International Justice Mission Praised By Obama

Greetings from The Slave Detective,

The Huffington Post has been posting several articles on Human Trafficking recently. This post relates to a speech made by US President Obama.

Sex Trafficking: President Obama’s Challenge Of Faith

He praises the religious movements. Obama paid tribute to religious ideals in several significant ways. First, he invoked a faith core of American values as he linked justice and faith. Echoing the Emancipation Proclamation, he called addressing modern slavery “‘an act of justice,’ worthy of ‘the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favour of Almighty God.’” He invoked the Good Samaritan on the road to Jericho: “We’ve got to be moved by compassion. We’ve got to bind up the wounds.”

The article singles out the great work done by The International Justice Mission. My very good friends in Chattanooga introduced me to the IJM during my visits there.

But the USA has one of the largest trafficking and exploitation of humans in the world.

In this I don’t mean the usual suspect…… Sexual Exploitation…. but the simple exploitation of the poor.

I have written and commented before on the fact that it is acceptable to have persons, who have entered the country in breach of immigration laws, doing manual labour, mowing lawns, trimming hedges and general DIY work for very poor pay.

The USA is a great country! I visit there often and love being there but it always troubles me when it comes to tipping in restaurants. I was recently told the acceptable tip is 20% of your bill. This seems like an additional tax? or an employers way of exploiting others? The persons who wait tables.

When I stated that I thought tipping should be the discretion of the service user, not an expected behaviour I was chastised. “How else would a waitress survive if it wasn’t for their tips.”

I then went into a tirade of ‘exploitation of the masses’. I also object to tipping for a service that doesn’t care how the service is given. I see ‘Service Charge’ added to bills as a matter of course in the UK and USA. I’m not surprised then that the service received is below par.

Let me add I’m happy to tip where I feel service given is ‘good’.

The UK has implemented laws that require employers to pay a minimum wage.  This a huge attempt to prevent the poorest people being exploited.

Current national minimum wage rates in the UK are as follows.

There are currently three aged based national minimum wage rates and an apprentice rate, which are usually updated in October each year. The rates that apply from 1 October 2011 are as follows:

• §  for workers aged 21 years or more: £6.08 per hour ($9.82)
• §  for workers aged 18 to 20 inclusive: £4.98 per hour ($8.05)
• §  for workers aged under 18 (but above compulsory school age): £3.68 per hour ($5.95)
• §  for apprentices aged under 19: £2.60 per hour ($4.20)
• §  for apprentices aged 19 and over, but in the first year of their apprenticeship: £2.60 per hour ($4.20)

May be this is something that the US could look into in an attempt to sort out its exploitation problem. President Obama speaking out against trafficking is a great step but bold steps need to be taken to prevent slavery in our own back yards.

In another article in The US was in ‘The Business Insider’ where the lead line is “Human Sex Trafficking is Now Affecting America’s Elite Communities.“

“Long thought to be a problem only in America’s poorest cities or the world’s most impoverished nations, human trafficking is now making a move toward the upper fringes of society”

It concludes with a Study stating a “Much better way to control Prostitution”

It is a short article but concludes with a list of contries where prostitution is legalised but Human Trafficking is still a major problem.