Stars shine to fight human trafficking and promote human rights

Performers Stacy Francis and James Barbour opened a memorable evening at the home of actress Anne Archer and her husband, sports producer Terry Jastrow, in Brentwood to raise awareness and funds for the growing problem of human trafficking in the United States. The gourmet dinner for a select one hundred and twenty guests was co-chaired by Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca and his wife Carol. Over $50,000 was raised for Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI), the beneficiary of the evening, for their 2006 world tour and education program called 30 Days – 30 Schools – 30 Rights. YHRI combats human trafficking by teaching youth around the world the rights guaranteed under the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Besides entertainment, the evening consisted of video presentations on the growing problem of human trafficking and the work of Youth for Human Rights International around the world.

Human trafficking is a crime in which victims are moved from poor environments to more affluent ones and the person being trafficked, usually a woman or a child, is obtained by force, fraud, or deception for the sole purpose of exploiting them economically such as in prostitution or forced labor. Screenwriter for the acclaimed TV mini-series Human Trafficking, Agatha Dominik, provided a five minute clip of the series as well as startling statistics about the growing prevalence of the problem which she termed “modern slavery.” Although not able to attend, she provided a moving statement read by Anne Archer which disclosed that there are now 20,000 women and girls enslaved in the United States and that over 800,000 individuals annually are smuggled across international borders for such economic gain. Human trafficking is now the second most profitable criminal industry in the country behind drug trafficking.

Mary Shuttleworth, a native of South Africa and founder of Youth for Human Rights International, spoke about her work to teach youth human rights. She said that children and adults are powerless to fight human trafficking if they don't even know they have these rights.

To facilitate this education, Youth for Human Rights with the assistance of the Human Rights Department of the Church of Scientology published a booklet in nineteen languages entitled “What are Human Rights?” Hundreds of thousands of copies have been distributed across five continents. They also produced the award winning human rights music video “United” which has now won nine international awards including the Grand Jury Award at the New York International Film and Video Festival and the Best Human Rights Film at the Italian Taglia Corto International Film Festival. Over the last five years, it is estimated that 70 million people have been reached by YHRI programs.

For 2006, Youth for Human Rights International will be conducting their third world tour where they will be visiting 30 schools in 15 cities around the planet to disseminate their human rights education program. A primary element of the tour is a series of 30 second human rights public service announcements for television that focus on each right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The first three announcements are now running on five continents.

“Human rights is a vague, even non-existent concept for most of the world’s population. Establishing human rights, promoting them and protecting them are among the most difficult and enduring tasks of our time.” says Mary Shuttleworth. “As L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the Scientology religion, stated: 'Human rights must be made a reality.' That is what we are working towards.”