openDemocracy

Government prepared to block modern slavery survivors to prevent ‘bogus’ claims
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Government prepared to block modern slavery survivors to prevent ‘bogus’ claims

Difficulty in disclosing and proving one’s exploitation is a major stumbling block for victims of trafficking. Many people are not capable of communicating their situation until well after they’ve entered the UK. Critics of the NRM see this as proof they are lying. This scepticism is reflected in the language of Part 5 of the…

11 times Jacob Rees-Mogg revealed what he really thinks about your rights
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11 times Jacob Rees-Mogg revealed what he really thinks about your rights

Editor’s note: we have no political affiliation; this is presented for educational purposes. Jacob Rees-Mogg is now the man in charge of our hard-won workers’ rights, as the secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy. The UK’s last two prime ministers, Theresa May and Boris Johnson, both promised that Brexit would not weaken…

A sex worker reviews Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
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A sex worker reviews Good Luck to You, Leo Grande

The film is clearly trying to convey the inherent value and necessity of sex work as a form of care work, but it can only do so with a switcheroo female client/male worker dynamic – one of the encounters least representative of the industry. If Leo and Nancy’s roles were reversed, it would be significantly…

Imagining a world beyond borders
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Imagining a world beyond borders

Borders no longer exist only along the confines of a territory – they are now embedded in our societies, rearing their head every time a medical professional checks a patient’s immigration status or a landlord asks for a residence permit. Borders create hierarchies within our communities which are harmful to us all, according to Gracie…

As the Ukraine war drags on, a grain export deal could be a sign of hope
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As the Ukraine war drags on, a grain export deal could be a sign of hope

Six months ago, Poland’s air force included large numbers of obsolete Soviet-era planes. But it is now furiously re-arming and has just signed a major arms deal with South Korea. The US$14.5bn deal with Poland includes 1,000 K2 main battle tanks, nearly 700 self-propelled howitzers and 48 FA-50 combat aircraft. It’s just one example of…

Religious backlash threatens Somaliland’s progressive rape law
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Religious backlash threatens Somaliland’s progressive rape law

A group of religious leaders in Somaliland is behind an attempt to replace a progressive sexual offences law passed in 2018 with a revised version that protects rapists rather than survivors and allows child marriage. In August 2018, Somaliland president Muse Bihi Abdi signed Somaliland’s Rape and Sexual Offences Act into law. The first of…

U.K. must stop penalizing victims for crimes they were forced to commit, says TIP report
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U.K. must stop penalizing victims for crimes they were forced to commit, says TIP report

The U.K. is failing to provide adequate support for trafficking victims, according to the 2022 Trafficking in Persons report. The report is particularly critical of how the government penalizes victims who […]

The post U.K. must stop penalizing victims for crimes they were forced to commit, says TIP report appeared first on FreedomUnited.org.

'They steal our children and beat their parents': A story of anti-trafficking in Ghana
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'They steal our children and beat their parents': A story of anti-trafficking in Ghana

This interview with Jubilee Benson is part of a series of child worker in Ghana. He is the local assembly member for a collection of communities around Lake Volta that have been singled out for intervention by people seeking to end child labour. His answers were translated out of Twi and edited for clarity. I learned that…

China’s Forced Labor Problem
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China’s Forced Labor Problem

In China, forced labor is sensitive topic. Years pass between the odd case of forced labor that sees the light of day in local media. Local labor NGOs rarely approach incidents of serious coercion in forced labor terms. Nobody knows the real extent, and surprisingly few, from China as well as abroad, prioritize exploring this…