Children

While the movie, Trade, may be a somewhat glamorized and dramatized Hollywood film, you are left with questions regarding the plot. The film does however highlight the many of the realities of modern day slavery and human trafficking…a problem which plagues our global world. By giving a face to human trafficking, the film proves to be a great tool in raising much needed awareness to an issues that is all too often forgotten.

The film weaves the stories of various aspects of human trafficking and modern slavery, with a vivid reminder of the violence that greed causes. Taking the fate of a 13 year old Mexican girl kidnapped from the streets outside her home, and a young Polish mother tricked into thinking she was becoming a model, and few sideline stories. Children sold at auction to the highest bidder…like a pair of shoes on eBay…a whim, an indulgent desire to worn once and then tossed in the back of the closet when you have gotten your best out of them. Only these are not overpriced shoes, but the purity of innocent children, sold for nothing more than greed in a market of flesh.

The movie will leave you with moments of laughter as the young girl Adrian’s(Paulina Gaitan) brother Jorge (Cesar Ramos) and Ray (Kevin Kline), a cop with a mission to find his own long lost daughter, engage in their own comedic clash of cultures and ages, while racing tirelessly across the country in search of Adrian. However these comic outtakes, are quickly broken, by the brutal images bestowed upon the human cargo, that Adrian and Veronica (Alicja Bachleda) have been thrust into like pieces of meat. Reality and desperation often take over, as time ticks away, and Jorge knows if they do not act quickly 13 year old Adrian will be lost forever.

The reality is, it’s Hollywood, and not the best of it, the movie plot doesn’t always make sense. Why is Ray willing to give up his life savings, and does a cop have that much sitting in the bank, to quickly grab to buy a girl he’s never met? The end of the movie still leaves you with many unanswered questions, like: “What happened to Ray’s daughter?, “Is she the vicious madam?”. Nontheless despite its plot and storyline pitfalls, the movie does make you think and it surely brings attention to a much need cause. For all of its woes, you will hopefully leave the theater asking yourself what you can do to help. One thing did stick with me in the movie, Ray said to Jorge when talking about his daughter:

“I realized I gave up too soon…which is something I do a lot of!’

Giving up too soon is something we all do a lot of, and we must not do in the case of modern day slavery and human trafficking. There is one such citizen activist group in DC, Stop Modern Slavery, who wasn’t about to let movie viewers give up or forget once the credits started to roll. The group was on hand outside the E Street Cinema, in downtown, Washington D.C., to hand movie goers more facts on modern slavery and human trafficking. Information was given to patrons from Free the Slaves, Stop Modern Slavery, and Dreams of Freedom (which is hosting fundraising and awareness events in DC from October 8-13).

We cannot all buy and free a slave, like Ray, but we can all raise awareness and become active in the fight to end human trafficking and stomp out slavery once and for all!

*The movie is based on the 2004 NY Times article, “The Girls Next Door”, by Peter Landesman

Human Trafficking Links

Help Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, and take a moment to write a letter to your Congress, and ask them to pass the Child Soldier Prevention Act of 2007.

Human Rights Watch has launched a campaign in support of the Act called, Children in the Ranks, the site has a video, and numerous resources, on how you can get involved. They even give you a sample letter to send to your Congressmen, contact information, facts and figures, and so much more. It’s that simple! Check it out today.

We as a global society work tirelessly to ensure the wellbeing of our financial assets and stability, our commodities and resources. Yet, while we may not always do our best, they are looked upon highly, and frequently. And while we have the knowledge and energy to purse such fights, we continue to neglect our children, children who are our true resources and best assets. It makes one think…”are we really progressing, if we do not see our children with such value?” Consumed by greed and excess want, the world has allowed children to too often fall by the waste side, and it is for that reason that todays children suffer needlessly through violence, war, poverty, disease, and so much more.

This week there is no disputing among the international community that the people of Burma are suffering. Burma is literally a country burring, as the fires of repression have burned too long. While it is much too lengthly to go into the full extent of Burma/Myanmar’s current situation and history, I wanted to give you some very brief information on the children’s rights situation.

Children in Burma have spent decades facing countless human rights abuses, such abuses include; forced child labor, human trafficking, rape of girls by the military. Other violations include the denial of food, housing, religion, mutilations, death and denial of state.

Such examples of the abuses in Burma, are the Rohingya children, Muslim’s who have been systematically discriminated against by the military regime, based on their ethnicity and religion. Rohingya children are “Stateless”, thanks to the Citizenship Act put into effect 15 years ago, which fails to recognize them. The situation in Burma is complicated in regards to the ethnic struggles and discontent, as their are more than 1oo various languages in the country. However it’s not as simple as that, as many groups overlap, and have multiple religious affiliations amongst them. The law caused a great deal of people to be ‘denaturalized’, including the Rohingya.

Four years ago Asia Forum placed a Submission before the Committee on the Rights of the Child in 2003, making the following concluding remarks:

“Rohingya children bear the full brunt of the military regime’s policies of exclusion and discrimination towards the Muslim population of Rakhine State. The combination of the factors listed above, which deny them fundamental human rights, gravely damage their childhood development and will affect the future of the Rohingya community.”

The report showed the clear violations of the following children’s rights; Right to freedom of movement, Right to Food, Right to Health, Right to education. Unfortunately the Rohingya children are not alone in their suffering, for Burma is a country ripe of human rights violations and children of many ethnicities suffer grave abuses. Another such group is the Karen people, who are the second largest ethnic population, after the Burmans, and they are the majority of refugees from Burma in Thailand. Karen Christians, who are around 40%, have been severely persecuted and denied their religious freedoms.

These are not merely children’s rights abuses in Burma, but forms of ethinic cleansing, and the suffering in Burma has gone on too long. For now as all eyes are on Burma, once again we must wait and pray that this time someone will come to the aid, and end the suffering of the children of Burma. However as the protests continue, and thus so does the violence, one only has to realize that this is not a new situation, Burma has been burning for a long time. For decades we have failed to answer the cry of the Burmese children, and thus we have left them in a country that is imprisoned within it’s own self.

Links:
For more information on the counties history, click here.
Online Burma/Myanmar Library
Free Burma Coalition
NGOs in Burma/Myanmar
Burma (Myanmar): The Time for Change

Imagine New York City full of Gridlock, endless horns blaring, countless road blockades, the constant sounds of police sirens…no the chaos is not the beginning of Armageddon, but the annual U.N. General Assembly gathering of world leaders.

Hot topics on the agenda included global warming, Iran, Iraq, the reduction of armed conflict, malaria, and many other issues which will effect the future of children, and all global citizens. The General Assemble also discussed heavily the ‘promotion and protection of the rights of children’, to which they looked closely at the follow-up to the Special Session on Children. UNICEF will hold the World Fit for Children Festival, in December 2007.

However one of the greatest topics on the agenda, was Burma/Myanmar, as the events at the UN unfolded, unrest in the country continued to escalate. As on September 24, 2007, 20,000 Buddhist monks and nuns led and additional 30,000 lay people in a protest march . The following day 2,000 monks and supporters defied threats from Burma’s military regime, as they marched to Rangoon, while in New York, President George Bush address before the U.N. General Assembly. President Bush announced that the United States would now impose tighter sanctions on the military regime. Burma, has been under the tight grasp of a military regime since 1962, and had engaged in numerous children’s rights issues, including child trafficking and child labor.

As the situation in Burma continues, all eyes remain transfixed on the small country, who’s children have continually endured unspeakable hardships and endless human rights violations. Please look for my post tomorrow, for more information on the situation in Burma.

As in Burma, the true outcome and results of the 62nd session of the General Assembly, is still unknown!  Only time will tell if our leaders will leave us with more hope than false promises.

Appologies for the lack of post over the last couple of days, as I have been in New York attending the Foreign Policy Associations New York Democracy Forum and the 2007 World Leadership Forum.

I had hoped to ask the H.E. Michelle Bachelet, President of Chile, a question regarding her views on children’s rights, but unfortunately despite my efforts I was unable to get my question in. Regardless it was a sheer pleasure to hear such a dynamic female leader speak so candidly, and it was also a great joy for me to have the opportunity hear Mary Robinson, the introductory speaker, speak again. While the speakers at the World Leadership Forum didn’t discuss topics specifically related to children, it was a great event and I highly recommend that you look into attending next years forum.

While at the event’s I engaged in a lively conversation with a number of proactive teachers, who are working tirelessly to ensure their students truly receive a global education. The teachers ranged from elementary to high school teachers, all of the teachers I spoke with had unique approaches to teaching about the global world.  However one thing stood out to me…it wasn’t the norm. Well of course I know times have changed a great deal since my schoolgirl days, nonetheless it made me question was there students intrigue in issues such as child soldiers, human trafficking, global development, international politics, etc., any different than other students across America, or across the globe. The truth is they are no different than another child or adolescent, but they are being given the information in which to make their own informed decisions as to the key topics which are truly shaping there futures.

Therefore as I mentioned in my previous post, What Do Children Think?, I am working to include the voices of children of all ages into this blog, and I hope to set this as a weekly feature in the near future. Please stay tuned, and leave me your comments or suggestions as to how you would like to see a feature with children’s views develop.

Thanks for your patience!
Cassandra

Children are not toys or pawns, they are where not made to be instruments of war, or fulfill the sordid desires of the flesh. The blows of rage should never find their way to the body of a child. Nor should children ever serve to fulfill the selfish needs of man.

Protect the children, they are the future and their innocence is the most precious gift of all gifts.

“When they came to my village, they asked my older brother whether he was ready to join the militia. He was just 17 and he said no; they shot him in the head. Then they asked me if I was ready to sign, so what could I do - I didn’t want to die (BBC, 2006).”

War in the Congo is nothing new, nor is the use of child soldiers, however it seems the number of child soldiers is only increasing. Since 1998, the use of child soldiers has been extreme, with children forced to serve as militant fighters, domestic slaves, or sex slaves, during the conflict that has been ravishing the DRC. After almost a decade of fighting, and growing international concern, the situation is proving to continue in spite of outcries from the international community. Recently the situation in the Congo has only deteriorated, and thus the safety and wellbeing of thousands of children continues to remain at risk.

In 2002 a national peace agreement was made, and with it the hope that the systematic use of child soldiers would end. In late 2004 a large number of the armed militias had accepted a government plan tor integrate forces, forming a unified national army. It was under this integrated Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, known as the FARDC, that would ban the use of soldiers under the age of 18. During this time many of the armed militias took a number of the child soldiers to military collection centers, where they were then taken to NGO reception centers, where they where to receive aid and support, which would allow them to return to normal life. However this proved to be a failure as, while some children where turned over, a great deal where not, and it was rather quickly followed by the resurgence of the recruitment of new child soldiers. The hope that began with the return of many child soldiers only a few years ago, seems to be quickly fading to the sound of gunfire.

As new fighting has taken place in the Congo, the reemergence of child soldiers is once again becoming all too common. According to Pernille Ironside, Protection Officer for UNICEF in Goma, Congo, “Over the years, thousands and thousand of children have been returned to their families, but all those efforts are in jeopardy right now with the recent fighting. We’re at the brink of taking a major step backward in something that we were beginning to see moving in the right direction (Ranks Of Child Soldiers Rise In Congo).”  Once again it appears the fight to protect the children of the Congo, has only just begun!

More on the situation in the Congo:
DRC: Displacement, insecurity worsen humanitarian crisis in east
ReliefWeb - DR Congo: OCHA North Kivu Humanitarian Situation Report - 14 Sep 2007
Human Rights Watch Reports
Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers - DRC Report, 2004
UNICEF - DRC, 2005

The build up to and the airing of one of America’s newest reality TV shows, has brought with it a great deal of controversy. ‘Kid Nation’, which airs on CBS, premiered tonight, Wednesday, September 19 at 8PM ET/PT.

The show has sparked debate in numerous circles, and so I ask you, “Is the show a social experiment or just the entertainment/TV industries abusive use of children?” CBS’s lead tag line for the show is, “40 Kids for 40 days with no grown-ups. Can they do it?”, however it has caused many to respond with “Should they do it?”. The shows ’stars’ are 40 Kids, ranging in age from 8 years old to 15 years old, and no adults. The object of the show is to see how these children will “build a brave new world without adults to help or hinder their efforts”.

Using children seems like a ploy to increase TV ratings in a fleeting TV market, a market which appears to now be driven by reality TV. To some it seems to be just another hopeless failure of American TV, as the days of the family sitcom appear long gone, no wonder countless parents have most of the channels on their TV’s blocked.

Reality TV, though despised by many appears not only to be the way forward on western TV, but the world over. From cooking and singing competitions, to washed-up celebrities riding bulls and ballroom dancing, voyeuristic shows that follow newlywed celebs or just watching a bunch of nobody’s go about their day…you name it and they’ve made a show about it. There appears to be no limit on what will appear in your living room each evening, but while it’s an adults free will to make a fool of themselves or put themselves to the test, how are we ensuring the rights of a child by allowing them to appear on such a show? Should children be allowed to participate, and who is to be held responsible, the parents or the producers? If you left your 8 year old home alone for 40 days, your child would have been taken from you and you’d be facing neglect and endangerment charges. However if you do it for the sake of TV, you and your child get a minimum of $5,000. The show brings up other children’s rights issues, such as child labor, as the children are expected to work to survive, and there where no guidelines for the number of hours worked, or the level of physical activities the children participated in. Some aspects of the show have some raising concerns on child labor issues, however the producers of the show have attempted to skirt around the issue, by claiming the children where all ‘actors’.

Parents where required to sign many of their children’s rights away for the shows production, including giving CBS and its production team the right to make all medical treatment decisions on their child’s behalf. The show, which was filmed in New Mexico, due to looser regulations and laws, and the shows producers had said the environment was that of a ’summer camp’, and not one of work. However since the show was filmed the state had tightened its regulations on the number and span of hours a child actor can work. Even though the loophole in New Mexico’s state law has been closed, the state and shows producers continue to disagree if labor laws were properly followed.

What are your views, is it good TV, or abusive TV? Please share them with us, your comments are much appreciated!

People are always saying, “But, what can I do?”, well for all of you out there that think it’s too hard, or too much effort to start making a difference, I’ve got a few things for you.

Can you cook, or do you know someone who can? I think you are all nodding your heads yes, ok see its that simple. Gather a group of your friends, family and/or co-workers and have a dinner party. So how does that make a difference? Well
Eat So They Can is working to organize, 1,000 ‘Average Joe’s’ just like you, to hold a meal on Saturday October 13th, in an effort to raise awareness about poverty and hunger around the globe. The event is to honor and celebrate World Food Day, which is on October 16th, so join the fundraiser that is a movement, and a tasty feast at the same time!

Why not support UNICEF to secure an extra $1,000,000, with just the click of your mouse! The full U.S. Senate has passed its version of the State, Foreign Operations Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2008. This bill would provide a contribution from the U.S. Government to UNICEF of $129 million. The House appropriations measure would provide $128 million for UNICEF. Members of the House and Senate State, Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittees will be meeting to resolve the differences between their two bills. So what can you do then? Send a message to your Senators and Representatives requesting a they raise it to $129 million. Click here, to contact your legislators, and it only takes a few minutes to do something that makes a difference. No excuses, as if you are reading this you are online, so how much easier can it get.