Weekly Geeks: a Social Issue

I love this week’s topic, which ties in perfectly to Andi’s living responsibly meme, which I did a little bit ago. Of the causes I listed, the one I know the least about is human trafficking, so I’ve put together a book list for that one.

First up, a book that I’ve read sections of (and those sections impressed me): The Natashas: Inside the New Global Sex Trade Victor Malarek. Malarek is a Canadian journalist, and his book focuses on how the collapse of the Soviet Union led to an epidemic of sexual slavery. It was published in 2003, so it’s relatively recent.

On a different note, John Bowe’s Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy looks at how migrant workers sometimes become economic slaves in the land of the free. He focuses on Florida, Oklahoma, and a US owned Pacific island-Saipan. This is a very contemporary book, published in September of last year.

Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy by Kevin Bales widens the scope by looking at economic slavery around the globe. He estimates there are 27 million people living in slavery today, and after outlining those conditions he has a long chapter with possible solutions. It’s the oldest book on this list, published in 1999.

Back to sexual slavery in the former Soviet Union, For Sale: Woman and Children, cowritten by Igor Davor Gaon and Nancy Forbord, provides personal stories of those affected by human trafficking in southeastern Europe. Did you know that trafficking (aka slavery) is now the third most organised crime in Europe (after drugs and arms)? It garners $7 billion a year, and 200,000 of its victims pass through the Balkans. With a 2005 publication date, it’s more recent than The Natashas.

To end on a slightly more uplifting note, David Batstone’s Not for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade-and How We Can Fight It offers solutions to the problem. It was published last year as well, to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the abolitionist movement’s climax (at least, that’s what the description says; I find it difficult to believe that 1807 would be America’s greatest anti-slavery year, but maybe he means something else). This book is part of a campaign, so even if you don’t have time to read the book, go visit the website. As well as helpful information on what you can do, they have a store with very reasonably priced inventory, from jewelry to journals to shirts to artwork to books.

Oh! I almost forgot! This isn’t a book, but there’s a Swedish move called Lilya 4-ever about a young Eastern European woman who ends up as a sexual slave in Sweden. It’s very intense (our Russian Club screened it when I was president, and there was utter silence when it ended) but enlightening. It’s shot in Swedish, Russian, and English, so you’ll have to turn on the subtitles for at least some scenes! Here’s what Wikipedia has to say.