Human Right

A human right is a moral entitlement that is inherent to all human beings regardless of their race, gender, nationality, religion, or any other status. Human rights are based on the principle of respect for the inherent dignity of every person and are universally applicable to all people, regardless of where they live or what they believe. These rights include the right to life, liberty, and security of person; the right to education, health care, and an adequate standard of living; and the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and expression. Human rights are not privileges that can be granted or taken away by governments or other authorities, but rather are inherent to every person and must be protected by law.

Personal View: Human trafficking is a community problem
|

Personal View: Human trafficking is a community problem

Since 2015, the Collaborative to End Human Trafficking has run ads and billboards with the message “It Happens Here, Too.” Recent local arrests as part of a human trafficking sting — including a former school superintendent — have really awakened people to the notion that human trafficking is not someone else’s problem. Since news of…

Forced labour: avoiding the risk in international trade
|

Forced labour: avoiding the risk in international trade

The European Commission has proposed banning all products made using forced labour from the EU market, whether produced domestically or imported. If the proposal introduced in late 2022 comes into force, it will impact many labour-intensive industries and related foreign trade and investment worldwide, creating new challenges for Chinese enterprises trading with Europe. Several Western…

Ahead of TIP Report, Labor Rights Activists Urge U.S. to Call for Thailand and Taiwan to Protect Migrant Workers and End Forced Labor in Seafood Industry
|

Ahead of TIP Report, Labor Rights Activists Urge U.S. to Call for Thailand and Taiwan to Protect Migrant Workers and End Forced Labor in Seafood Industry

WASHINGTON, DC (June 5, 2023) – Greenpeace USA, Global Labor Justice – International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF), and allies in the Seafood Working Group (SWG) today announced their findings of labor rights violations, forced labor, and human trafficking of migrant workers in Thailand and Taiwan and called on the U.S. Department of State to downgrade…

Cartel-backed pot grows linked to human trafficking, inhumane working conditions
|

Cartel-backed pot grows linked to human trafficking, inhumane working conditions

Editor’s note: I just returned from northern California (6/2023), speaking with experts with ties into the situation with legal growers. Human trafficking is happening in legal and illegal cannabis farms.  TRINITY COUNTY, Calif. — If you buy weed illegally, you unwittingly could be supporting Mexican cartels and other criminal syndicates that lure workers to farms…

G20 countries including India are fuelling modern slavery, says new report
|

G20 countries including India are fuelling modern slavery, says new report

50 million people are living in conditions of modern slavery — a 25% rise over the last five years, says a new report. According to it, the Group of 20 nations are contributing to this increase, as their trade operations and global supply chains allow for human rights abuses. Among the G20 nations, India tops the…

U.S. among 17 countries that practice forced labor, a form of ‘modern slavery,’ report finds
|

U.S. among 17 countries that practice forced labor, a form of ‘modern slavery,’ report finds

The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States in 1865, with one exception: compulsory labor in prisons. “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States,” it reads. Nearly 160 years later, the United States is one of…

Egypt: Enhancing the Essential Role of Civil Society Organizations in Countering Human Trafficking
|

Egypt: Enhancing the Essential Role of Civil Society Organizations in Countering Human Trafficking

This regional workshop is considered the first of its kind involving CSOs at the MENA region level, with delegations from Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Sudan, and Tunisia, comprising of 21 participants (12 men, 9 women), and experts from Bangladesh, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Nepal. During the workshop, CSOs’ representatives from different countries are actively discussing experiences…

Durham District School Board meeting spirals out of control, raises concerns
|

Durham District School Board meeting spirals out of control, raises concerns

Another Durham District School Board meeting was shut down after a question period spiraled out of control.  The meeting took place Monday night. The gallery filled with parents was cleared mid-meeting after concerned parents refused to quiet down during the question period. It covered topics including human trafficking awareness, the inclusiveness of the board’s Black…

The Harrowing State of Women's Rights in Lebanon – Arab Center Washington DC
|

The Harrowing State of Women's Rights in Lebanon – Arab Center Washington DC

The problems facing women in Lebanon today have been further complicated by the financial, economic, and social crises that have been affecting the country since 2019. It is therefore not surprising that women were on the frontlines of the so-called Tishreen (October) Revolution in 2019, because their rights were central to these protests. The uprising…

Fact Sheet: DHS Efforts to Combat Child Exploitation and Abuse | Homeland Security
|

Fact Sheet: DHS Efforts to Combat Child Exploitation and Abuse | Homeland Security

Every day, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) leads the fight against child exploitation and abuse. From the DHS Child Exploitation Investigations Unit (CEIU), part of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Cyber Crimes Center (C3), to the United States Secret Service (USSS), to the DHS Science & Technology Directorate (S&T), DHS is dedicated to battling…