Published January 19, 2011
by iris_author
On January 28-29, 2011, a new NGO - the Alliance Against Modern Slavery (AAMS) is celebrating its launch by bringing together international experts, government officials, law enforcement personnel, survivors of slavery and more to York University’s campus for a freedom concert and conference.
There are a staggering 27 million slaves in the world today. This number is equivalent to the entire population of Canada in the early 1990s. Slavery in the 21st Century is a $32 billion global industry on par with drug trafficking and illicit arms sales. While most nations have anti-human trafficking laws, enforcement is erratic and, in some countries, non-existent.
Public awareness of modern slavery is low, enabling traffickers to lure thousands of victims into forced labour situations. Canada, for instance, is a source, transit and destination country for human trafficking. According to the United Nations, an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked internationally each year, with as many as 17,500 people trafficked into the United States alone.
The vision of AAMS is to combat modern slavery in Canada by collecting resources, building programs, and creating alliances among a network of local and global partners so that every person has the opportunity for sustainable freedom. Co-founder, President and CEO Karlee Sapoznik says “Modern-day slavery is arguably the most underpublicized human rights crisis of our time. As a historian who studied the slave trade and the Holocaust, I was shocked to learn that practices that I thought died out centuries ago continue today. The more I learned about modern slavery, the more compelled I was to start doing something about it. The Alliance Against Modern Slavery targets this scourge on our society.”
The NGO’s launch on January 28-29 will bring together survivors of modern slavery, politicians, law enforcement officials, activists and academics.
On Friday January 28th AAMS will be holding a benefit concert to raise funds of this new NGO. Well-known President of Free the Slaves, TED Speaker and consultant to the United Nations Global Program on Human Trafficking Kevin Bales will be the keynote speaker along with survivor testimony by Natasha Falle and music by Kate Todd, Jeff Gunn, Janelle Belgrave, and Samba Elegua drummers.
The conference will feature presentations by Marty Van Doren (RCMP Human Trafficking Awareness Coordinator for Ontario), MP Joy Smith (Conservative – Kildonan – St. Paul, Manitoba), MP Glen Pearson (Liberal – London North Centre, Ontario – Video Message), Peggy Nash (NDP Federal President).
The Alliance Against Modern Slavery was created by graduate students in York University’s Department of History. Kevin Bales and Paul Lovejoy, an accomplished historian of slavery and director of the Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migrations of African Peoples, sit on the organization’s board.
For more information, or to schedule an interview, contact Karlee Sapoznik at (647) 637-6350 or babazada@yorku.ca;karleesapoznik@yahoo.ca
EVENT SPECIFIC INFORMATION
FREEDOM CONCERT
When: January 28, 7:00-10:00pm
Where: Sandra Faire and Ivan Fecan Theatre,
Accolade East Building, York University
Cost: $19 or $14 for students
Tickets can be picked up at the York University Box Office
Box Office Information: http://www.yorku.ca/perform/boxoffice.htmBox Office Phone Number: 416-736-5888.
Online Ticket Purchase: https://secure1.tixhub.com/yorku/procurement
SLAVERY IN THE 21st CENTURY CONFERENCE
When: January 29, 9:00am-5:30pm
Where: Founders Assembly Hall, Founders College,
York University
Register: http://allianceagainstmodernslavery.org/confreg
HELPFUL RESOURCES
Keven Bales’s talks at TED 2010: http://www.ted.com/talks/kevin_bales_how_to_combat_modern_slavery.html
Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migrations of African Peoples: http://tubman.apps01.yorku.ca/
Posted in: Events
