Category Archives: human trafficking

January 18, 2026 · 1:00 am

Chocolate

Chocolate fudge cake, Urban Diner, Edmonton, Canada, Author Mack Male (CC BY-SA 2.0 Generic)

Chocolate is a pure delight.  But there is a bitter truth behind the sweet taste.  Child labor is heavily involved in cocoa product [1][2][3].

Multiple human rights organizations confirm that over 1.5 million children in West Africa work under hazardous conditions to produce cocoa.  Many of these children are the victims of forced labor, human trafficking, and modern slavery.  They are deprived of an education, and exposed to dangerous chemicals and equipment.

This exploitation is ongoing despite the public pledges made by major chocolate companies over the past 20 years to eliminate child labor from their supply chains.  Some of the most recognizable chocolate brands still associated with unethical practices include:  Hershey’s Chocolate; Nestle’s Chocolate (Kit Kat, Butterfinger); Mars Chocolate (M&M’s, Snickers, Twix); Ferrero (Nutella, Kinder); and Mondelez (Toblerone, Cadbury). Continue reading →

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January 11, 2026 · 1:00 am

Literacy, Rousseau, and Unschooling, Part 2

We continue our examination of unschooling, a controversial educational philosophy praised on TikTok and elsewhere [1][2].

Literacy in the US

The current literacy rate in the United States is no more than 79% [3].  Most Americans can read at a 7th or 8th grade level.  Approximately 35 million read below a 6th grade level.

But 66% of 4th grade children cannot read proficiently.  Statistically, 2 out of 3 children who cannot read well by the 4th grade end up on Welfare or in prison.

One teacher recently lamented that 3rd graders do not know their parents’ names or phone numbers; do not know their home addresses; do not know the year they were born; cannot use a dictionary; cannot count physical money; and have difficulty following multi-step directions…all of which makes them enormously vulnerable to kidnapping and trafficking, not to mention difficult to teach [4].

Scientific Literacy

The issue of scientific literacy adds another layer of complexity.  A Pew Research survey found that many Americans can answer at least some questions about science concepts [5].  But other concepts are more challenging – and this in an age of explosive scientific growth.

Moreover, scientific literacy requires more than a simple knowledge of the facts [6]. It requires thoughtful analysis and judgment.  These are the same processes required for life decisions. Continue reading →

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January 4, 2026 · 1:00 am

Literacy, Rousseau, and Unschooling, Part 1

Little Red Schoolhouse, Talbot County, MD, Author Shopkins91, (CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported and GNU Free Documentation License)

Unschooling (to be distinguished from homeschooling) is a controversial educational philosophy which has gained rapid popularity online, and allows children to direct their own learning [1][2].  A rosy picture is painted of care-free learning, without pressure, stress, structure, or restrictions.

The assumption is that children pursuing only the subjects which interest them will learn more naturally and easily.  The corollary assumption seems to be that subjects of little immediate interest to them will be of no later use.

Some parents are not even teaching their children to read or write, and are actually proud of that fact.

The Rousseau Connection

Whether its proponents are aware or not, unschooling derives loosely from the writings of an 18th Century philosopher.   In his work Discourse on Inequality, Jean-Jacques Rousseau proposed that human beings in their “natural” state were inherently peaceful, egalitarian, and good.  They had simply been corrupted by civilization.

This idea has great appeal to those who believe wholeheartedly in Darwin’s theory of evolution.  It suggests that a return to Eden is possible, a return to innocence and union with nature.  All we need do is discard the trappings of civilization – trappings like law and formal education.

Unfortunately, this is nonsense, spiritually and otherwise.  Innocence and ignorance are not the same.

Literacy Highlights

Literacy has been prized by civilization for thousands of years [3].  We denote pre-history as such because literacy did not exist.  All knowledge had to be passed down orally. Continue reading →

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December 28, 2025 · 1:00 am

Editing the Human Genome

Double helix of DNA biochemistry, Author brian0918&#153 (PD)

Editing the human genome is no longer beyond the realm of possibility.  To the contrary, it represents the frontier of medicine, promising a golden future without heritable disease or genetic defects.  The question is:  at what cost to human rights?

Human genome editing takes two forms:  somatic genome editing (which modifies non-reproductive cells) and germline genome editing (which modifies reproductive cells, including sperm and egg cells, and can be passed on to future generations) [1A].

Somatic Gene Editing

Somatic gene editing is viewed as less controversial, since it cannot be passed on.  The United States, the United Kingdom, and China have all permitted clinical trials involving somatic editing to treat cancer, sickle cell anemia, and other genetic diseases [1B].

Germline Gene Editing

No country has yet approved germline genetic editing, although twins whose germline had been modified using the genetic cut-copy-paste technology known by the acronym CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) were born in China in 2018 [1C][2A]. 

A majority of the European Union has ratified the Oviedo Convention which prohibits heritable gene editing in humans [1D].  Germany, Canada, and Australia have adopted similar prohibitions [1E].  

There is a strong possibility that these bans will eventually be lifted for therapeutic purposes, though there is no current agreement on what qualifies as “therapeutic”.  There is an equal chance that access to germline genetic editing will at some point be characterized as a legal “right” [6A].

In the United States, law currently prohibits the use of federal funds on human germline gene therapy [2B].  However, there are no protocols or restrictions for human genomic engineering [2C]. 

Recently, a startup named Preventive was identified as attempting to engineer the first genetically modified baby outside China [3].  This is not surprising, since Do-It-Yourself CRISPR kits are actually available online [6B]. Continue reading →

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November 9, 2025 · 1:00 am

Where Are the Children?

“Two Children Abandoned in the Amazon”, Source/Author Raguilar1158, (CC BY-SA 4.0 International)

Though much vilified, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to open a dedicated Call Center to assist state and local law enforcement in locating hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied migrant children allowed illegally into the United States under the Biden Administration, children whose condition and whereabouts are now unknown [1]. 

More important than the immigration status of these children is their welfare which has not been adequately tracked, if at all.   Thousands upon thousands of children simply vanished.  

Whistleblowers have since exposed how the vicious scheme worked [2].  Under the auspices of trafficking cartels, children – some younger than 5 years of age, some sedated by melatonin laced gummies – arrived at the border with nothing but a phone number scribbled on their arms or clothing. Continue reading →

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September 14, 2025 · 1:00 am

Child Labor and Project 2025

A “doffer” boy at Globe Cotton Mills in Georgia (1909), Source Library of Congress, Author National Photo Company Collection (Digital ID npcc.19471), (PD)

UNICEF reports that some 138 million children worldwide were engaged in child labor in 2024, over a third of those in hazardous work [1A].

UNICEF defines work hazardous for children as “work that, by its nature or circumstances, is likely to harm children’s health, safety or moral development [1B].” 

  • Such work may take place under especially difficult conditions, involving long or overnight hours [1C][2A]. Often, it involves the use of or proximity to dangerous machinery, equipment, and tools. Agriculture and meat packing plants fall into this category.
  • Such work may take place in an unhealthy environment where children are exposed to dangerous substances or processes, or to extreme temperatures or noise levels [1D][2B]. Munitions plants fall into this category.
  • Such work may take place underground, underwater, at treacherous heights, or in confined spaces [1E][2C]. Mines fall into this category.

Usually, child labor interferes with a child’s right to play and to receive an education.  It may require strength beyond  a child’s capacity. 

Hazardous work is one of the worst forms of child labor, putting children at risk of permanent injury or death.  It includes, but is not limited to, anything that exposes children to emotional, physical, or sexual abuse [1F].

Federal vs. State Law

Federal laws to protect young workers were established by the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938 [3A].  

Shockingly, over the past 5 years some 28 states have introduced legislation to reduce protections for young workers [4A].  Twelve states have gone on to enact them [4B].  Iowa, for example, passed a law permitting 14 year olds to work on assembly lines and in meat packing plants, in direct violation of federal child labor laws [3B]. Continue reading →

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August 10, 2025 · 1:00 am

In the Company of the Elite

Jeffrey Epstein mugshot (2013), Source https://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/CallImage?imgID=1665905 (PD as work product of the State of Florida)

The scandal involving Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced former financier and convicted sex offender, has broadened to include a large number of powerful and well-known individuals [1].  Epstein (who trafficked young girls with the help of Ghislaine Maxwell) regularly kept company with politicians, filmmakers, journalists, scientists, comedians, intellectuals, and royalty.

We may be shocked to learn these names, and appalled at the behavior exhibited.  We should not be surprised that the so called “elite” suffer from the very same sin nature common to all mankind.  Wealth may disguise that fact; power may effectively keep secrets from the public.  But the stain remains.

Undoubtedly, there are varying degrees of guilt.  Some will claim they never knew what went on.  Others will claim they knew, but did not participate.  Still others will simply deny everything.

God knows the whole story, whether we ever will or not.

—

[1]  The Guardian, “Epstein scandal broadens as trove of letters from famous figures published” by Anna Betts, 8/5/25, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/05/jeffrey-epstein-letters-photos.

FOR MORE OF MY ARTICLES ON POVERTY, POLITICS, AND MATTERS OF CONSCIENCE CHECK OUT MY BLOG A LAWYER’S PRAYERS AT: https://alawyersprayers.com

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April 6, 2025 · 1:00 am

Light from Darkness, Part 2

“One Spring, Gurs Camp” (1941) by Karl Robert Bodek and Kurt Low, Yad Vashem Museum, Israel, Image courtesy of Yad Vashem Collection

WARNING:  Graphic Images

Abuse comes in many forms.  From 1933 to 1945 in Nazi Germany it was governmental, with the goal being complete extermination of the Jews [1].

The artworks comprising the Yad Vashem Collection were created by artists (Jewish and non-Jewish) between 1939 and 1945 to provide a living testament of the Holocaust [2A].  A hundred works from the collection were exhibited in Germany in 2016, just three years after the Alternative for Germany (AfD) was founded – a far Right party whose leader, Björn Höcke denigrated the Memorial to Murdered Jews of Europe [3][4].

Art in the concentration camps served simultaneously as a witness, a means of self-assertion, and an expression of optimism [2B].

The works are both heart wrenching and awe inspiring.  In “One Spring, Gurs Camp” (above), the barbed wire depicts imprisonment and loneliness.  The butterfly and the mountains in the background, however, suggest hope. 

One of the two artists who collaborated on “One Spring”, 28 y.o. Kurt Low, was released and able to flee to Switzerland.  The other, 37 y.o. Karl Bodek, was ultimately murdered at Auschwitz. Continue reading →

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March 30, 2025 · 1:00 am

Light from Darkness, Part 1

Margeaux Gray, Image courtesy of The Pixel Project

Margeaux Gray is a survivor of childhood sex trafficking, having been sold into slavery at the age of 5 [1][2][3].  She is, also, an artist who uses her talent both to convey the trauma of abuse and to honor the individual, no matter how broken. 

Ms. Gray advocates against all forms of abuse.  She mentors at-risk youth, speaks publicly about abuse, and confers with physicians and organizations about improving health care and social services for victims.   

Below are excerpts of an interview with Ms. Gray and images of her work:

“Human trafficking…thrives on the ignorance of family and the community.  I was sexually exploited and sold into sexual slavery by a man who had my trust and the trust of my family…I was not kidnapped or locked away in a basement.  My mom, sister, and aunt did not think twice about the two of us going out and doing things together.”

“Untitled” by Margeaux Gray at age 13, Image courtesy of AMA Journal of Ethics

“At around fourteen years old, I disclosed to a healthcare worker that I was being sexually abused.  This was before human trafficking was a definition.  It was reported to police.  After that the trafficking lessened, but continued.  I had an emotional attachment to the man who trafficked me. This is…referred to as traumatic bonding…It took four years for me to gain a greater understanding of the what had been and was continuing to be done to me.”

“A victim of slavery is a trauma victim and every survivor deals with trauma in different ways…Many victims…suffer with alcohol and drug addiction, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, and sexually transmitted diseases to name a few.”

“Universal Light, Nurture and Nursing” by Margeaux Gray, Image courtesy of AMA Journal of Ethics

“Art…was a strategic way for me to cope and find some freedom when I had little. Through my healing it has allowed me a way to process my emotions resulting from being trafficked. Today I use it as an extension of my voice.  I have specifically used visual art to educate, inspire, and empower others.”

Not all abuse victims are talented artists.  But the arts — writing, drawing, painting, music, theater — are a way to reveal the pain we have endured while reaching toward something better, something more. 

We need not become professionals to do this.  We need not even share the results of our efforts with others, if that feels too intimidating.  We need only allow the soul to express itself.

Even concentration camp victims have done this [4].  Because light is stronger than darkness.  And love is stronger than hate.

—

[1]  The Pixel Project, “Inspirational Interview:  Margeaux Gray – Part I”, 10/26/14,  https://www.thepixelproject.net/2014/10/26/inspirational-interview-margeaux-gray-part-i/.

[2]  The Pixel Project, “Inspirational Interview:  Margeaux Gray – Part II”, 10/27/14, https://www.thepixelproject.net/2014/10/27/inspirational-interview-margeaux-gray-part-ii/.

[3]  AMA Journal of Ethics, “Out of Darkness, Light:  Drawing and Painting by Margeaux Gray” by Margeaux Gray and Mary Richards, 1/19/17, https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/out-darkness-light-drawing-and-painting-margeaux-gray/2017-01.

[4]  Yad Vashem Collection, “Art from the Holocaust”, January 2016, https://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/art/index.asp.

This series will conclude next week.

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June 16, 2024 · 1:00 am

Twitter and the Mainstreaming of Porn

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Bronze_Satyr_with_Phallus%2C_Naples_Archaeological_Museum.jpg
Satyr with phallus, Naples Archaeological Museum, Italy, Source https://www.flickr.com, Author Tyler Bell (Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic)

Pornography – printed or visual material containing the explicit description or display of sexual organs or activity, intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings.

–Oxford Dictionary

X, the social media platform f/k/a Twitter, has formally changed its policy to allow so called “adult” content [1].

Actually, Twitter has long tolerated adult content, i.e. pornography and graphic violence.  Reuters reported two years ago that made up fully 13% of the platform’s content [2].

This change is purportedly meant to make the platform’s rules more transparent.  In reality, it is intended to attract more users by attracting more content “creators” (a term which now includes pornographers).

Porn as an Industry

Tragically, X is not alone in mainstreaming the sexual exploitation of women and children.  Once a relatively small niche market, pornography has in recent years become an established, technologically sophisticated, multi‐billion‐dollar industry [3].

The pornography industry is closely related to organized crime, since child pornography is illegal in many countries [4A].  The crimes associated with it can include kidnapping, sexual assault, and murder.

But home video equipment and computers have greatly assisted pedophiles in the production and distribution of child pornography.

A Shift in Values

The growth and acceptance of the pornography industry reflect a serious crisis of values [5].

It used to be that individuals purchasing obscene or salacious material were embarrassed at being seen with it.  No more.  Standards of decency have been radically revised.  Pornography has been normalized, and is discussed openly. Continue reading →

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