using yoga practice as a way to raise awareness about human trafficking and funds for the Somaly Mam Foundation.

Heather Snyder first became aware and involved with the Somaly Mam Foundation when she read Somaly's book, The Road of Lost Innocence, three years ago. Somaly inspired Snyder with her courageous effort to rescue and empower victims and Snyder quickly began searching online for a way to help. Through SMF's volunteer initiative PROJECT FUTURES global, Snyder found an opportunity to join the fight.

"As the regional leader for NYC Off the Mat, Into the World, I am amongst an amazing group of yogis dedicated to service. I knew I had found my way in to help," Snyder explained. Through the effort of a team from PROJECT FUTURES and fellow volunteers, the Yoga Freedom Project came into being. In the month of January alone, there have been more than 50 donation-based classes around the world.

The month long yoga awareness project culminates on January 31 with a Practice for Freedom, an inspirational class and celebration led collaboratively by Elena Brower, Sri Dharma Mittra, Dana Flynn, Alan Finger, Cyndi Lee, Jodie Rufty, Sierra Bender, Tricia Donegan, and Off the Mat's Suzanne Sterling.

"All of these powerful teachers from varying yoga lineages are coming together to give a voice to this cause and stand in unity," Snyder explained.

2011: The Year of the Volunteer

2011 was a year of action. From Australia to New York City, Los Angeles and beyond, volunteers took action against modern-day slavery in support of the Somaly Mam Foundation. The partnership between Project Futures (an Australian volunteer group) and SMF led to the launch of the PROJECT FUTURES global volunteer initiative was hugely successful. The partnership continues to empower volunteers to take action against sex slavery.

 

Hundreds of volunteers embraced and continue to embrace the program pledging time, making commitments, and creating new ideas to take action. Volunteers raised impressive funds in 2011 with events and campaigns such as 18 for 18, 50g For Our Sisters, Hamptons Marathon, and the Run for Freedom.

PROJECT FUTURES global officially launched in New York City with a party hosted by Seth Meyers hosted at the Bowery Hotel. The NYC launch raised nearly $20,000 dollars and gained many new volunteers.

The Los Angeles launch was a star studded event. Celebrities and ambassadors such as AnnaLynne McCord, Shay Mitchell, and Ron Livingston showed their support for SMF and mingled with volunteers and other supporters all sharing ideas to create action.

Join PROJECT FUTURES global in 2012. Take action and become part of a global team of amazing volunteers.

5 Ways to Fight Slavery This Holiday Season

Winter is a season of gatherings and gift giving. So why not make it count for something? Spread the joy of giving and receiving, and have a positive impact on the world while doing so.

1. Give a survivor made gift. Visit the Empowerment Store and help support a survivor as she embraces her new life.
2. Throw a holiday fundraising party. This holiday season, celebrate compassion, hope, and life by asking your holiday party guests to bring a donation of your suggested amount which you will donate to the Somaly Mam Foundation. Explain to them what their money will help give the gift of survival and empowerment. 
3. Give the gift of knowledge and awareness. Purchase Somaly Mam's book The Road of Lost Innocence and share it with your friends and loved ones. They will finish the book changed, aware of the horrors aof human trafficking and hopefull inspired to take action.
4. Buy slave free gifts. Check out the Ethical Shopping Guide for slave-free gift ideas.
5. Use fair-trade ingredients in your baking. You know those chocolate chips in your delicious holiday cookies? Sadly, the cocoa beans may have come from a farm that uses child slaves. One of the most in-demand products during the holiday season, chocolate has a not-so-sweet dark side. Child slaves in West Africa work for no money, starving and tortured. Purchase fair-trade chocolate from companies such as Equal Exchange to make sure that satisying your sweet tooth doesn't harm others. 

Looking for more gift ideas? Check out this list of gifts that benefit the Somaly Mam Foundation.

Use this guide to take action against slavery during the holiday season with your friends and families, but don't stop there. Together we can give others a reason to celebrate.

The Best Holiday Deal You Can Get

This Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and for the rest of the holiday season, you can get the most amazing deal by giving the gift of compassion, empowerment, and survival.

Visit the Empowerment Store and with any purchase you will receive the satisfaction of knowing you have donated to help end modern-day slavery and empower victims. Now that is a holiday deal you can't pass up.

Young and taking action

She may only be in high school, but Olivia Dufour is doing her part to fight against trafficking and help victims and survivors in the shelters. Olivia has collected over 350 items for the shelters including; 181 books, 61 dolls, 10 toys, 10 types of art supplies, book bags, and tote bags. She estimates the total of items to be around 365.

Olivia first met Somaly Mam two years ago at a Young Professionals dinner.

"We've been friends ever since and my passion for ending human trafficking has only grown stronger," Olivia said.

After Somaly told Olivia that she needed supplies for survivors living in shelters, Olivia started Dolls for Healing, a program that collects items for shelters and raises awareness and create action. Olivia holds seminars and events to help end the sex trade in the United States and abroad.

Do you have your own volunteer project? Want to start your own? Visit PROJECT FUTURES global and get involved today. The future awaits!

Meet Pheap: A Strong Survivor and Voice for Change

Each year, more than two million women and children are sold into sex slavery. Pheap was one of them, until she was rescued in Cambodia.

Pheap now lives in an AFESIP shelter, where she part of Voices for Change. She uses her experience to raise awareness and create change. Pheaplikes that she can help the other victims because she was once in their position. She knows about the problems that exist and wants to help solve them.

Pheap's favorite foods are dried food and barbecue. She loves romantic music especially songs that involve children and mothers. Pheap loves to read and enjoys studying every subject. She is currently studying Khmer and English and is getting much better at the two. In addition to her work with Voices for Change, Pheap is interning with the AFESIP Outreach/HIV Prevention team.

"When I'm here, I feel warm inside," Pheap said of living in the Voices for Change house.

There are many other women and children like Pheap who need our help. Some are in the shelters, lucky enough to have been rescued but needing a proper education, job skills training and rehabilitation. Others have yet to be rescued and remain enslaved.

To learn how you can help Pheap and others in similar situations, please visit www.somaly.org today.

“I strongly believe that love is the answer and that it can mend even the deepest unseen wounds. Love can heal, love can console, love can strengthen, and yes, love can make change.”- Somaly Mam from her autobiography The Road of Lost Innocence. Purchase it here and read her entire heroic journey and support SMF.

Two blokes cycle against slavery

Inspired by the work of Somaly Mam and the Somaly Mam Foundation to eradicate modern-day slavery, two young men named Adam and Ben have embarked on a journey to raise awareness and funds to fight this great evil. They first about sexual slavery during a two month visit to South East Asia. They were horrified by the soaring number of victims and decided to take action and do something about it.

Adam and Ben are cycling 1600 kilometers through Vietnam — from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City. Along they way they will be documenting the ride through blogging, taking photos, and shooting video. You can follow them on their blog, or contribute to their journey here.

Voices for Change and Shay Mitchell: Slavery is Real, I Know It

Actress Shay Mitchell introduces Voices For Change, strong and empowered survivors of sexual slavery from Cambodia. These women have seen firsthand the horrors of human trafficking, and now they work every day to eradicate this evil.

Voices For Change is a platform for survivors to use their voice, tell their story, and raise awareness of sex slavery. Their voices are heard in courts of law, public service announcements, and events. These women are survivors - they are not weak, nor are they helpless. They are helping themselves by helping others and bringing awareness to this horrific truth. Slavery is real.

Taking Pimps Off the Street to Reduce Sex Trafficking

Prostitution is illegal in 49 of the 50 states in the U.S. When law enforcement officials find individuals selling sex, they often see that as the primary crime, arrest those people, and carry on. However, not every situation is as it seems. Women in prostitution are not all willing  participants - some may be victims of human trafficking, working at the orders of pimps and unscrupulous criminals. Due in part to increased awareness of human trafficking and the roles of pimps in commercial sex, police officers are now focusing on those who aid and abet the crime of prostitution.

The Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force in California was featured in a recent CNN article for changing their focus when targeting crimes of this nature. According to Seargent Craig Friesen, head of the Anaheim Vice unit, the old procedures involved arresting the girls and johns to the outcome of minimal charges and quick release. But this did not get to the root of the problem. The team determined that by focusing on arresting and eventually jailing the pimps, victims would have a better chance of escaping and seeking help. In California, pimping carries a mandatory 3-year sentence, which would keep these individuals off the streets for extended periods of time, widening the window of opportunity for survivors to seek help.

Pimps prey on vulnerable young women, promising a better life and love and affection. Through coercion, deception, force, and abusive treatment, pimps are able to gain control of their victims and eventually enslave them, selling their bodies for sex and drugs. With these kinds of people off the streets, more women will be safe from this manipulation.

To target pimps, the OCHTT has been going undercover, finding suspects by answering online adult services ads to catch pimps. While the original goal was to make one pimping arrest in the first year, thirteen have been made in the last nine months.

Read the CNN article here. Become aware, take action.

Donate Your Birthday to End Slavery

Do you have a birthday coming up? Looking for a way to support a good cause?

What if you donated your birthday?

Join our Birthday Campaign and in lieu of gifts, ask your friends and family to donate to end sexual slavery and support the victims as a birthday present to you. We are so lucky to be able to celebrate our birthdays with gifts, laughter, and love, but not everyone is as fortunate. By donating your birthday to end slavery, you will remind yourself and all of your loved ones of how lucky we are. A donation to the Somaly Mam Foundation can have a profound impact on the life of a survivor and on the eradication of slavery. This is an amazing gift that will have a lasting effect on many people across the globe.

New Video to Raise Awareness of Trafficking

Richard Simko, a supporter of the Somaly Mam Foundation and PROJECT FUTURES global created a video to raise awareness of modern day slavery. He hopes that this video will create movement and we do to. Please take a moment to watch, learn, and turn your awareness into action.

Help fighting sex slavery V2 from Richard Simko on Vimeo.

LA Launch: Huge Success!

AnnaLynne McCord and Somaly Mam

Hearts were filled with giving, heads filled with ideas for action at the Los Angeles Launch of PROJECT FUTURES global, the activist platform of the Somaly Mam Foundation. The funky and hip SLS Hotel Beverly Hills served as the perfect location to raise funds for the project, welcome West Coast volunteers, and encourage others to take action and give back.

Smells of paella by Jose Andres flew through the air, bright colored orchids donated by Gira caught our eyes, the sound of people chatting and creating plans of action filled our heads, hearts, and ears. With music from LA Cambodian pop band Dengue Fever, the event satisfied every sense for those in attendance.
The night began with VIP guests walking the red carpet lined with paparazzi and journalist interviewing guests. Supporters included Ashley Rickards, Guy Sebastian, Angel McCord, Ron Livingston, and Rosemarie DeWitt, among others. Shay Mitchell discussed her visit to Cambodia and her love for the survivors, and AnnaLynne McCord glowed in a skirt that was hand-woven by a survivor.

Somaly Mam

An hour into the event, the PROJECT FUTURES global PSA was shown to give attendees a little more information on how they can join the fight against modern slavery. PROJECT FUTURES global Program Director Amy Merrill and MTV Awkward actress Ashley Rickards addressed the crowd, as did Shay Mitchell and AnnaLynne McCord. Both actresses shared heart-felt stories of their involvement with SMF, and guests had tears in their eyes as AnnaLynne spoke of holding in her arms a 4 year old who had been rescued from a brothel. The speeches were capped off with Angel McCord introducing the guest of honor, Somaly Mam, who shared her sincere gratitude to guests and volunteers.

Shay Mitchell and Angel McCord

In the wake of a very dark global crises, light was shone on the SLS Hotel as guests, supporters, volunteers, and staff became aware of modern slavery and learned how they can help. They left empowered to have an impact in the lives of survivors. They learned you do not need to know the survivors to support and love them. In the words of Somaly Mam, "I may not know you, but I love you."

To learn more about PROJECT FUTURES global and how you can make a difference in the fight against human trafficking and modern slavery, please visit http://www.projectfutures.somaly.org.

All photos credit: Beverly Lindo

Postcards with Messages of Solidarity for Sex Trafficking Survivors

14 year old SMF supporter, Megan, used our postcard campaign to share her love, show her support, and become a sister to the survivors.

Megan included photos of her and her friends to give the girls a glimpse into her life, as they have given Megan that same opportunity through SMF and PROJECT FUTURES global. She also included a necklace and in the letter wrote, "Always remember you are loved. I really want to be your friend so I put in a necklace for you."

Please join Megan in sending a postcard to a survivor and share your love with a survivor.

Cartoonist Illustrates Shocking Slavery Statistic

Somaly Mam recently tweeted, "For each of @JustinBieber's Twitter followers, there are at least two more people enslaved across the globe #endslavery."

The comparison is stark but powerful. Supporter John Weeks shared this cartoon about putting things into perspective. Thanks for the great illustration!

Twilight Musician Bobby Long Fights Trafficking

British singer-songwriter Bobby Long, featured on the Twilight sountrack, placed his guitar up for auction on eBay, with all proceeds going to the Somaly Mam Foundation. The auction closed this morning, with the guitar selling for $2,125.

Thank you so much to Bobby for his generosity, and thank you to the auction winner for placing a bid to end human trafficking!

To learn more about Bobby's involvement with PROJECT FUTURES global and the Somaly Mam Foundation, and the collective work of Artists Against Traffik, click here.   

Powerful Statistic about Trafficking

"Sexual exploitation is by far the commonly identified form of human trafficking at 79% followed by forced labor at 18%."

UNODC, Global Report on Trafficking in Persons

LexisNexis Employee Takes Action Against Sex Trafficking

Christina Ritchie, a LexisNexis employee from St. Louis, Missouri, recently turned her awareness of human trafficking and passion to end modern slavery into action, raising over $800 for the Somaly Mam Foundation through her "Summer Shape Up for a Cause" workout series.

Ritchie, who is also a fitness instructor, put together a four-week, seven class series. Instead of charging a fee for the class, Ritchie asked for a donation of the participant's choice. Those who attended the series got in a great workout while learning about how the Foundation works globally to end modern day slavery. The event was a great way to engage a diverse group in action and fundraising to help combat slavery around the world.

Ritchie has challenged her co-workers at LexisNexis across the country to get involved, suggesting they hold a walk or run and donate the proceeds. If you want to meet this challenge, find out how with PROJECT FUTURES global.

Thank you, Christina, for raising awareness and support, and for encouraging others to do the same!