Ep. 49: Nancy Hartwell - Understanding and Combating Human Trafficking

Somewhat coincidentally with this week’s episode, I came across this article written by the late Alex Tizon, a Pullitzer prize winning journalist entitled “My Family’s Slave”. In it, Tizon describes how his parents effectively kept a woman against her will to cook, clean and take care of his family. This falls squarely under the modern definition of slavery.

This week, we delve into the topic of human trafficking and modern slavery. It is a topic that is sobering but important. It also mind-boggling to learn that that are some 25-30 million slaves currently in the world.

My guest is Nancy Hartwell. Nancy is an American author, translator and playwright. She has written three books on human trafficking. Nancy first became fascinated and horrified with this topic several years ago whilst she was living in Cameroon (Nancy lived there for fourteen years and has worked and travelled extensively across the globe). This was prompted when an acquaintance of hers, a German woman in her early twenties, mysteriously disappeared. It was later revealed that she was sold into the sex trade in the Persian Gulf.

Since then, Nancy has been collecting stories on human trafficking which she eventually turned into three books – two fiction and one non-fiction. She has also examined the various aspects of human trafficking in the modern world. In this conversation, we discuss:

• What human trafficking is;
• The scale and scope of the problem;
• The different forms of human trafficking and modern slavery;
• Why governments are not doing enough;
• Ways in which we can help combat the problem;
• How to protect our children and loved ones from human trafficking

Show notes:

Nancy's website: www.nancyhartwell.com 

Nancy's ecourse on human trafficking: http://www.nancyhartwell.com/ecourse.html 

Nancy on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nancy.hartwell.71 

Nancy on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-hartwell-2806318/ 

Nancy's books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nancy-Hartwell-Enonchong/e/B00J20KGAI/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3?qid=1495408466&sr=8-3 

The Madeleine McCann case: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Madeleine_McCann 

US State Dept. Report on Trafficking in Persons 2016 - https://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2016/ 

"15 Ways You Can Fight Human Trafficking" on the US State Dept website - https://www.state.gov/j/tip/id/help/ 

"My Family's Slave" by Alex Tizon - https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/06/lolas-story/524490/ 

The CNN Freedom Project Report on Mauritania: http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/category/mauritania-slaverys-last-stronghold/ 

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