Human trafficking is lurking around every corner. It’s a threat we hear about, but may not always see or experience firsthand. Don’t let the lack of personal impact fool you, however, because the industry is real and it’s frightening–just ask Lia Valerio, co-founder of Malia Designs and creator of Stop Traffick, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization formed to raise awareness and stop the trafficking of women and children around the world.

After serving in the Peace Corps in the South Pacific Valerio “fell in love with Cambodia,” and says despite the tragedy the country had been faced with, “their warmth and openness was and always has been a source of inspiration.”

Valerio’s initial trip introduced her to the country’s textiles, as well as various fair trade organizations helping denigrated groups earn and retain income. Inspired by what she learned, Valerio teamed up with best friend and former business partner Maria Forres Opdycke to come up with a way to import goods from Cambodia and support the causes of these organizations.

Fuelled by their “love for travel and a desire to create a business that was socially responsible, sustainable, and mission based,” in 2005, with absolutely zero “real fashion experience,” Malia (Lia + Maria) Designs was formed.

Deeply impacted by the human trafficking she witnessed while in Cambodia, eradicating the ravages of this multibillion dollar industry became the heartbeat of their business. “We formed Malia with the belief that one way to counteract this global issue is to increase access to economic opportunity in the most affected areas,” Valerio says. Although Opdycke has moved on from Malia Designs, Valerio credits the current co-owner and marketing director, Lucia Ruth, for continuing to keep the dream alive.

Employing primarily at-risk women and disabled workers who have been affected by polio or land mines, Malia Designs is helping to provide normalcy to individuals otherwise stigmatized due to their disability. She’s proud to be “providing secure and stable employment to some of the most marginalized,” while also creating a true sense of community among the employees. Offering mentorship and other resources for the artisans and their families, has become “a true culture of empowerment.”

“By providing an alternative source of income for marginalized women, Malia Designs can lessen the likelihood that these women will be re-victimized or become victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation or Trafficking.,” says Valerio. “Not only does this transform the lives of these women, but their children as well. Since the very beginning, our primary mission has been to provide this source of income to our artisan partners—lessening their vulnerability and empowering them to break the cycle of poverty.”

The philanthropic branch of Malia Designs, Stop Traffick, was created as “a grassroots effort to raise awareness and funds for the fight against Human Trafficking in Cambodia and Chicago.” Since 2009, four years after the business was formed, the non-profit organization has held a yearly fundraiser in an effort to raise money for worthy organizations that aid trafficking victims in the areas mentioned.

Among those organizations are Damnok Toek a Cambodian NGO. Valerio describes them as being Cambodian run and focused on working with vulnerable children and their families. “They run amazing programs at a very grass roots level and over 1,500 children benefit from these programs on a daily basis,” says Valerio.

In addition to fighting for a worthy cause, the entirely handmade accessory and handbag business also relies heavily on sustainability. Slow, fair-trade production is where the focus lies. Like the product designs themselves, the process is organic. Local to the region of production, Valerio says “almost all of the materials we work with are recycled or upcycled.”

Sharing details about the unique textiles, Valerio says, “We work with recycled feed bags that previously held a grain that is fed to farmed fish, recycled cement bags that are so pervasive they line the streets of Phnom Penh, and the base materials for our screen print line are up-cycled out of the leftover or end-of-bolt fabric from the garment factories in Cambodia.”

Manufacturing handbags, wallets, scarves, belts, aprons, and more, the accessories are not only friendly to humans and the environment, but they’re attractive and practical, too. Ranging from boho to contemporary, her designs appeal to a range of customers, with bags that are perfect for all seasons.

Valerio recommends the screen print line for fall. Customer favorites include the large and small messenger bags, as well as the new dragon print and release of the highly anticipated backpack. Whether you prefer the signature elephant pattern, or the cement bag collection, featuring durable and water resistant materials perfect for wintry or rainy conditions, you simply can’t go wrong when the products are as beautiful as the cause they support.

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India’s handmade carpet industry has been exploiting people for decades, with no repercussions for the brazen use of child labor to produce the country’s number one export. So what’s being done to put a stop to these cruel and inhumane practices? 

Sugarcane, tobacco, cocoa, and clothing are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to industries in which children are being exploited for their labor. And although many of these sectors have been on the radar for quite some time, there may be one that surprises you. Those beautiful, handmade rugs from India that you’ve been pinning like crazy to your living room decor board have also been an unfortunate part of that list of tainted goods. With knowledge of such abuse dating as far back as the early 1990s, it has been difficult to reform largely in part because India is the world’s largest exporter of hand crafted rugs.

In case you’re not fully familiar with what child labor means or entails, the International Labor Organization defines it as “work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development.” Furthermore, “in its most extreme forms, child labor involves children being enslaved, separated from their families, exposed to serious hazards and illnesses and/or left to fend for themselves on the streets of large cities – often at a very early age.” Sadly, this has become the picture of the handmade carpet industry in India.

According to The Harvard Crimson, in 2014, a report deemed “the largest ever first-hand investigation into slavery and child labor in India’s handmade carpet sector” was released by Harvard University’s François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights. Its author, Siddarth Kara, who is an adjunct lecturer on public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School as well as a fellow with the FXB Center, sent out a team of anonymous researchers into suspected regions in order to uncover the abuse directly, thereby refuting various claims that child labor, including slavery and child abuse, had been resolved in this particular industry.  

In the report, the allegations were at once appalling and eye-opening. Over 3,200 cases of various forms of child abuse, child labor, and slavery were documented beyond the customary “Carpet Belt” and into nine other states across northern India. The researchers were also able to trace the tainted carpets from the point of manufacture to the point of sale in the United States.

Although this doesn’t begin to scratch the surface so much as it does to summarize it, the team uncovered the following conditions along the way:

• Workers started as young as 8-years-old.

• The average work day was found to be 10 to 12 hours, six to seven days a week.

• There were 1,406 cases of child labor found, with an estimated 20 percent industry prevalence.

• There were 2,010 cases of bonded labor (a pledge of labor in exchange for security of repayment of debt or other obligation), with an estimated 28 percent industry prevalence.

• Some 286 cases of human trafficking were uncovered, with an estimated 4 percent industry prevalence.

• As many as 2,675 cases were discovered in hand-knotted carpet production, and 540 cases in the hand-tufted sector.

• Not surprisingly, 80 percent of loans in bonded labor cases were taken for basic consumption.

• In addition to the above findings, a “New Carpet Belt” of child labor, human trafficking, and “numerous cases of children being bought and sold into outright slavery” were also uncovered.

Many times, the conditions in which these children are forced to work are so destitute, that they have been described as subhuman. Per The Harvard Crimson: “Factories and shacks were cramped, filthy, unbearably hot…filled with stagnant and dust-filled air, and contaminated with grime and mold. Some sites were so filthy, pungent, and dangerous that the researchers were afraid to enter due to the risk to their safety.” Desperate, alone, and afraid, these children are exposed time and time again to the deep, dark, depths of inhumanity with no hope in sight.

Aside from awareness, which Kara and his team have so excellently raised, what else can be done to remedy the atrocities from India’s the handmade rug industry?

Conscientiousness is of the utmost importance, and education on the issues from other resources is essential before potentially spending your money on an item that directly contributes to the abuse and exploitation of minors. GoodWeave, a nonprofit organization that aims to “stop child labor in the carpet industry and to replicate its market-based approach in other sectors” is a great place to start. It offers current statistics, ways to campaign, updates on progress, and resources on where to purchase GoodWeave certified rugs that are guaranteed to be child labor-free.

It will take more than just a village to really abolish such abuses. Every purchase counts, so remember make yours meaningful.

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Image of Children’s Hands via Shutterstock

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Passionate about putting an end to human trafficking, Noor Tagouri is one young woman who is using fashion to shine a light on such a dark reality.

Often referred to as modern day slavery, DoSomething.org estimates that there are between 20 and 30 million people enslaved in the world today as a result of human trafficking.

Let that sink in for a second.

In addition to that statistic, the U.S. State Department is also reporting that 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year, of which 80 percent are female and half are children. Children. 

And what’s even scarier than the numbers are the things these individuals are forced to do. According to the NHTRC (National Human Trafficking Resource Center), “traffickers use force, fraud, or coercion to control victims for the purpose of engaging in commercial sex acts, or labor services.” The sex aspect of trafficking may involve forcing women and minor children to work in “residential brothels, escort services, fake massage businesses, strip clubs, and street prostitution,” says the NHTRC. Furthermore, labor trafficking has been found in a variety of settings, including fashion production, as well as large farms, factories, small businesses, and domestic work.

Based on recent findings from the NHTRC, some of the highest reported incidences of human trafficking are happening in California, Texas, and Florida, which for many of us, may hit very close to home. With these epidemic-size proportions in our own backyards, it’s paramount that we put an end to such a frightening, devastating, and heinous violation of freedom and human rights. Although it may seem daunting based on the sheer gravity of the situation, every little bit of care, awareness, education, and activism helps.

Enter Noor Tagouri.

Currently on a quest to become the first hijab-wearing Muslim newscaster in America, this fearless female also has another cause that’s near and dear to her heart. Tagouri collaborated with clothing brand Lis’n Up to create a product line named after her campaign #LetNoorShine that will benefit Project Futures and the victims they help by donating 50 percent of the profits to the charity. Project Futures “is a not for profit organization working to end human trafficking and slavery by empowering individuals to take action in their communities,” with funds supporting victims and survivors through prevention, support services, and empowerment.

Tagouri said, in a piece she wrote for The Huffington Post, that she was inspired by “art, poetry, empowerment, and enlightenment,” especially since her first name, Noor, translates to “Light” in Arabic. Her goal was to create a visual representation of the cause with words and symbols, essentially “turning the people wearing the clothes into walking conversation starters.” Also inspired by the late American street artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and his quote, “I cross out words so you will see them more,” the collaboration between Tagouri and Lis’n Up resulted in a design that features the word “GIRL” crossed out so that they may “see our girls more.” The line is a limited edition collection consisting of shirts, hoodies, beanies, caps, and a varsity jacket, of which only 100 will be made, some of which are already sold out.

With hopes that this clothing will “take a step forward in forcing people to have that uncomfortable conversation of what is really happening to millions of our girls, from objectification, to the buying and selling of bodies for sex,” we’d say she’s doing a pretty great job. The line is modern, wearable, affordable, hip, and thanks to a thoughtful and thought-provoking spoken word piece written by Tagouri, it’s also very inspiring. On the back of every shirt and hoodie reads the following:

The Noor Effect

To ignite the blazing fire that is our girls.

Replace barcodes on bodies with those on books.

You can never sell her soul but society can profit from her thoughts.

Enlightenment and education to break free from the shackles of objectification.

She is a force to be reckoned with.

No longer held back because she has a voice and a passion.

She belongs to no one but herself.

Listen to her. Learn from her. Love her.

And there will be Noor.

With serious and widespread problems like human trafficking, we can’t expect to see results overnight, but we can talk to our loved ones and share the importance of safety and awareness. Until “our girls,” as Tagouri puts it, are kept safe from harm, the next best thing we can do is to help out in our communities and be able to recognize the signs of human trafficking. Check out the NHTRC’s guide on how to identify red flags and indicators of human trafficking. If you see something – say something! Share your thoughts with us regarding this sensitive issue on the EcoSalon Facebook page.

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Image of #LetNoorShine Clothing via Lis’n Up Clothing

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