January 23, 2012

Hearts Should Be Free - Valentines Giveaway - CLOSED



Valentines profilecard 


I'm holding this giveaway to spread awareness of modern slavery.  You may think that slavery ended with the Civil War, but there are actually more people in slavery today than there was before emancipation.

You have a chance to win 20 Valentines Mini-Cards pictured above just for learning a little about slavery.  To enter, read the 10 facts below and then fill out the Rafflecopter form at the bottom of this post.

10 Facts about Modern Slavery

  1. There are more slaves today than in any other time in modern history--around 27 million.
  2. Slavery is illegal everywhere, but nevertheless is extremely widespread.  Slavery exists even in developed nations, like the United States.
  3. The average cost of a slave around the world is $90.
  4. The slave trade today is commonly called "human trafficking."  Human trafficking includes trafficking for forced labor and forced prostitution.
  5. Human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world, second in size only to drug dealing, with the illegal arms trade running alongside.
  6. Around 80% of human trafficking victims are women and girls.
  7. 50% of human trafficking victims are under 18. 
  8. Worldwide, there are nearly two million children in the commercial sex trade.
  9. After being forced into prostitution, the average life expectancy for a child prostitute is 7 years.
  10. 1,000s of victims are trafficked into the US every year.

      a Rafflecopter giveaway
      SOURCES FOR 10 FACTS:
      1. AlterNet 2. BBC Ethics Guide: Modern Slavery 3.  DoSomething.org 4. Wikipedia  5 - 8. International Justice Mission's Sex Trafficking Fact Sheet 9. Traffic 911 10. Free The Slaves.











      Hearts Should Be Free

      19 comments:

      1. I was very surprised that it is second only to drug dealing in size. I knew it was going on but had no idea how much.

        Marlena Curley marlena.curley@live.com

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      2. The fact that described me most was #9
        niuniuzheng at gmail dot com

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      3. Wow, I didn't know this was such a big illegal industry.

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      4. this fact surprised me the most.. After being forced into prostitution, the average life expectancy for a child prostitute is 7 years.

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      5. I was surprised that there are more slaves now than ever!

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      6. I was shocked to learn that there are 27 million slaves. Makes you want to never let your kids out of your sight.

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      7. Something happened before I was able to give my comment. I comment whether I enter or not. One of the most insidious ways to enslave is to tell a female that they will get her into Canada as a nanny or other job. She is so indebted when she arrives that she can never be free no matter what she does. Some 'coyotes' tell that she can/has to prostitute herself to pay off her debt. Of course, that never happens.
        What is even more tragic is that even if citizens come in contact with her they don't recognize the situation or are not willing to be involved.
        I say, we are ALL involved and responsible.

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      8. I did not know about the death rate of children in the sex trade or that 1/2 of all prostitutes are under 18... God save us.

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      9. child prostitution saddens me....

        ontariohappychick at gmail dot com

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      10. This is so sad, it makes my stomach turn. My husband is a truck driver and he said he has heard of kids getting moved around through semis.
        sunniewoodyplus2 atmsn.com

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      11. Wow! I had no idea! Some of those facts are startling! It's so unfortunate that so little value is placed on a human life.

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      12. Uhh, every piece of these facts are shocking!
        nowadays there are MORE slaves than were ever before?
        That shows the most 'intelligent' animal aka human how CRUEL and selfish could be...sad, really sad

        porcukorborso at gmail dot com

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      13. i was aware of most of these facts about human trafficking but the one i guess i had never really considered was:

        After being forced into prostitution, the average life expectancy for a child prostitute is 7 years.

        7 years, they are under 18 to begin with and then only to live 7 years. i can only imagine in horror i guess that under the circumstances that 7 years probably feels like a lifetime. it is so sad that there are people who would do this to other human beings.

        meg740@gmail.com

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      14. I just can't even stand to think about this. What can we do?
        dlhaynes57 at yahoo dot com

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      15. I didn't realize their were more slaves today than in any time in modern history. So sick. So sad. Why aren't we doing more to stop this problem and help these people?

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      16. Thanks for the great post on slavery and the problems today with illegal human trafficing.

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      17. So sad. The US government should make this a priority.

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      18. There are more slaves today than in any other time in modern history--around 27 million.
        Jadavis42@students.tntech.edu

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