Bringing an End to Modern Day Slavery

Slavery still exists today.

In fact, there are more slaves today in 2013 than there ever were during the Atlantic Slave Trade from 1500-1800.  During that time, it's estimated that close to 12 million were transported across the Atlantic to slavery in North and South America.  Today, there are 27 million slaves around the world (Source: Free the Slaves).

Modern day slavery is, by far, one of the most pressing human rights issues of our time and something people from all walks of life need to be aware of and understand in order to end it.


What is Human Trafficking?

Human trafficking exists in virtually every country in the world, including the US, and is one of the fastest-growing criminal industries.  The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) defines trafficking in persons as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons through the threat or use of force, coercion, abduction, fraud, or deception for the purpose of exploitation.  Exploitation is defined as the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, servitude, or the removal of organs.

Under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), the various types of sex trafficking include "prostitution, pornography, stripping, live-sex shows, mail-order brides, military prostitution, and sex tourism."

What's important to note is that, under the US definition of trafficking in persons within the TVPA, the transportation or the physical movement of the victim does not need to happen in order for the crime to occur.  It is, rather, the presence of exploitation that dictates whether or not the crime has occurred.  This means that not only are there foreigners trafficked from Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, to Los Angeles, but there are also Angelenos forced into exploitation in our own backyards.    


Human Trafficking Statistics

• Human trafficking is a $32 billion industry (Source: International Labour Office)
• About 1.2 million children are trafficked every year (Source: UNICEF)
• 43% of victims are forced into commercial sexual exploitation, of whom 98% are women or girls (Source: International Labor Organization)
• 14,500 - 17,500 people are trafficked into the US annually (Source: US Dept. of State)
• 244,000 - 325,000 American youth are at risk for sexual exploitation (Estes & Weiner, 2001) ¹
• California is one of the top 3 destination states for human trafficking to and within the US ²
• California has 3 of the FBI's 13 highest child sex trafficking areas in the nation: Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego ³
• The average age for entry into street prostitution in America: 12-14 years old ⁴

The Solution

So how do we go about ending modern day slavery?  Here are three ways to do so:

1. Awareness
• Many Americans do not know that modern day slavery exists here in our cities and backyards.  It happens in Los Angeles, Seattle, Houston, Minneapolis, NYC, and many other US cities.
• Learn about the issue of human trafficking, how it happens, and why it exists.
2. Rescue + Shelter 
• Give generously to organizations fighting on the front lines in our cities and around the world:
• Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST) [LA]
• Saving Innocence [LA] 
• Real Escape from the Sex Trade (REST) [Seattle]
• Restore NYC [NYC]
• Agape International Mission (AIM) [Cambodia]
• International Justice Mission (IJM) [Africa, Latin America, South Asia, SE Asia]
• If not financial support, volunteer your time as these organizations always need help
3. Kill the demand
• Human trafficking is a business—a highly profitable business.  The engine that drives this business is the sheer demand for cheap commercial sex and cheap labor.  Because of an overwhelming demand, traffickers are jumping onto the opportunity to supply.  In order to end human trafficking in the long run, we need to make human trafficking a risky and unprofitable business.  
• As any business student would know, the best way to make a business close up is to reduce profitability or to cut the revenue stream.  Siddharth Kara in Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Day Slavery suggests the best way to do this is to increase the costs of operations, which forces traffickers and brothels to work on smaller profit margins or increase prices.  When prices increase, demand will decrease.  With fewer people purchasing, revenue streams are undermined.  If it's more profitable to open up a bakery in Bangkok or a coffee shop in LA, these traffickers will close up shop and open up bakeries and coffee shops.       
• The other side of this coin is to address the free men of the US and the world: men do not buy women.  If all the free men embraced this and kept other men accountable, then we would see less men visiting brothels, strip clubs, and engaging in sex tourism.  If men don't show up at gentlemen's clubs or massage parlors in LA, then those businesses will close up, which translates into closed up businesses further upstream in the supply chain (traffickers).    

U+G is setting up its area of operations in killing the demand.  We're on a two pronged front: (1) strategically partnering up with organizations that are moving in to the most poverty stricken areas to provide jobs and education to the most vulnerable to trafficking and (2) using our position as a fashion company in the US to grab the attention of city and national populations and directing them towards this mission of ending modern day slavery.

Get involved—especially during a day and age where people are more concerned about their rights than their responsibilities.  It's never too late to be a voice for the voiceless and a source of freedom, strength, and safety for the oppressed.       

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<sup>1. Estes, R., & Weiner, N. (2001).  The commercial sexual exploitation of children in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania.↩
2. WEAVE, Inc.  Facts about Human Trafficking↩
3. US Department of Justice. (2009)  The Federal Bureau Investigation's Efforts to Combat Crimes Against Children↩
4. Shared Hope International. (2009) The National Report on Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking: America’s Prostituted Children↩</sup>

Why did we switch names?

Did any of you notice the new name?

For those of you just joining us, we used to be Gallant Suits and are now Urbane + Gallant.  Here's why we switched:

1. we want to be a brand that sells a lifestyle and not just a product
2. we want to go beyond just suits

The more we progress together as a team in optimizing our company to make the most impact in the fight against human trafficking, the more we realized that social enterprises, such as ours, need to go beyond just selling a product.  That's basic stuff for a social enterprise.  Instead, what we at U+G really want to see is a sweeping transformation in culture and how people view the issue of modern day slavery, in general, and how men view women, in particular.  But how do you change a culture?  It's through a changed lifestyle. 

As men realize that they are part of the problem of the global sex trade and then are provided with a way to be a part of the solution, men are slowly going to live their lives differently, in a way that gives to this world instead of taking from it.

U+G is providing this opportunity for men to get onto a unit and fight alongside one another to accomplish a mission: ending the demand for the global sex trade.  That's a worthy mission for men of all ages to go after.  If you, men, begin to realize just how prevalent modern day slavery is in our backyards in the US and how painful and wretched it is for those trafficked, you will want to do something about it.   That's the change in lifestyle we're looking for. 

When men want to do something about the demand for commercial sex in LA, for example, that continues to bring women from Mexico, South Korea, SE Asia, and Eastern Europe and other US states, a lifestyle changes and a change in culture is in progress. 

Why the words Urbane + Gallant?

These two words capture perfectly the essence of this company and what we're trying to do.  Let's look at their definitions.

Urbane
adj.

1. (of a person, especially a man) reflecting sophistication, courtesy, and cultured and refined tastes
2. comes from the Latin word urbanus, which means "belonging to a city"

Gallant
adj.

1. brave, heroic; fighting for the freedom and protection of others
2. (of a man or his behavior) giving special attention and respect to women; chilvarous

noun

1. a dashing man of fashion; a fine gentleman

We want men to reflect characteristics of an urbane, gallant man—a man who is well tuned to the things going on in the world around him and uses his strength and abilities to fight for the freedom and protection of others, in general, and to respect and honor women, in particular.  All this while also enjoying fashion and having the opportunity to dress presentably and well, as the women of this world will all appreciate.

In addition, the Latin root word, urbanus, captures our love for the city and understanding of how much power cities hold to do good.  You see, culture is dictated by the cities of a nation, not in the suburbs or the rural towns.  In the US, culture is dictated by what is produced and created in dense metropolitan cities, such as LA and NYC.  In Korea, it's Seoul.  In Italy, it's Milan.  In England, it's London.  It is from these cities that culture can be changed, and that is why we strategically housed ourselves in LA and Seoul.  It is from these two cities we're going to proclaim our message of hope to victims of human trafficking and proclaim our rallying cry for the men of the cities to embark on a mission to change the lives of thousands of people for the better.  It is also in these cities we find the biggest stars of entertainment in music, film, and sports—the people who dictate what culture is, what a man is or isn't. 

We're incredibly excited to have this scope of vision and mission laid out in front of U+G because the more we succeed and do our job well, the more lives we get to change.  There's nothing more motivating and fulfilling than that.