Egg Donation - Another form of human trafficking?

While we were in Franskraal I decided to buy a Cosmopolitan magazine, (Cosmopolitan, January 2016, volume 32, number 11), for beach reading. One of the articles in the magazine was on how women in South Africa mostly aged between 18 - 25 years old are getting exploited for the eggs. When I read this I was like "Pardon?" 

The article started the same as most of the stories that I've read about people getting exploited. They made a friend who told them about this opportunity. In this situation is was how you as a women could earn some extra money by donating your eggs. This "market" has grown from the increase in couples who can't fall pregnant wanting babies. The increase in safe abortions and people using contraceptives have decreased the number of children up for adoption. When I read this, I was like where are people looking to adopt. There are thousands of children world wide who want forever homes through adoption.

To jump along in the story, you've been told about an amazing opportunity to donate your eggs in Indai for a free holiday, while donating your eggs. The first step of the process is to give you hormones so that you start producing more eggs than the one you naturally produce a month. The second part of the process is where the eggs get removed from you. In situations like this, you are given way to many hormones and produced too many eggs for your body, which has then been extracted from you. This is harmful to your body and illegal. Legally only  certain number of eggs may be donated over a certain number of months and you can't be paid for donating eggs, (can't be paid for human life).

I read this article after I had just finished going through Dressember and reading up on human trafficking. Is this another form of human trafficking? Women are being lured by free luxuriant holidays and the only thing they need to do is donate some eggs. Little do they know they're going to be donating a lot eggs, being exploited to satisfy a demand for something without knowing the dangers of it.  Just a thought...

xKx

Dressember 2015

It's the final day of Dressember, and I have been "dressing" it up. It's been pretty great putting on a dress every morning knowing that for
this month when I get dressed it's more than just a dress I am wearing. It's also a great way to remind myself that everyone has a right to freedom no matter their age, sexuality, sex, culture, religion or socio-economic status.





Since starting Dressember on the first of this month I have learnt so much about what human trafficking is and how bad it really it. Before this month I knew of human trafficking and that it was bad but now I know so much more about it, as well as  which organistations in South Africa are working against it to bring freedom to victims. One of the main things that stuck out to me during this campaign is how we can do something to help with what we have. The person who started this a few years ago used a dress - it's what she had in her hand. I thought that I would use my blog to help create awareness, it's what I had in my hand. I really do hope that it does help create awareness of humn trafficking.

 

xKx

Human Trafficking - Red Light SA

It's day 28 of Dressember, and I have been "dressing" it up. It's pretty great putting on a dress every morning knowing that this month when I get dressed it's more than just a dress I am wearing. It's also a great way to remind myself that everyone has a right to freedom no matter their age, sexuality, sex, culture, religion or socio-economic status.

The Red Light Anti Human Trafficking Initiative is an NGO based in Durban that not only creates awareness of human trafficking but helps to rehabilitate rescued people. This initiative was started in 2009 when a group of young adults after watching a movie on human trafficking decided to do something to help. They used what they had in their hand - the ability to make jewelry and to teach people how to do it as well to impact people who were trafficked in some way.

This victims who have been rescued from trafficking make jewelry out of wood to show that they are not forgotten. This is not only a way of creating awareness of human trafficking but also a way of restoring dignity to the people who make the jewelry.

 I think this picture, (above) says it all when it comes to how this initiative is helping people - click on it to make it bigger. 

xKx

Human Trafficking - Organ Stealing

It's day 22 of Dressember, and I have been "dressing" it up. It's pretty great putting on a dress every morning knowing that this month when I get dressed it's more than just a dress I am wearing. It's also a great way to remind myself that everyone has a right to freedom no matter their age, sexuality, sex, culture, religion or socio-economic status





Whenever I thought of human trafficking my mind automatically jumped to thoughts of  people being sold for sex or forced labour. Recently I've discovered that people also get "trafficked" for their organs. The word "trafficked" here doesn't mean the person gets sold to someone who then removes their organs. When someone is "trafficked" for their organs it means they have been exploited for their organs.

There is a HUGE black market for organs because more people need organ transplants than their are organs available. transplants and organs available for transplant.  There is also a huge poverty problem in the world and some people will do anything, including sell an organ to get some money to change their situation. Organs get harvested from poor people or people who are desperate for some money to be sold to people who are desperate to receive an organ transplant. The black market often has a "broker" who sells the organs to people who want them.  These "brokers" are reported to be sneaky in how they obtain organs for people.

The most popular organs that get removed are kidneys and liver. All other organs can also be removed even if they end up killing the person for the organ, such as the heart. Organ trafficking happens in three ways.

1. Victims are forced to give up their organs.
2. Victims sell their organs but are not paid as they were promised. They either receive less than agreed on or not at all.
3. The person is told they have something wrong with them and they receive treatment for this false illness, when they don't seem to get better the organ is removed.


Health 24 posted an interesting article called The dark world of Internet kidney trafficking. You can read more about it here.

xKx

STOP Trafficking of People

It's day 18 of Dressember, and I have been "dressing" it up. It's pretty great putting on a dress every morning knowing that this month when I get dressed it's more than just a dress I am wearing. It's also a great way to remind myself that everyone has a right to freedom no matter their age, sexuality, sex, culture, religion or socio-economic status.

Stop Trafficking of People is a Christian organision based in Stellenbosch that helps create awareness of human trafficking. They have also partnered with various organisations to help combat human trafficking in South Africa. Their mission is to educate, warn and protect South Africans against this global phenomenon called human trafficking in order to prevent South Africa from becoming a human trafficking hot spot.

They create awareness by creating training material and various other resources that gets handed out to different groups of people from teachers, care-givers and parents. They can then use these packs to educate the children and adults they teach and even the people round them about human trafficking.  Another way they create awareness is with media, which is one of the quickest ways of reaching people now a days because we all have access to TV, radio and the Internet where adverts can be placed, or even short articles to make people aware of this.

Stop Trafficking of People have joined with law enforcement organisations to help combat human trafficking, as well as various other organisations, (such as Straatwerk, Justice Acts, Salvation Army, National Freedom network),  where they work together to combat this huge issue in the world. They have also started safe houses so that when someone has been rescued they have a safe place to go and stay and get rehabilitated back into society.

xKx

Human Trafficking in South Africa

It's day 9 of Dressember, and I have been "dressing" it up. It's pretty great putting on a dress every morning knowing that this month when I get dressed it's more than just a dress I am wearing. It's also a great way to remind myself that everyone deserves to be free and not to be exploited.





According to People Search And Rescue Unit, (PSARU), South Africa is a source, transit and destination city for human trafficking. South Africa In 2013 the Prevention and Combating of trafficking in Persons Bill was signed by Jacob Zuma. Before this bill was in place the statistics of how bad human trafficking in South Africa was hard to find because people were tried for sexual exploitation. The Children's Act also has a portion that covers the trafficking of children specifically. Both theses Acts provide protection for victims and support for them to overcome their traumatic ordeal. 


Besides putting the Act into place, South Africa had a round table discussion earlier this year with various stakeholders on how to prevent human trafficking, as well as setting up a human trafficking desk in the organised crime department to help combat human trafficking. You can read more about the discussion here.

I think one of the main ways that South Africa can help to combat this is by creating awareness through educational programs, campaigns and by advertising it to the country.

xKx

A21

 It's day six of Dressember, and I have been "dressing" it up. It's pretty great putting on a dress every morning knowing that this month when I get dressed it's more than just a dress I am wearing. Some people in my office have already asked why I've been wearing dresses every day. This creates the awesome opportunity to share with people why I'm doing this and to tell them about Human trafficking and what I am discovering about it this month.

I first heard of A21 a few years ago when I went to watch a movie about how a couple, (I think) tried to help a little girl who had been kidnapped/stolen by someone who had then sold them to a guy who would then sell them to men to be used by them. I don't think I had really heard of human trafficking until then come to think about it.

Since watching that movie I have discovered A21 an organisation that fights against human trafficking, which was founded by Christine Caine. Christine Caine is a phenomenal women who lives for Jesus, as well

A21 works with law enforcement to rescue women, children and men who are stuck in human trafficking, as well as help prosecute traffickers. Once they have rescued them they put them in safe houses and help rehabilitate them, unit them with their families and help them to be new, whole people again. They also create awareness of human trafficking in numerous ways through walks against trafficking, (some of the members of our church participated this year in one).  I've been handed a flyer at the station once telling me about the things they do. They also ask people to partner with them by volunteering with them or just spreading the word so people hear about human trafficking.

xKx

Dressember

On Saturday a friend of mine was telling me about Dressember and asked if I would be interested in doing it. In a nutshell it's where you commit to wearing a dress every day throughout December. I was like "Yes, I would LOVE that" and the girly girl inside of me jumped up and down at the though of wearing a dress ALL the time for a month.

I then did some research into Dressember and discovered a whole lot. Dressember was started by a lady who wanted to do more with what she had in her hand - dresses. She started creating awareness and raising funds for an organisation involved with freeing people from human trafficking. Here's more of her story on You Tube  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGuTpWTcSE8

I was challenged by this and not because I have LOTS of dresses or that I love wearing dresses and thought "I could commit to wearing every dress I own this month" but because human trafficking is something that strikes a cord in my heart. I believe that no human being should be sold or trapped in slavery. I then began to wonder how I could create awareness and not just by wearing a dress because if I wear a dress most people consider it normal. I have decide to blog about I through out the month of December. My topics will include facts on human trafficking, organisations out their to help and a few posts of the dresses.

I'm pretty excited to do this and to learn more about stopping human trafficking this month.

xKx