Season of Light: A Blog to End Child Trafficking

This is sooo cool. Check out these new t-shirts and key chains from Freeset Global.  They are free trade products made by women survivors of the sex trade--and imprinted with their signatures.I love this idea. Freeset has found a way to connect to the individual, in an issue that so...

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If you want to feel inspired, and so incredibly thankful for your life/education/opportunities, read Greg Mortenson's "Three Cups of Tea" and his recently published "Stones into Schools." They are fantastic.These books, and Mortenson's organization the Central Asia Institute, ask what can be possible by giving girls an education and a...

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Full blogger disclosure: I'm needing a bit of a pick-me-up tonight.I just read a book on the Holocaust and have had to delete a couple of links from a persistent commenter that are totally inappropriate given the subject matter of this blog......so to cheer us both up I'm posting a...

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Diane von Furstenberg has had quite a career.  My mother wore a DVF suit as she left her wedding and started the rest of her life with my father--all the way back in the 70's.  Meanwhile, Ms. von Furstenberg is still making waves as a top designer more than 30...

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Hat tip to my good friend Johnny Fitz for finding this cool site.  "Hello Rewind" takes your favorite old t-shirt and turns it into a comfy, protective home for your laptop--and simultaneously provides training and an alternate source of income for survivors of NYC sex trafficking.Image from Hello RewindBy partnering...

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I read Aaron Cohen's fascinating book "Slave Hunter" over the summer.  It's harrowing and some of his methods are controversial, but definitely worth a read--if you're interested, you can find a link to it in the "Reading" section over to the right.In the meantime, Mr. Cohen continues to shed light...

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Chances are, the first word that comes to mind when you hear "Valentine's Day" is... chocolate.Unfortunately, one of the first words that is now coming to mind when you hear "chocolate" is... slavery.This blog generally looks at issues of child sexual exploitation, but it's important to remember that there are...

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Love146 is once again doing something very cool.  (See why I love them so much?)Do you want a really original, sweet, and productive way to celebrate the day of love?Start by reading Diana's story here: http://love146.org/Diana.Then break out your creative juices and make a valentine for the girls in Love146's Philippines...

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I will be rooting for the Colts with all my heart tomorrow... but this will be on my mind, too.CNN: Volunteers try to help young sex workers on Super Bowl weekend"I don't want the idea [of fighting underage sex trafficking] to go away when Super Bowl ends. The reality is...

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Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher are supporting GEMS for the Pepsi Refresh challenge--hopefully you will, too. (It's easy!)Mr. and Mrs. Kutcher have been very vocal advocates against human and child sex trafficking over the past several years.  Their latest step in this area was to launch the DNA Foundation--D and...

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It's been almost a month since I last posted.  I apologize for such a long absence, and I plan to be blogging much more regularly.  Since my last post, I've started a new job, went home to Indianapolis to visit my family, and turned 26.  But all of those things...

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GEMS Girls put together this beautiful video called "We Are Millions."  Imagine my surprise when I saw that I'm in it!!Thank you for a beautiful tribute.  I hope this video brings all of the encouragement and love it has the power to....

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It's January 11th--National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.  Let's not let this day just pass by as if it were any other.  Here are a couple of things you can do to mark 1/11/10.   Take a moment to read Benjamin Skinner's recent article in TIME: "South Africa's New Slave Trade...

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Watch the preview of a full-length film by college students in 2007. Can't wait to see this and read the corresponding book: Sex + Money....

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 Image by AxlotIn all of the news today about Google's "Super phone," I hope you didn't miss an important announcement from the White House.  President Obama has declared January to be National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.You can read the official proclamation here, and I've pulled my favorite part...

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10 years ago this month, I was a fifteen-year-old walking home from school in Japan. I was surprised to find my dad at home in the middle of the work day. He met me at the door and I immediately knew that something was very, very wrong. Doctors...

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I've been thinking for awhile about putting together a holiday shopping list that benefits survivors of child/human sex trafficking or organizations that support the cause.  Since so many of my blogger friends had the same idea, I'm going to list a couple of the things that I'm personally asking for...

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Head on over to Love146's newly unveiled website --it looks SO GOOD. I was especially blown away by the revamped education section.  You can see it here: http://love146.org/slavery.Bravo guys, and keep up the very good work!...

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 Today, December 2nd, is the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery.I'm going to spend it at an event in downtown Boston tonight supporting The My Life My Choice program.  More about that likely in the next post!Take a minute today to read the following comments from U.N. Secretary-General Ban...

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It's that time of year where we look around and give thanks for our blessings... and I have many this year.I'm reading Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn's "Half the Sky," and each chapter makes me realize even more how blessed my life has been.  So in the spirit of Thanksgiving,...

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Image by Thomas HawkLast night in Boston was cold, rainy, and inspiring; I spent it at a networking event on anti-human trafficking at The Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School.Panelists included Cherie Jimenez of Kim’s Project, Jeff Gulati, who is an Assistant Professor of Political...

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There are some really great bloggers out there that are consistently writing good posts on child trafficking and modern-day slavery.  So I'm introducing a new, semi-regular category called Links of Light that will pick out some of my recent favorites by other bloggers and share them with you.The first installment: ...

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GEMS Girls and the Council of Daughters are asking for your photos of support. In conjunction with the launch of a song re-recorded specially for GEMS by Sinead O'Connor and Mary J. Blige called "This is to Mother You," the organizations are collecting encouraging photographs from people all over the...

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There is a lot of heartbreak today, in the abolitionist community and beyond, about the news that 5-year-old Shaniya Davis was a victim of child sex trafficking and murder in North Carolina.  I keep coming back to a song I heard and video I saw over the weekend from a...

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Unfortunately, in the Big Move mentioned in my previous post, my blogroll somehow got lost.  If you were on there previously or think that you should be, please email me at seasonoflightblog (at) gmail.com or leave a note in the comments below!Love,Emily...

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