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2016 was a critical year for people affected by human trafficking and modern slavery.
The number of people affected by modern slavery increased from estimates of 30 million people to more than 45 million people. That’s bigger than the entire population of California.
And while the U.S. enacted game-changing tariffs designed to ban all slave-made goods from entering America, we learned much of modern slavery remains hidden — often unknowingly — deep in the supply chains of global companies, such as Nestlé.
Making progress against human trafficking is difficult. And it’s also possible.
This year, your support of the Not For Sale projects created some of the most momentous milestones for this mission.
See some of this year’s highlights and the progress being made in 2016.
THAILAND
More than 120 students at Not For Sale’s project in Northern Thailand are ready for examination day at schools across the country.
At our project in Northern Thailand, more than 120 children are actively enrolled in public schools — a luxury not available to all children living on the borders of Thailand. Several more of the children at our project entered schools this year, while others are a year closer to college graduation.
This year we also took a giant step forward in protecting Akha Tribe families from traffickers through our partnership with St. Clare coffee — a premium coffee roaster and cafe in San Francisco.
St. Clare began developing relationships with Thai coffee farmers from the Akha Tribe. Traffickers routinely target these families because of their economic vulnerability. Many of the children who live in our project come from tribes like these.
The partnership with St. Clare helps make significant progress in stopping traffickers in these communities.
VIETNAM
Children at Not For Sale’s Vietnam project play soccer.
This year, in partnership with project sponsor Bumble Bee Tuna, we created the first program in Vietnam specifically for boys who have been affected by human trafficking and exploitation.
Vietnamese law recognized for the first time in 2016 the sexual abuse of boys as a crime. However, there are many statues still to be drafted to support this decision. The Not For Sale program in Vietnam was made to support these boys.
Many of the boys were living on the street, sleeping under bridges, and lived in abusive conditions before coming to the program.
ROMANIA
More than a dozen minor refugees from countries such as Pakistan and Afghanistan arrive at Not For Sale’s project in Romania.
More than 10,000 unaccompanied child refugees have disappeared since arriving in Europe in 2016. The region’s intelligence agencies suspect many have fallen into the hands of organised trafficking syndicates.
Our Romania project — already home to more than 150 youths affected by human trafficking and exploitation — was able to locate and house at least 17 of the underage refugees fleeing countries such as Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Most have never attended any school, and speak limited Romanian.
Education is a key support pillar at Not For Sale projects. 56 members of our Romania project are enrolled in higher education boarding schools.
And earlier this year, some of our youths won awards at the country’s national robotics competition.
“We WON! Oh, My God, I am so happy, I have never won anything in my life!” one of the boys said.
UNITED STATES
A graduate of Not For Sale’s project in the U.S. completed a highly competitive internship.
A graduate of our U.S. program completed a highly competitive internship at San Francisco International Airport this year. Each internship class fields more than 200 applications for just 12-14 positions.
This was a MASSIVE win for a key member of our Not For Sale U.S. project. She has since retained employment and independent housing.
Transitioning from a life in exploitation can be difficult for people affected by human trafficking in the U.S. because governmental support systems are lacking. Some people return to lives of exploitation even after completing social programs.
A win like this one is momentous because the graduate has made it her mission to help lead others out of exploitative situations.
PERU
This year we launched one of our most exciting ventures yet… Z Shoes!
Z Shoes was born out of the necessity to protect people vulnerable to traffickers in Peru.
Not For Sale founder David Batstone and his son sourced their materials from the Peruvian Amazon so that they could create local economy. And Z Shoes pledges a portion of revenues back to Not For Sale to support our projects.
Now YOU can walk like a hero. Get your own pair now here.
When you wear and share Z Shoes, you are supporting the mission of Not For Sale and the people we service.
AMSTERDAM
Dignita Restaurant supports women who have been affected by exploitation in Amsterdam.
Dignita Restaurant in Amsterdam — built to give job skills to women who survived sexual exploitation in the city’s Red Light District — continues to rack up accolades.
The restaurant also serves as a training ground to give exploited women culinary skills which they can use to gain dignified employment.
And Dignita Restaurant recently was named as one of the city’s Top 10 restaurants, and #1 brunch restaurant overall in Amsterdam.
