Jammed True Stories: of human trafficking: Child workers are easy to find in cocoa plantations

THE JAMMED TRUE STORIES OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING BLOG

The aim of this blog is to uncover and present TRUE STORIES of Human Trafficking and debt bondage in all its forms. We are seeking stories of victims "jammed" in slavery, of perpetrators of this crime, stories of efforts to help victims; of individuals moving to change policy, and stories of misguided efforts to help that have done further damage … in the hope that the telling of these personal stories will highlight the reality and complexity of this heinous practice, and shed light on the need for action on many fronts. Our vision is to finance this project through sponsorship and donations so that we can make the films freely available to everyone, everywhere for advocacy, campaigning, education and calls to action.

Following on from the feature film THE JAMMED we intend to select a series of stories from those posted on this blog, and produce a dramatised series of short stories

THE JAMMED is a feature film inspired by court transcripts about sex slavery and deportation in Australia - (www.thejammed.com). The number of women and children trafficked into sexual servitude (slavery) and debt bondage is impossible to quantify, but it is estimated that between 700,000 to 4 million people are trafficked around the world annually for sexual exploitation.

This is a call for your stories.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Child workers are easy to find in cocoa plantations

Meeting the 'chocolate slaves'

By Humphrey Hawksley BBC, Mali

The morning Malian sun was so severe that it cast on the white-washed wall stark shadows of the four children sitting upright and bewildered on a bench.
A fan cooled sweat from their faces. Its breeze blew a sheet of paper off the table. One of the children helpfully ran after it and handed it over to the woman looking after them.
"We are like your parents," she told them gently. "Whatever is here belongs to you."
One of the boys buried his face into his cupped hands, the relief was so great. The oldest was 13. The youngest, 10.
"What happened to you?" I asked.
Kidnap attempt
"I was playing football," said Karim Sadibe. "This man said I should come with him to the Ivory Coast. He would sign me up for the national team and I would get lots of money and that I shouldn't tell my parents."
Karim went, but luckily was intercepted by police. The man who was to have sold him into slavery - probably for about £50 - melted away.
Karim was sent back to Mali, to a centre run by Save the Children Fund, Canada. All of that had taken place within the past week.
Next door was 20-year-old Moussa Doumbia. He slipped off a freshly pressed pink shirt to reveal welted scars where he had been made to carry sacks of cocoa until he managed to escape two years ago.
At night he slept on the floor in a locked room. He was given food once a day. If he complained, he was beaten. The boys who tried to escape had their feet cut with razors.
"I don't know how one human being can treat another in the way they treated me," he whispered.