The next SlaveFree Madison meeting will be April 2, 2013. The meeting will include a one hour education program at 6:30 pm followed by the business meeting at 7:30.  We are working with our March program presenter to see if she can join us in April.  If not, an alternate program will be announced.

It’s vaguely covered in the media. It’s the cause of the moment. It sounds like something that wouldn’t happen here. But what exactly is human trafficking? Does the term refer to labor or sexual exploitation? How prevalent is it locally? And since we are no longer living in an era of legal slavery, why don't individuals simply escape from their traffickers?

These are some of the questions examined by service providers, law enforcement and survivors of human trafficking in All About the Money. From activists in St. Louis to a repentant trafficker in South Africa, this film exposes the shameful global practice of tricking, coercing and forcing individuals into labor and sex slavery for the sake of making a profit.

Join SlaveFree Madison for what promises to be an interesting look into the issue of human trafficking and the making of a film on the subject.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013
6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Covenant Presbyterian Church (map)
326 South Segoe Road
Madison

New to Madison, Dorrill is a recent political science graduate of Washington University (St. Louis).  In addition to serving as a legal advocate for abused women in St. Louis, she has also worked as a documentary filmmaker, photographer and musician.  Dorrill has an interest in documentary film, oral history and social justice issues. Her films generally tell the stories of underrepresented populations.

The video of NBC 15's report can be found here.

SlaveFree Madison Educational Session

Tuesday, January 8, 2012
6:30-7:30 pm
Covenant Presbyterian Church (map)
326 South Segoe Road
Madison
Room C206 (on the main floor)

Madison Police Officer Norra Prohaska will describe how she mines arrest, charging and conviction data to identify possible human trafficking perpetrators.  This program precedes the January SlaveFree Madison meeting.

SlaveFree Madison March and Rally at the State Capitol

Friday, January 11, 2013
4:30-5:30 pm
State Capitol Square and Rotunda (map)

The march and rally will raise awareness of human trafficking (poster).  Come and bring your own sign (no sticks permitted inside the Capitol).  March begins at 4:30 at the State Street intersection with the Capitol Square and the Rally will follow at 5:00 in the Capitol Rotunda.

SlaveFree Madison Day of Action and Awareness

Saturday, January 12, 2013
10:00 am-2:00 pm
Goodman Community Center (map)
149 Waubesa Street
Madison

This action and awareness event is an opportunity for Madison-area residents to learn more about human trafficking from local experts, to discover the anti-trafficking and interrelated efforts of local organizations and to take action immediately by signing up to volunteer with participating organizations. In addition to the information tables staffed by participating organizations, a program of speakers will focus on the three P's of Human Trafficking—Prevention, Protection and Prosecution (poster).

3rd Annual SlaveFree Madison Film Festival

Saturday, January 26, 2013
10:30 am-4:30 pm
Fitchburg Public Library (map)
5530 Lacy Road
Fitchburg

Join us for a FREE screening of three films and a panel discussion exploring various forms of human trafficking (poster).

The only way not to see this is not to look.

10:30 am     Carissa
11:00 am     Sex + Money
1:00 pm       Panel Discussion
2:30 pm       Not My Life

Human trafficking in the Madison area and the greater United States is largely ignored.
Let's show Madison that we are going to change that.

Friends House

1704 Roberts Court (behind the Monroe Street Associated Bank) Google Map  

Madison, WI 53711

Mr. Kofi Annan, no relation to the former UN Secretary General, has a remarkable life story. Enslaved and abused in the dangerous fishing industry for six years, he freed and educated himself -- only learning to read and write at age 13 -- and now devotes his life to an organization he founded called Challenging Heights. Challenging Heights seeks not only to rescue, restore and educate child slaves, but to prevent further enslavement through education around the issue.   His work was honored by Free the Slaves at their 2008 Freedom Awards and by Grinnell College in the fall of 2011.  

Mr. Kofi Annan is in Madison through the Hovde Foundation, which supports his work. This presentation is coordinated by Slave Free Madison.  For further information, Contact SlaveFree Madsion

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Covenant Presbyterian Church (map)

326 South Segoe Road

Madison, WI 53705

The public is invited to attend. The program is free of charge and no registration is required.

Dr. Alonso will speak on “Looking at Human Trafficking Through a Public Health Lens”. She often summarizes this approach with a story.

Near a village, people are frequently being washed over a waterfall and perish if not rescued quickly. Villagers spend hours every day puling people who have gone over the waterfall out of the river before they drown. One day, a wise women, stopped pulling people out and walked up stream, above the waterfall. Here, she started pulling people out of the river before they went over the waterfall – intervening before they were in mortal danger.

This woman’s approach, says Dr. Alonso, is the concept of public health – intervention before health or safety is compromised. She has used this approach successfully in her teaching, research and grant acquisition addressing women’s and human rights issues, including human trafficking.

Dr. Alonso, a native of Madrid, Spain, worked as a RN in Spain for twelve years while pursuing a BA in Philosophy and History at the University of Madrid. She came to the United States to further her graduate studies in Anthropology. Currently she holds a Master’s of Science in Physical Anthropology from the University of Minnesota, and a Master’s of Arts and a PhD in Cultural Anthropology from UW-Madison. She is a Faculty Associate in the Department of Gender and Women's Studies and in the School of Medicine and Public Health at UW-Madison.

Dr. Alanso has conducted extensive international research on women's issues especially on those that imply the violation of women's human rights including sex trafficking. Dr. Alonso developed the first class taught at UW-Madison on human trafficking and human rights. She works with three international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to develop programs for women's empowerment in the United States, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda and Cuba.

The report of this assessment will be released shortly. The report's two authors will discuss their findings during the February SlaveFree Madison meeting
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Covenant Presbyterian Church (map)
326 South Segoe Road
Madison, WI

All those interested in the issue of the commercial sexual exploitation of children are invited to participate. No prior registration is necessary.  A SlaveFree Madison business meeting follows from 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm. Guests are welcome to sit in.

Background of the Study

In 2011, the CCR-CSEC undertook a community needs assessment funded by the Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance, Violence Against Women Program. The objective of the study is to strengthen the existing service delivery system for commercially sexually exploited children (CSEC) by developing appropriate services that addresses this particular kind of sexual trauma. This baseline study focused on interviewing agencies that may currently encounter victims of CSEC; collecting existing data on the identification, availability of services and training; and, collecting anonymous case studies that identify victim needs.

The numbers of CSEC victims in Dane County are hard to quantify. This study is a first attempt to measure the extent of the problem in our community. Since none of the agencies surveyed are required to identify and collect data on CSEC within their systems, there is no reliable number to report.

Utilizing methodology developed by Shared Hope International, during the summer of 2011, interviews were conducted with representatives from fourteen Dane County agencies and organizations that were likely to have contact with CSEC victims. By state and federal law, CSEC victims are victims of child sex trafficking.

Report Authors

Shira Rosenthal Phelps is the Project Coordinator at Project Respect. Project Respect works with survivors of prostitution, sexual exploitation and sex trafficking. Shira also works for the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a Violence Prevention Specialist, focusing on sexual assault and dating/domestic violence on campus. Shira has worked to end violence against women for over 10 years and is a UW Law School alum. Currently, Shira serves on the board of the Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health and sits of the Dane County Commission on Sensitive Crimes.

Jan Miyasaki serves as the Director of Project Respect, a program that works with survivors of prostitution, sexual exploitation and sex trafficking.  She provides leadership to the Dane County Commercially Sexually Exploited Children committee. Additionally, Jan serves on the State of Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance Human Trafficking Committee, the Dane County Coordinated Community Response-Sexual Assault team and lectures in the UW-Madison Ethnic Studies Department. Jan holds a law degree from Marquette University.

Saturday, January 28, 2012
12:00 Noon - 6:30 PM Doors open at 11:30 AM
The Crossing
1127 University Ave, Madison WI Google Map
(Corner of University Ave and Charter St - next to the Chemistry building)

With a theme of Slavery & Abolition, Old and New - Historical and Modern Slavery: Together We Can Eliminate Slavery, three films have been selected to provoke discussion on the topic of human trafficking.

12:00 Noon - Amazing Grace

A 2006 movie about William Wilberforce and the English abolition movement. Film website

2:45 PM - The Dark Side of Chocolate

A 2010 documentary on child slave labor in Ivory Coast cocoa production. Film website

4:30 PM - Call + Response

A 2008 rock concert / documentary featuring popular musicians and speakers on the state of human trafficking around the world. Film website

A discussion will follow each film.

2012 SlaveFree Madison Film Festival Flyer

For more information Contact Us

The online letter to the President states:

Dear President Obama:

Next year, our country will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. Although slavery is illegal almost everywhere in the world today, it endures at home and abroad. We respectfully call upon you to make the United States a leader in the fight to end slavery - again.

Americans want to end slavery once and for all. The U.S. government can play a powerful role in fighting this crime by supporting robust law enforcement and victim relief at home and abroad.

This year, we urge you to make our country a leader in the fight to end modern-day slavery by:

1. Taking a stand: In your 2012 Address to the U.N. General Assembly, charge the nations gathered to abolish modern-day slavery.
2. Getting slavery out of U.S. supply chains: When you authorize trade preference programs and free trade agreements, require that our partners take steps to ensure their supply chains are slavery-free, and insist that all U.S. government contracts include supply chain transparency requirements, so that we can ensure our tax dollars are never spent on slave-made goods.
3. Providing diplomatic support: Call on U.S. diplomats to work with foreign governments on high-level strategies to rescue victims of slavery and trafficking, apprehend perpetrators and eradicate the crime.
4. Funding the fight: Develop a Presidential Fund to Eradicate Slavery through the State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons that will provide resources to help 15 "Focus Countries" end trafficking, and develop a Global Fund to Eradicate Slavery with other donor countries and private sources this year to announce at the 2013 meeting of the G-8.

It is time to take a stand so we can bring an end to slavery in our lifetime.

If you wish to support this effort, please click on the following  link to sign the letter online: http://www.ijm.org/content/state-of-the-union

• Federal Proclamation
• Wisconsin Proclamation
• Dane County Proclamation
• Madison Proclamation

In addition, SlaveFree Madison prepared a resolution that was adopted by the Madison Common Council on January 3, 2012. The resolution adoption can be viewed on the Madison City Channel website beginning at approximately 2:29.