The Story of Sriy

By Yumna Abbas

“We say that slavery has vanished from civilization, but this is not true. Slavery still exists, but now it applies only to women and its name is prostitution” was expressed by Victor Hugo as he referred prostitution to slavery.

Sriy, a thirteen year old girl living in Cambodia, is one of tens of thousands of children in Asia, who are slaves, working in a house of prostitution, commonly known as brothels. Every time she giggled, you could see her beauty of sparkling eyes and white teeth, her laughter drowning out the grunts, moans and cries of a pornographic video a few feet in the distance.

As the brothel owner, a woman in her late twenties, who paid a great deal of money to buy Sriy, walked towards her, she enthusiastically offered Sriy to an interested customer while emphasizing a great deal on her features. The owner was not about to settle the deal with a ten dollar fee and explained to the customer that “she only just lost her virginity” and therefore was worth much more than ten dollars since she would have a very low chance of giving her customers AIDS. What the customer, that was about to buy Sriy, didn’t know, was that Sriy was sold into prostitution two years ago.

In an attempt to sell Sriy, the owner pulled Sriy’s dress downwards to show her left nipple. Sriy is forced to undergo these humiliations, as well as ten customers every night. Sold by her stepfather to a brothel, which then sold her to the brothel she is currently in, she is labeled as the brothels owners’ property. She will most probably work until she gets AIDS from being abused everyday. If she makes any efforts to escape, she will be without a doubt caught, brutally beaten, possibly starved and locked inside her room and will still be forced to have sex with many more customers a night.

A brothel nearby to where Sriy is currently staying, was burned down. It was then discovered that two girls, whose bodies where found in the ruins of the brothel, had shown signs of wanting to escape and were, therefore, locked up in rooms, never allowed out, while being forced to have sex with whoever sent into their rooms.

Europeans assisted North Americans in constructing child prostitution trade in Asia. Due to the partnership of the local owners of the brothels along with the Westerners, the internet notifies sex tourists that Cambodia has children for sale and that "a 6-year-old is available for US$3.00"

References: Nicholas D. Kristof, The New York Times

Believe in Zero

Over the last 50 years, UNICEF and its partners have helped reduce the worldwide child mortality rate by more than 1/2. Much of that success is recent—the result of tried and true lifesaving interventions and programs perfected in more than 150 countries. Four years ago, 25,500 children died every day from preventable causes. Today that number is 22,000. That's 2,000 fewer than just one year ago.

But it also means that 8 million children are not reaching their fifth birthday every year. Worse - they are dying of preventable causes and treatable diseases. And the majority of those deaths are concentrated among the poorest 20% of households in the developing world.

UNICEF Ambassadors Tea Leoni, Mia Farrow, Alyssa Milano, Laurence Fishburne, Joel Madden and others proclaim their belief in zero: a day when no children die from preventable causes. Visit www.ibelieveinzero.org to track their progress.

Believe in Zero Video

International Children’s Day and a Barefoot Challenge

It's International Children’s Day June 1st, and to celebrate the occasion, Bilaal Rajan is asking ALL people around the world to go barefoot – everywhere – to raise awareness about child poverty throughout the globe.

People throughout the world are getting involved and are participating in this Barefoot Challenge. I want to thank each one of you who are ready and willing to go barefoot for the children of the world.

At Bilaal's school, four months ago, he promised to have his head shaved on behalf of the school that raised the most funds for the earthquake relief efforts in Haiti. It was Lakefield which took that goal to heart and raised the most. So besides going without shoes, he’ll be without hair as well.

I just want to urge all of you to go barefoot tomorrow (June 1). Get ready to kick off those shoes for the children of the world. To really know someone, you have to walk a mile in their shoes – or without them all together!

- Bilaal Rajan “Together We Can Make A Difference”

Human Trafficking: Am I Not Human?

The silent, vicious underbelly of world society has supported the slave trade of women, and children for the purposes of forced prostitution and unpaid labor to and unforgivable degree of depravity and length of time, but it's voice has been largely ignored by a media that would rather give coverage to under-garment revealing mishaps of famous personalities, and propaganda designed to generate political support for various profit-generating efforts and/or smear campaigns aimed at political parties that completely distract and direct mass attention away from important issues impacting our world.

While we enjoy the fruits of our labors - though admittedly many of us struggle to enjoy even that, there are voiceless people who have been reduced to slaves, hidden by a corrupt secret market that exploits the innocence of those who have found themselves alone and vulnerable, or who have even been sold to it by their own families.

Fortunately there are voices who refuse to be silenced, and share vital information with the masses who think for themselves and seek news that informs rather than brainwashes, or dumbs down the intellect.

A film documentary entitled 'Call and Response' has been created to bring to light the devastating effects of the evils in this hidden slavery system that has found itself widespread from the West to the East. Created by a musician who happened upon the horrors of sexual slavery during a celebratory weekend, this film is intended to wake us up to the realities that very real, very innocent children and individuals in general are facing in society - even in the 'Free World'.

The trailer for the Call and Response, below, may be shocking for some.



We hope you'll spread the word about this film, join the mailing lists of sites that focus on undoing this harmful system so you can participate in action alerts, and pray/meditate for a world that holds precious: 'the right to exist' peacefully.

On behalf of the children and individuals subjected to Modern Day Slavery we ask:



Here are three websites you can visit to be place on mailing lists, and inform yourself about actions you can take to help undo this epidemic:

• www.EndHumanTrafficking.org
• www.NotForSaleCampaign.org
• www.humantrafficking.org

Roots of Humanity is a blog focused on raising awareness on important human rights issues. Their motto is Raise Awareness: "Let's remember what makes us human and empower it in a world that has forgotten compassion and reality." Learn more by visiting the Roots of Humanity Blog where you can subscribe to their email updates.

Signs of Hope

By Mozafer Rajabali

As a teenager living in a developed country, it is really difficult to understand what most children face in their day-to-day lives. With International Children’s Day approaching, it is very essential that those of us who have some time and the capacity to do something about it, because a small step can take us a long way. We tend to forget that these children are mobbed of their chances of enjoying their youth with time for sports, fun, and have to surrender to living a subsistence way of life.

Not only do we need to start organizations created by the youth in today’s generation, we have to employ them to be put to good use. Last year a series of events since 2003 began an ambitious effort by students at the University of Guelph to raise money towards HIV/AIDS in Lesotho. Dr. Anne-Marie Zajdlik initially wanted to raise $1 million for the Tsepong Clinic, however only halfway through her battle did she receive support from many students at the University, thus a new goal was born – to raise $150 million. This will be enough to stop the transmission of HIV/AIDS throughout the whole of Lesotho. The power of the youth here is hard to mouth, almost impossible to define. Initially, the students along with Dr. Anne-Marie came up with the idea of hiring a group of South African women to make 5,000 red and white beaded bracelets and sell them on their campus. They named it the Bracelet of Hope, which is today being promoted all of Canada, and will in the future; achieve the goal of providing better healthcare in Lesotho alone 1.


If today’s youth, including myself, would come forward and promote such issues – we could save the world! The best place to start would be by helping those who are so dear and yet so far away from us, the deprived youth of many developing countries. A colleague of mine raised a good point once in a heated debate, that the media and the stereotypical view of youth in developing countries is that they are deprived of necessities, commonly live in huts, don’t attend school, and if they do they use chalkboards and so on and so forth. Although this is true, it is only so to a certain extent. Many developing countries have computers; some even have one per student!

It is astounding at times that a lot of people can close their eyes and blindly believe what they want to believe, rather than what they need to. At the same time, there is a great need to establish support for those who are living in the direst of circumstances. Awareness of the positive aspects of many poorer countries, especially in Africa has to be created. In this way ignorance will be removed, and thus a better understanding of how we as the youth of today, are interdependent will increase.

There are big initiatives out there, which promote a better lifestyle for children. What we have to realize, as today’s youth, is that this change not only has to occur for those in need, but for those who have to extend their hand in providing the need. If the latter group can show initiative, we can be a great success. Present day examples like the Grameen Bank, which at its root is set out to help people, more so women and children, are exemplary.

I would like to see more youth who are capable leaders, to step into such fields with the plain intention of sincerely helping and reaching out. More importantly we need adults to provide incentives for the youth to do so, because otherwise ignorance will prevail and the mindset of many youth will be somewhat selfish, if not totally selfish.

As International Children’s Day is here, we have to acknowledge the role of children and youth in our lives, let them play an integral part of it, and promote a more interdependent society. At the same time the children have to be congratulated at wherever they stand, and reminded of how they have so much more than their international compatriots.

Mozafer Rajabali is a high school student who wants potential to be recognized in the most deprived of countries.

References: 1 “Bracelet of Hope”, hope.student-reach.com. 30th May 2009. <http://hope.student-reach.com/bracelet.html>