Back to Real Life

After having a few weeks to be unwillingly distanced from my experience in San Franciso, I've had the chance to describe my experience to close friends and family. Good news: Many of my friends and family members want to know how they can become a moral and wise consumer. However, my training was less focused on the supply chain and more geared toward the identification and reporting of potential human trafficking activity. I can give more advice to those who live in a high probability location than I can to my friends who just want to be sure their purchases are not supporting modern slavery.

However, here's what I can tell you:

• Download and use the Free2Work (free2work.org) on your phone to see the rating for companies you buy from often. If they have a D or an F, I urge you to cut them out of your spending. All of these companies were notified of their rating before it was published, to give them an opportunity to change or appeal. If their rating is still a D or an F, they refused to comply.
• Pay attention the news, social media, and current events; if a big name company is caught using forced labor and the story breaks, it will be everywhere. Do not give your money to companies who are using forced labor. 
• Spread the word. When you come across a brand or company with a bad rating or labor scandal, tell the people you know. Most everyone you know is also a moral human being who doesn't want to support modern slavery. 
• Don't think this doesn't happen here! Labor trafficking is very real in the United States, and even in South Carolina. The people most at risk in our area are illegal immigrants, particularly in jobs related to domestic work (cleaning or childcare), hotels and tourism, construction, and restaurants. When you frequent places like this, be OBSERVANT and LISTEN.
• Sex trafficking is also alive and well even here; those most at risk in our area are young adults and teenagers, particularly coming from povetry-stricken and low-educated areas, who fall prey to what appears to be an easy and glamorous job advertisement on the internet or an older, doting boyfriend or girlfriend. It's true that females are more likely to be victims of sex trafficking than males, but it is not exclusive by any means.
• Please, contact me or get involved with NotForSale and Free2Work to learn more!