A couple of weeks ago, in my Global Women in the Movies class, we discussed the modern form of slavery throughout the world today: human trafficking. Human trafficking consists of, on a basic level, the sex-trade (prostitution and mail-order brides); domestic workers; and other laborers. Not only are people (mainly women) sold or kidnapped, they are forced to work in horrible conditions where they are often only given the bare essentials they need to survive, if at all, and are verbally and physically abused, often to the point of death. While this is a huge problem in Asian countries like India and Thailand and the Middle East, it’s important to realize that here in the United States, people are among the highest “imports” in the illegal trafficking industry, topped only by drugs and weapons. The human trafficking industry is a 2 billion dollar a year industry throughout the world.
One very a lucky trafficking survivor, Somali Mam, was a young girl in Cambodia when she was sold by a man who claimed to be her grandfather into sexual slavery. She was tortured, raped daily, and forced to watch as her best friend was murdered. After seeing this, Somali escaped from the brothel she lived in, and decided to dedicate her life to fighting this attrocity. Her book, The Road of Lost Innocence, chronicles her story. To raise awareness about human trafficking and help put and end to it, Somali started the Somali Mam Foundation where she works to rescue, educate, and reintegrate victims of trafficking back into society. One very fashionable way she raises money for her foundation is by, as a part of the reintegration process, teaching survivors trades such as weaving.
These scarves are three scarves hand-woven by trafficking survivors. Each on is completely unique. These silk scarves are $50, which I think is a small price to pay not only for a beautiful silk scarf, but to help this important cause. Among other items you can purchase at the Somaly Mom Empowerment Store, there are also these survivor-made bracelettes and Somali Mam’s book, The Road of Lost Innocence, each $15.
For more information on human trafficking, Somali Mam, or to buy from Somali Mam or purely donate, please visit www.somaly.org.
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All information and pictures for this article taken from www.somaly.org, www.empowermentstore.org, and from Mehra Shirazi, Global Women in the Movies instructor at Oregon State University.
Brilliantly Tay 