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Today We Face a Different Battle

Luke Blocher Remarks at Ohio Human Trafficking Awareness Day January 9th, 2014 in Columbus, OH at the Ohio Statehouse The Freedom Center is a museum on the banks of the Ohio River in Cincinnati. We are located there, on the border between slave and

Slavery Still Exists

Recently, Jon Stewart from The Daily Show challenged Bill O'Reilly to acknowledge white privilege, and the legacy of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. It was a challenging clip to watch, and informative about the state of affairs in our society. I agre

Why We Must Begin Talking About Labor Trafficking

On a recent visit to New York City, I met with Safe Horizon whose staff told me that 60% of their human trafficking cases dealt with labor trafficking. Safe Horizon serves clients in the United States, meaning that those 60% of cases occurred here in

11 Facts About Modern Day Slavery

  It’s not just sex Forced Labor is much more rampant than sex trafficking. In fact, 65% of the world’s slaves are in a forced labor situation. [1] Watch what you eat 90% of companies shipping shrimp to the U.S. use some type of bonded or forced lab

Why I Became Involved in the Human Trafficking Fight: The Business Role in Human Trafficking

When I first reached the decision to support the creation of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center almost 20 years ago, I believed that the story of the Underground Railroad and the abolition of slavery needed to be recalled in their own r

“It was always in my heart.” Kailash Satyarthi, Nobel Peace Prize Winner, and His Fight Against Child Slavery

On Friday, Kailash Satyarthi became a Nobel Peace Prize winner, alongside Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai.[1] The world has spoken. Children’s rights, and women’s rights, are important. Mr. Satyarthi has over thirty years of human rights experien

Fair Trade in One Local Community

As the owner of a growing Fair Trade shop in Northern Kentucky, I have plenty of opportunities to talk with people about what Fair Trade is, as well as what it isn't. While I definitely find that the general public's awareness of sweatshops, unfair w

Human Trafficking Behind Bars and Beyond.

Their stories go beyond heart break, but they are true: At age 11, she ran away from home because of an alcoholic mother and a sexually abusive step-father. After three days on the street, a much older man befriended her, took her home, clothed and f

Will You Pay a Penny More? The Clinton Global Initiative and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.

From a harvest of shame to grounds for hope, a group of farmworkers are changing the tomato growing industry and getting recognized for their effort. The Clinton Global Initiative this last week gave two of the co-founders of Coalition of Immokalee W

Remembering and Interpreting Northern Slavery

The perception that American slavery existed exclusively in the South persists even after decades of scholarship detailing slavery in the North. Several factors contribute to the perpetuation of the slavery as Southern myth. To be sure, the overwhelm