I wrote this article while we were in Los Angeles attending the 2nd Global Forum on Human Trafficking. As you probably know, STOPstart, our largest supplier (handbags and recycled bags) employs women who are survivors of human trafficking - primarily sexual slavery. But human trafficking is not just a Cambodian problem. It is truly a global issue with virtually every country "involved" as an "origin", "destination", and/or "transit" point. It involves an estimated 30 MILLION men, women, and children who are enslaved worldwide. The vast majority of these "modern slaves" are in debt bondage. How did they get enslaved? Remember the old Tennesee Ernie Ford song "16 Tons"? The chorus ends "I owe my soul to the company store". Like the company store, the slave's debt-holder has stacked the deck so that each day the debtor gets "another day older and deeper in debt". Here in the US we have laws about predatory lending and bankruptcy protections, but not so in other countries. The lender holds the power and enforces his control with brutality.

Many who find themselves in this situation had already been poor but "getting by" until some circumstance of life forced them to borrow money from a lender. The circumstance could have been a family illness or a failed crop. It may have been a debt inherited from a parent or grandparent. It might have started for a sum as small as $10. But the debt-holder now "owns" the debtor; he has "rigged" the system such that the debt can never be repaid but the debtor is forced to work for him until it is.

This is why KVI believes so strongly in working with our suppliers to develop sustainable businesses. Most of them are individual artisans who are vulnerable to the potential of such economic bondage. POVERTY is the major factor in making people vulnerable to all forms of human trafficking. It can lead a desperate parent to sell one child in order to provide for the others. It can entice a young woman to accept the (false) promise of a job or education in a distant city. It can force a person to borrow money at usurious interest rates. All of these situations can occur because the desperate individuals don't have (or don't see) ANY other options. That is why we desire to combat poverty by helping to create conditions where people can provide for themselves using the talents they have. So little can go so far in combating the scourge of human trafficking.

And YOU participate with us when you purchase these products and when you share the stories behind the products. When you give these products as gifts, YOU get a chance to share the stories and so do the recipients. From all of us ~ KVI AND our suppliers ~ please accept our heartfelt Thank you!