NEWSBYSARAH PARKER

When did promoting violence against women become an acceptable form of art? Hundreds of years ago, actually. But the question is, does that make it okay today? Over 7,000 activists all over the world say "no" and have put their collective foot down over Kanye West's music video, "Monster."

I recently reported on a petition started by Melinda Tankard Reist and Sharon Haywood that asks Universal Music Group, distributor of the video, to stop it's official release, MTV to declare it will not promote the video, and Kanye to officially apologize for eroticizing violence against women. If you haven't seen the leaked clips, the video contains beautiful, lingerie-clad women, possibly zombies or vampires, now dead. Kanye, Jay Z, and Rick Ross kill them and enjoy the spoils of victory - kissing the dead bodies, hanging practically naked bodies from the neck by chains, and eating a plate of raw meat between the legs of another scantily clad dead girl, to name a few. Nikki Minaj gets in on the act as a fanged dominatrix "interrogating" her pink-haired alter-ego, also played by Minaj.

To date, UMG, MTV, and Kanye have given no response. Fans of Kanye consistently point out that there is more to the video. A young man gets disemboweled and eaten by a pair of she-devils. The very presence of Minaj is supposedly empowering to women, as though women mistreating women is okay. Other fans are simply calling activists "haters" who don't want Kanye to succeed. One commenter stated, "Feminists are great lateral thinkers; for instance, they can see a video that includes serial killers, necrophilia, cannibalism and zombies and then say that it promotes battering women."

I don't identify myself as a feminist (gasp!), but I still take umbrage at that statement. A myriad of other "bad things" appearing alongside eroticized violence against women doesn't somehow make that imagery less impacting or negate its appearance and the fuel it gives to human traffickers and abusers everywhere. The very fact that those attitudes appear among Kanye supporters is exactly why Reist and Haywood started the petition. To quote Reist:

"I’m not interested at all in going after [Kanye] for the sake of it. That would be very boring. It specifically relates to the carnival of carnage he has created, the ‘rape scenario set to a soundtrack’, the idea that torture porn is sexy. We are targeting what he has created and the message it sends and the harm this causes."

For abolitionists, the future of activism is public. Through social media, now thousands of people can literally join an advocacy campaign within minutes, and stand up to slavery. Justin Dillon and Call + Response are taking full advantage of the social media age, offering abolitionists tools like Chain Store Reaction to bring big business and conscientious consumers face to face with slavery and each other.

C+R believes in connecting people directly to the issue of slavery, setting up relationships, and then getting out of the way. They call it “open source activism.” It’s about giving people the tools, and the power, to affect change on their own, in their own lives, wherever they are, and wherever the issue effects them directly. Almost 900 companies are listed on the Chain Store Reaction site. Consumers click on a producer to send a pre-written letter that tells the company, in a very polite and honest way, that we’re willing to pay more for slave-free products but we’ll also buy from competitors if they address the issue first. One of the key ways companies can respond is by completing a survey about their supply chain standards and what they are doing, or will do, to root out any forced labor.

Most consumers want a list of “good” companies to buy from, but we need to change the way products are made before we can really label companies “good” or “bad.” The market place operates by financial rules, not moral ones, so Chain Store Reaction is giving producers a reason to care about the issue.

It takes two seconds for consumers to open that dialogue through Chain Store Reaction. They can also see a counter tracking how many letters have been sent and all company listings show if they’ve responded, if the response was insufficient, or if they answered the call to change. Consumers can even send a thank-you e-mail to companies who did the survey or went above and beyond.

According to Dillon, “Our greatest tool is to see everyone is participating all at one time, so quickly, from anywhere.” To that end, every action geo-plots activists’ locations, providing solid marketing data so companies can see the demand for slave-free products is everywhere. Given time, C+R believes this data will force the market to admit the need for a deeper level of transparency. The standards we have now are just not good enough.

Is Kanye West a monster promoting sexual violence against women or is he an artist exercising his right to free speech? If his latest music video "Monster" is any indication, he may actually be both. And two women have begun a campaign to prevent the violent, misogynistic images from being released.

A leaked teaser and a behind the scenes video show West, Jay-Z, Rick Ross, and Nikki Minaj surrounded by the corpses of lingerie-clad women. Women dangle from the ceiling by chains. A naked corpse, mouth open, lies on a couch behind Jay-Z. Ross chows down on a plate of raw meat placed between the legs of a female corpse lying prostrate on the table. Minaj doubles as a fanged dominatrix and her innocent victim. West, in bed with two scantily clad corpses, poses them in erotic positions and kisses one while stroking his face with her lifeless hand.

These images are enough to make most people cringe and wonder about the mental and sexual health of current pop culture. Melinda Tankard Reist and Adios Barbie's Sharon Haywood went a step further by starting a petition for Universal Music Group to withdraw the video and never officially release it in any capacity.

Via e-mail, Reist explains:

"The mainstreaming of videos like this increases desensitized and callous attitudes toward violence against women. Young people are seeing images and absorbing harmful messages which glamorise misogyny and brutalise women. Women are reduced to sex-doll like playthings. So great is the level of desensitisation that the barbaric treatment of women and girls is seen as normal and to be expected. We decided to run this campaign because we wanted to challenge the status quo."

Tracy Clark-Flory of Salon.com has a different opinion. Flory writes that the video "offers a fascinating Rorschach test of our current sexual culture." She points to a myriad of examples of the eroticization of dead women in pop culture and puts forth that West is merely giving us what we want: shock, horror, and sex. As a culture, we are desensitized to normal sexual images and require "the next step" to be aroused. Flory thinks that "instead of censoring it, we should be taking notes." It might teach us something about ourselves. I agree in part, but like Reist, I want to change the lesson.

Most abolitionists know that ending slavery in our supply chain cannot be accomplished overnight. Changing supply chain ethics is a long-haul campaign, one that requires showing big business that using slave labor will have a negative impact on their bottom line. The folks at Call + Response are working to do just that. And now anyone with a mobile phone can join them.

To find out more about ongoing efforts to end supply chain slavery, I called Justin Dillon, director of the anti-trafficking film "Call + Response," to discuss the newest tool in their campaign to change supply chain ethics: the C+R iPhone app (other platforms coming in 2011). His take is that moral reasons for ending supply-chain slave labor are not enough of an argument for the business community. Hard and fast data that shows how using slave labor will drive away consumers, or how NOT using it will draw them in, is the only way to make a lasting change. The bottom line for big business will always be their bottom line.

For example, recently Exxon representatives participated in the Luxor International Forum on ending human trafficking, quite a big win in and of itself, where Dillon was also in attendance. They reinforced his take on changing supply chain ethics, saying that business can't and won't change until there is real data to support the monetary impact. Throwing stones at big business with a “fix it or else” mentality won’t accomplish lasting change. So Dillon and C+R are asking consumers to use their new iPhone app to convince companies that slave-free is profitable.

Christmas in my family means lots and lots of chocolate. I can't remember a Christmas where we didn't make chocolate peanut butter balls, chocolate toffee brickle, and chocolate fudge. Even the Advent calendar's little doors hide chocolate. But according to the Department of Labor's ninth annual Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, most of that chocolate is made with cocoa produced in five countries by child labor or forced labor. That makes semi-sweet Christmas baking pretty bitter.

The offending countries include Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea and Nigeria. Most of the world's cocoa is sourced from these countries, which means if your chocolate isn't Fair Trade Certified, then chances are children and/or slaves were involved in its production. However, there is hope for ending slavery in the cocoa industry. The DOL reports that,

"the governments of Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, along with the international Cocoa industry, signed a Declaration of Joint Action to Support Implementation of the Harkin-Engel Protocol on September 13, 2010, affirming their commitment to eliminate the worst forms of child labor in the cocoa sector and establishing a Framework of Action."

Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana have also made strides with with new legislation and better child labor monitoring systems this year, which are key efforts in the ongoing fight to eradicate child labor from the chocolate supply chain. That's a tidy little stocking stuffer for the children who've been picking cocoa so we can make our Christmas goodies.

But we need more than stocking stuffers if we're going to change supply chain ethics in the chocolate industry. We need the world's suppliers and buyers of chocolate, like major candy companies, to go Fair Trade and make their supply chains much more transparent. That's the big present under the tree.

Each year between 14,000 and 18,000 people are trafficked into the United States, but shelter and aftercare for rescued victims is woefully lacking in most states. Many have few or no shelters for trafficking victims and no effective plans in place to help victims gain the personal and professional skills they need to re-enter American society. Together with Pepsi Refresh, iSanctuary of Orange County California is planning to change that in their state, and they need your votes to do it.

If a state doesn't have proper after care for survivors, most of whom are women and children, survivors are at risk to be trafficked again, fall through the cracks, and even lose their lives. To combat this issue in Orange County, a major hub of human trafficking in California, iSanctuary trains and employs survivors of human trafficking. They provide English classes when necessary, basic computer skills, life skills, mentoring, monthly community building, internships, and on-the-job-training through employment opportunities at iSanctuary. Opportunities include management, reception, inventory control, shipping and handling, and sales for iSanctuary's social enterprise program in India, established three years ago. In that program, rescued trafficking victims in India earn 100% above fair trade wage for the beautiful jewelry and other goods they create, which iSanctuary then sells for them.

Currently iSanctuary, also a member of the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force Coalition, is working with only four local trafficking survivors. They have room for many, many more but not the funding to support them. That's where you and Pepsi Refresh come in.

On November 15, The Child Protection Compact Act (CPCA), a bill which would create international partnerships to stop child trafficking, will be voted on by the Senate. This historic bill will fight child trafficking not just within countries, but between them. But only if it passes. Contact your Senators today so they know you support it.

The CPCA was introduced in the House on June 5th by Representatives Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Carolyn Maloney (D-NY). Its goal is to provide assistance through the U.S. Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons to “focus countries” -- countries with a need and a will to stop child trafficking within and across their borders but without the means to do so. Focus countries would receive support to build effective public justice systems to investigate crimes against children and prosecute enough perpetrators to create a powerful deterrent, eventually eliminating the crime altogether. The legislation would also authorize more assistance for the aftercare of trafficking survivors.

This approach to irradicating child trafficking has seen great success in the hands of NGOs like the International Justice Mission, whose field offices have seen significant decreases in crimes against children wherever their prosecutors can work in tandem with willing governments to bring perpetrators to justice. That's why IJM, World Vision, and other child advocacy groups are now supporting a similar bill introduced to the Senate on March 25th by Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Ben Cardin (D-MD), called the Child Protection Compact Act 2010 (S.3184).

Halloween is a few days away. Do you still need a costume? With some creative costuming, you can promote the Fair Trade movement and educate your friends about stopping human trafficking. So put on your responsible consumer hat, guys and ghouls, and make slave-free costume purchases this Halloween with these five last-minute Fair Trade costume ideas:

1) Purchase traditional items from a certified Fair Trade retailer, like One World Import's Bolivian cloth masks or Marketplace India's kaftans. You can even get straight-up Halloween costumes from fair trade retailer Elope, Inc. or order sports gear and uniforms from Fair Trade Sports Retail. You'll have to pay extra for express shipping, but that's the price for fabulous, last-minute costumes.

2) If depending on last minute shipping makes you nervous, recycle costumes and clothing instead. Go to a thrift store or swap years' past costumes with friends. Heck, make it a costume swapping party and serve up some Fair Trade chocolate and coffee while you're at it.

3) Go "Fair Trade Certified" by picking an item you want to promote for Fair Trade, such as coffee or chocolate, and adding the "Fair Trade Certified" logo. For some photos and easy DIY ideas, check out Green Mountain Coffee's Halloween post here.

Joining the fight against human trafficking is fast becoming a trend in Hollywood, and more often than not, the finger is pointed at foreign soil. But "FLESH," a new documentary by Kristin Ross Lauterbach, exposes trafficking in Hollywood's own backyard. This month the film partners with Loyola Marymount University's "The Purpose of Being" art exhibition to offer visitors a unique opportunity to do the same.

"The Purpose of Being" highlights the work of nine professional artists and activists paired with LMU student artists to create collaborative projects. Each artist uses their work to bring about social awareness. Causes range from gender issues to police brutality to the environment. "Being" takes place during LMU's Bellarmine Forum, a week-long series of events, performances and lectures under the theme “Imagining Equality: Women’s Art and Activism."  Being is also the action response to curator Ronald Lopez's other exhibit, "Harmony Reverberates Optimism," showing at the Jaus Gallery.

"Harmony" is an exhibition of Los Angeles female artists creating social change with their art forms. As one of them, Lauterbach is showing a 12 minute piece of her movie "FLESH." The documentary explores how U.S. citizens knowingly and unknowingly propagate human trafficking home. It gives a voice to those in the business and those seeking to end it. The result is a startling perspective on what drives trafficking here in the United States.

"The Purpose of Being" pulled in teams of LMU students to create and exhibit their own responses to the art and encourages the audience to respond as well. The "FLESH" team created an installation piece to show alongside the video piece on display. Lauterbach's cameras follow current and former prostituted women in Los Angeles as they tell their stories of physical and psychological enslavement, being trafficked throughout the United States, and their harrowing escapes. Pimps and former pimps are interviewed. So are expert abolitionists. And it's all in an effort to move the discussion from how to what and why. What are the underlying causes of human trafficking in America and why aren't we stopping it?

Kenyan children have yet another reason to fear sexual exploitation in a country running rampant with abuse. The BBC reports that over 1,000 teachers were fired across Kenya in the past two years for sexually abusing their female students. Most were ages 12 to 15. Many were impregnated by their teachers. Boys were not safe either, with reports of their abuse now surfacing.

I love Kenya. I've spent time there and met wonderful people making a difference in children's lives. Groups like Ghetto Light Youth in the Nairobi's Kibera Slums and the International Justice Mission in Nairobi work to give them a safe place, to teach them they are more than just fodder for defilers. I personally helped them care for and love the beautiful children of Kenya. But it isn't enough. When 650 teachers were fired in 2009 for sexually abusing students in government schools and 550 teachers so far in 2010 were fired for the same reason, there is something wrong. The abuse of children in Kenya is all too commonplace. Reports of increases in sexual and labor abuse can be found when the Children Act passed in 2001, with the same "Rise in Child Abuse" headlines popping up again and again over the last 10 years. That isn't just news. It's an epidemic.

In 2006, Heimo Lakkonnen, UNICEF representative in Kenya, said "The level of violence against children has reached totally unacceptably levels in Kenya. The level of sexual violence is especially shocking," and that the way to stop it was better communication. "We need to get people talking, to break the silence around violence and make sure that everyone knows where to go to get help." At the time, he suggested "safe schools." Then In 2007, Kenya passed the Sexual Offenses Act, substantially strengthening penalties for child sex abuse, but convictions have been hard to come by.