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How You Could Become Enslaved

Many individuals are vulnerable to becoming enslaved. Below are some of the different ways people become enslaved. Smuggling You pay recruitment fees to individuals offering to bring you to another country. Whether it's to escape genocide or warfare

Mind Control

January is human trafficking awareness month in the United States. Acknowledging this, I want people to understand how human trafficking requires mind control. In order to understand what this means we need, first of all, to know what the mind is, wh

People are People, Regardless of Culture

Dreaming of a land far away—a land of adventure, development, and much unknown. A land known by many as home to many exotic animals, fruits, and surprises. A land with colors, dark sun-kissed faces and bright smiles. A land with beautiful songs and v

Slavery-Freedom Continuum

As I stated in a previous blog post, “slavery is a social phenomenon existing on the far end of a continuum of oppression.” The model below represents the continuum that I am referring to. Slavery is one extreme. Freedom is the other. There are mult

A Slavery-Free Holiday Season

How can you ensure that your Black Friday and Holiday shopping is free of slave labor? Is there really any way to make sure every single thing you buy wasn’t made with slave labor? The unfortunate answer is no. In fact many companies don’t even know

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

On Happy Endings

This is the story of Annam, born in a village outside Dhaka, Bangladesh. Forced into a child marriage at age 12. Trafficked to a Mumbai brothel at age 17. Rescued at age 22. Repatriated to Bangladesh at age 25. This story has a happy ending, but it i

Islam and the Fight Against Human Trafficking

If you are reading this in the United States, you are probably wary, if not critical, of the religion of Islam. Since 2001, the media has paraded horrific images of Isis fighters, Al-qaeda tapes, or Hezbollah revolutionaries across our TV screens. Bu

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

Understanding Brazil’s Present Day Quilombos: A Small Term for a Big Reality

During a conference in March 2012 on race and racism in Brazil, a Brazilian sociologist—and expert on affirmative action—posed a significant question about black rural communities in Brazil: “Those communities, do they actually descend from runaway s