Stop Sex Trafficking of Children & Young People Launch

Child Wise, The Body Shop and Blue King Brown yesterday launched our Stop Sex Trafficking of Children & Young People campaign outside our Bourke Street store. It was a fantastic event - check out the photos - if you can't see them below click here.



Here's a Video shot by Kevine Rennie:

If you can't make it to a store, please sign our petition online.

Help us by spreading the word on Facebook too!

Below are some comments already left by people signing the petition online. We are blown away!

• It is great to see The Body Shop with a campaign against human trafficking....Well done!
• I love what you guys do for the world - keep up the good work!
• Keep up the great work, this is a fight that needs to be won...
• Increase sentences for offenders!!!!!!!
• What are ways i can join and help promote this ?
• I purchased some of this cream last time when it was first campaigned and it is beautiful
• I think that this is a great cause and one that the Australian government should support without reservation!
• Thank you for running this campaign, showing once again that business has a heart and can play a pivotal role in solving our generations greatest problems!
• I love the fact that The Body Shop is not too scared to tackle the hard topics!!
• Hi, I think it's so great you're helping in the fight against human trafficking! More power to you. I hope this petition makes a difference.
  
• Well done. I hope the Government is as pro active with this topic as you are and they should be
• This needs to stop Right now!! this should not been going on in Australia or anywhere for that matter. this is wrong in so many ways.
• If this saves one child, one family, plus extended family and friends, then it will be great, if it saves more families etc. the same tragic misery then it will be even greater.
• Some things in life are tolerable and something like this is not and nor should it be.
• Penalties in Australia for child abuse need to be stricter.
• Sex trafficking of children and young people is a very serious matter i have 2 children and 1 on the way this matter is very concerning to me being a mum and back the Body Shop 100% regarding this serious matter.
• Well done. People who traffic children and other people are appalling! The ones who create the market are even worse!
• Thank you for organising this petition and campaign. I like how you are thinking about a "crimestoppers" type thing. It's often easy to spot wrong-doing, when overseas, but not easy to know: what to do about it or whether anything will be done once reported.
• Congratulations for supporting campaign, you can count me in!
• This is horrific to hear and I am all for supporting this cause and putting an end to this!!!!
• I support this 110 percent. No one has the right to make this decision for any child or human. I hope this filth is stopped we need to protect our beautiful children....
• It's a horrific thought that so many children are exploited in this way every year. Their lives are stolen simply for the financial benefit of monsters? Your organisation deserves all the support it can achieve. Thank you for providing one way for people to support the fight.
• It is great to see a company that really cares
• This trade of exploitation should not be happening in a modern world.
• Adults should be protecting the children, not abusing them!
• Great campaign Guys keep up the great work xxxx
• I will gladly sign this petition. There needs to be more done about this. It makes me sick!
• You guys have stood up for Australians and everyone else in need around the world, I am truly humbled to be a part of this cause.
• Our children, the future generation and caretakers of our World for the next generation after them, are too precious to allow these atrocities be perpetrated against them - for God's sake, protect them and keep them safe.
• good on you for speaking up about this
• keep up the good work! These children NEED a voice.
• I recently traveled to Asia, where the issue of child sex slavery is everywhere and blatantly in your face. Why isn't the Australian government pressuring there countries to protect children from traffickers and Australian tourists?!
• Awesome campaign, more than happy to help in any way!
• I'd like to see more advertising done on this issue. It's unacceptable what is happening to children around the world and lucky Australians should not be turning a blind eye.
• Australia needs to pressure governments in other countries to do more to end this atrocity!
• This is a huge issue that the Australian government should be doing more about
• Thank you for trying to do something about this.
• really awesome that you guys are organising this :)
• This is a great campaign!.....Does any of the funds raised go towards ongoing counseling for the victims?
• Sex trafficking of children and young people is very wrong and I am happy to support the prevention of it. :)
• I am a peaceful person ... forgiving and caring ... but something needs to be done about the predators who create this demand!!!!!
• Thank you for working toward ending this horror.
• i commend the body shop.children are little human beings who we should protect,not abuse.the worst kind?is sexual abuse.rape.molest.torture.its all the same.get rid of it.
• love the body shop. This campaign is excellent, we should all stand up against sex trafficking of children and young people.
• We owe it to these children to prevent these perpetrators from causing great suffering and humiliation.
• For the young innocent women and children of this world who are meant 2 be our future.It is up 2 us as a nation,a people 2 sustain a universal responsibility for the protection of young women and children around the globe.
• Children have the right to be young, safe and innocent. They deserve a reasonable childhood just like every other person- it's not fair for them at all!
• Great campaign. It is horrific to think that this all still happens.
• What a great campaign, many people would not be aware this is happening so close to home

ECPAT: Fighting against online child pornography

Check out the latest video from ECPAT France, demonstrating how consumers of child pornography are to blame for Child Sex Trafficking. We're very excited to be launching our Stop Sex Trafficking Campaign across Australia in just a few days. Make sure you visit one of our stores to check it out!

Beat the winter blues with The Big Issue's winter edition 'Toasty Tales'

The Big Issue’s much-anticipated, annual short story edition is back from this Friday 16 July – bigger and better than ever.

Featuring a mix of Australian and international award-winning writers, this year’s edition will see an eclectic mix of stories including a tale of an infamous old explorer taking history to task; a young man enduring a harsh legacy; four Beijing sophisticates getting some unexpected home help and a lone traveller finding a moment of connection in the company of strangers.

The Big Issue 2010 Fiction Edition Editor, Melissa Cranenburgh, said this year’s edition would showcase contemporary fiction from not just Australia’s best and brightest, but from across the globe, including Toni Jordan (whose debut novel Addition was long-listed for the Miles Franklin award), Christos Tsiolkas (winner of the Australian Literary Society Gold Medal for The Slap), Linda Jaivin (bestselling author of nine books), and acclaimed international author, Michel Faber (author of the award-winning novel, The Crimson Petal and the White, a bestseller in the USA, Italy, France, Holland and Belgium).

“There’s so much great content, including some of the popular regular features, that we had to stretch this issue an extra eight pages,” Ms Cranenburgh said.

With a readership of more than 154,000 per fortnight, this year’s edition will be one of the most widely read fiction magazines in the country.

“At a time when other general-interest, current affairs and entertainment magazines are folding, The Big Issue is not only alive and well – it’s growing; literally,” Ms Cranenburgh explains.

“Readers will be treated to a high quality literary publication, as well as the knowledge that they are helping homeless and marginalised Australians earn an income.”

Author Toni Jordan, says she is delighted her story will be appearing in this year’s Fiction Edition.

“The Big Issue Fiction Edition is one of my must-reads every year, because it’s the perfect combination of the authors I love now, and the up and coming writers I’ll love in the future,” Ms Jordan said.

Up-and-coming writers featured in the edition include Patrick Allington, Oslo Davis, Emmett Stinson, Samuel Rutter, Karen Hitchcock and Romy Ash.

Readings in Carlton, Melbourne, will host an evening with authors Shane Maloney, Emmett Stinson and Sam Rutter on Wednesday 21 July at 6.30pm. Entry is free. Bookings appreciated: editorial@bigissue.org.au.

Meet Srey Neth - Cambodian Sex Trafficking Survivor

In July 2010, in support of the Child Wise and The Body Shop ‘Stop Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People’ petition launch, Srey Neth will visit Melbourne and be accompanied by Summer Twyman, a social worker and carer who has worked closely with her and will provide her with support on the trip.

Srey Neth (pronounced "Night") is a survivor of sex trafficking. At the age of 14, she was sold by her mother for $300 into the sex trade.

After being rescued, Neth began the long road to recovery and entered the Transitions Global program in 2006 (Transitions Global empowers survivors of sex trafficking with the opportunity to heal and recapture the most basic of human rights: freedom and hope).

Srey Neth excelled in computers and English - initially wanting to become a teacher. In 2008, she decided that she wanted to use her experience to create awareness about sex trafficking and help other girls that have been trafficked.

She then became the survivor spokesperson for Transitions Global.

In 2009, Srey Neth began to pursue a career in yoga and has since become a licensed yoga teacher. Neth teaches classes at a local yoga studio and teaches yoga to disadvantaged children, where she is an inspiration and an example of the survivor spirit.

Srey Neth hopes to travel and speak on behalf of Transitions Global and help in the fight to restore the lives of trafficking victims in Cambodia.

Watch Srey Neth’s harrowing story below.

Transitions Global Survivor Shares Her Story from Transitions Global on Vimeo.

Click here to go to our campaign launch invite on Facebook.

Register now for the 2010 RSPCA Cupcake Day!

By Rachel Muraca - Customer Service


Grab your mixing bowl, dust off your chef’s hat and get ready to bake up a storm for the RSPCA because Monday 16 August 2010 is Cupcake Day. Last year 350,000 cupcakes were baked around the country and this year the RSPCA is hoping that even more people take part in this yummy fundraiser.

Getting involved in Cupcake Day is deliciously easy. Head to www.rspcacupcakeday.com.au – it's free to register and there are loads of great recipes, tips and party ideas, or download ‘The Ultimate Cupcake Day Guide’ for the best Cupcake Day ever!

Last year $1.1 million was raised across Australia and this year the RSPCA is hoping to raise $2.5 million but they need your assistance. “Every year the RSCPA cares for over 155,000 animals and as we receive less than 2% of in government funding, we rely on the community to continue,” said RSPCA NSW CEO Steve Coleman.

To help the RSPCA continue their fight against animal cruelty please Choose Wisely and bake cupcakes only using eggs from RSPCA Approved or cage-free farming systems. This way you’re raising much-needed funds for the RSPCA and helping to get hens out of cages too! And the cherry on top is that for every $100 raised online you’ll receive an entry into the draw to win two Kymco Scooters (valued over $7,500)*.

Help the RSPCA make Monday 16 August 2010 the sweetest day of the year. If you can’t be involved on this date, you can still hold your Cupcake Day Party at anytime during the month of August 2010.

Register now at www.rspcacupcakeday.com.au and help the RSPCA continue their fight against animal cruelty.

*Please visit the website for terms and conditions.

ASYLUM SEEKER MYTH BUSTER 2010

25 KEY FACTS TO HELP STOP THE FREEZE ON HUMAN RIGHTS FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS

Here are the myths... make sure you find out the truth before the next election!

MYTH 1: We no longer have children in detention centres.

MYTH 2: We no longer have many asylum seekers in detention centres, now that there is a Federal ALP Government.

MYTH 3: It makes good financial sense to keep Christmas Island open to process asylum seekers.

MYTH 4: The ALP Government invests an equal amount of money in caring for asylum seekers in the community, as it does to keep asylum seekers in detention.

MYTH 5: Australia is being flooded by asylum seekers coming by boat and has lost control of its borders.

MYTH 6: Australia is one of the most generous countries in the world when it comes to the number of refugees we accept into our country.

MYTH 7: The freezing of the processing of Afghan and Sri Lankan asylum seeker cases is lawful.

MYTH 8: Asylum Seekers in the community receive four times the income from Centrelink that Australian Aged Pensioners do.

MYTH 9: The majority of asylum seekers come by boat to Australia.

MYTH 10: Australia takes its fair share of the world refugees and displaced people.

MYTH 11: Australia already takes too many refugees.

MYTH 12: Asylum Seekers are placing Australia at risk of an unsustainable population boom.

MYTH 13: Australia is being flooded by asylum seekers compared to other Western Countries.

MYTH 14: We have more people seeking asylum by boat due to ALP being soft on asylum seekers.

MYTH 15: Australia gets more asylum seekers than other Western Countries.
MYTH 16: Australia is experiencing an unprecedented increase in the number of people seeking asylum by boat.

MYTH 17: Australia is being swamped by Refugees from Afghanistan.

MYTH 18: The ALP Government has ended the Pacific Solution that the Howard Government created.

MYTH 19: There is no difference between the ALP and the Liberal Party when it comes to their policies on refugees.

MYTH 20: We have a more generous refugee and humanitarian program under the ALP Government than we did under the Howard Government.

MYTH 21: Asylum seekers are illegal immigrants.

MYTH 22: Asylum seekers don't need to come all the way to Australia, they could stop in another country along the way.

MYTH 23: We are seeing more people coming by boat because of a softening of our border protection policy.

Myth 24: Asylum Seekers who come by boat from Indonesia just don't want to wait their turn in the queue.

MYTH 25: People seek asylum in Australia to get access to government support and live the good life here. Asylum seekers who can afford to come by boat are economic migrants.

Get the facts!

Everything you need to know about solar energy

By TBS Activist Contributor Barbara Young.

Image via. Barbara writes about solar power on her personal web site 12voltsolarpanels.net. Her work is centered on helping people save energy using solar power to lower CO2 emissions and energy dependency.

What is solar energy?

Solar energy is radiant energy which is produced by the sun. Daily the sun radiates, or sends out, an incredible quantity of energy. The sun radiates more energy in a single second than people have used since the beginning of time!

The energy of the Sun comes from within the sun itself. Like other stars, the sun is a big ball of gases––mostly hydrogen and helium atoms.

The hydrogen atoms in the sun’s core combine to create helium and generate energy in a process called nuclear fusion.

During nuclear fusion, the sun’s extremely high pressure and temperature cause hydrogen atoms to come apart and their nuclei (the central cores of the atoms) to fuse or combine. Four hydrogen nuclei fuse to become one helium atom. However the helium atom contains less mass compared to four hydrogen atoms that fused. Some matter is lost during nuclear fusion. The lost matter is emitted into space as radiant energy.

It requires an incredible number of years for the energy in the sun’s core to make its way to the solar surface, and slightly over eight minutes to travel the 149.6 million kms to earth. The solar energy travels to the earth at a speed of 300,000 miles per second, the velocity of sunshine.

Only a small percentage of the power radiated by the sun into space strikes the earth, one part in two billion. Yet this amount of energy is enormous.

Every day enough energy strikes the USA to supply the nation’s energy needs for one and a half years!

Where does all this energy go?

About 15 percent of the sun’s energy that hits the planet earth is reflected back to space. Another 30 percent is used to evaporate water, which, lifted into the atmosphere, produces rainfall. Solar energy is absorbed by plants, the land, and the oceans. The remaining could be employed to supply our energy needs.

Who invented solar energy ?

People have harnessed solar energy for hundreds of years. As early as the 7th century B.C., people used simple magnifying glasses to concentrate the light of the sun into beams so hot they would cause wood to catch fire. Over 100 years ago in France, a scientist used heat from a solar collector to produce steam to drive a steam engine. At first of this century, scientists and engineers began researching ways to use solar power in earnest. One important development was obviously a remarkably efficient solar boiler invented by Charles Greeley Abbott, a united states astrophysicist, in 1936.

The solar hot water heater came into common use at this time in Florida, California, and the Southwest. The industry started in the early 1920s and was in full swing just before The second world war. This growth lasted until the mid-1950s when low-cost natural gas became the primary fuel for heating American homes.

People and world governments remained largely indifferent to the possibilities of solar technology until the oil shortages of the1970s. Today, people use solar power to heat buildings and water and to generate electricity.

How do we use solar power today ?

Solar energy is used in several different ways, of course. There are two simple kinds of solar energy:

• Solar thermal energy collects the sun's warmth through 1 of 2 means: in water or in an anti-freeze (glycol) mixture.
• Solar photovoltaic energy converts the sun's radiation to usable electricity.

Listed below are the five most practical and popular techniques solar energy can be used:

1. Small portable solar photovoltaic systems. We have seen these used everywhere, from calculators to solar garden products. Portable units can be utilized for everything from RV appliances while single panel systems can be used traffic signs and remote monitoring stations.
   
   
2. Solar pool heating. Running water in direct circulation systems via a solar collector is a very practical method to heat water for your pool or hot tub.
   
   
3. Thermal glycol energy to heat water. In this method (indirect circulation), glycol is heated by natural sunlight and the heat is then transferred to water in a hot water tank. This technique of collecting the sun's energy is more practical now than in the past. It can pay for itself in 36 months or less.
   
   
4. Integrating solar photovoltaic energy into your home or office power. In numerous parts on the planet, solar photovoltaics is an economically feasible method to supplement the power of your own home. In Japan, photovoltaics are competitive with other types of power. An increasingly popular and practical method of integrating solar energy into the power of your home or business is through the usage of building integrated solar photovoltaics.
   
   
5. Large independent photovoltaic systems. If you have enough sun power at your site, you may be able to go off grid. It's also possible to integrate or hybridize your solar power system with wind power or other types of renewable power to stay 'off the grid.'

How can Photovoltaic panels work ?

Silicon is mounted beneath non-reflective glass to produce photovoltaic panels. These panels collect photons from the sun, converting them into DC electrical power. The energy created then flows into an inverter. The inverter transforms the power into basic voltage and AC electrical power.

Photovoltaic cells are prepared with particular materials called semiconductors for example silicon, which is presently the most generally used. When light hits the Photovoltaic cell, a particular share of it is absorbed inside the semiconductor material. This means that the energy of the absorbed light is given to the semiconductor.

The energy unfastens the electrons, permitting them to run freely. Solar power cells also have more than one electric fields that act to compel electrons unfastened by light absorption to flow in a specific direction. This flow of electrons is a current, and by introducing metal links on the top and bottom of the -Photovoltaic cell, the current can be drawn to use it externally.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of solar power ?

Solar Pro Arguments

• Heating our homes with oil or gas or using electricity from power plants running with fossil fuels is a reason for climate change and climate disruption. Solar energy, on the contrary, is clean and environmentally-friendly.
  
  
• Solar hot-water heaters require little maintenance, and their initial investment can be recovered within a relatively short time.
  
  
• Solar hot-water heaters can work in nearly every climate, even in very cold ones. You just have to choose the best system for your climate: drainback, thermosyphon, batch-ICS, etc.
  
  
• Maintenance costs of solar powered systems are minimal and the warranties large.
  
  
• Financial incentives (USA, Canada, European states…) can reduce the price of the first investment in solar technologies. The U.S. government, as an example, offers tax credits for solar systems certified by by the SRCC (Solar Rating and Certification Corporation), which amount to 30 percent of the investment (2009-2016 period).

Solar Cons Arguments

• The initial investment in Solar Water heaters or in Solar PV Electric Systems is greater than that required by conventional electric and gas heaters systems.
  
  
• The payback period of solar PV-electric systems is high, as well as those of solar space heating or solar cooling (only the solar domestic hot water heating payback is short or relatively short).
  
  
• Solar water heating do not support a direct combination with radiators (including baseboard ones).
  
  
• Some air conditioning (solar space heating and the solar cooling systems) are expensive, and rather untested technologies: solar air conditioning isn't, till now, a truly economical option.
• The efficiency of solar powered systems is rather dependent on sunlight resources. It's in colder climates, where heating or electricity needs are higher, that the efficiency is smaller.

The Big Issue Turns 14

On a crystal clear and chilly June morning on the steps of Flinders Street Station in Melbourne fourteen years ago The Big Issue was officially launched in Australia. Graeme Wise, then Director of the Body Shop, and now patron of The Big Issue launched the initiative to a sea of cameras and journalists for national broadcast.

It was on the 12th of June in 1996 that twenty homeless people living on Melbourne’s streets were set to don The Big Issue vest and start earning an income on the streets. These vendors had been living rough for some time and had finally been given an opportunity to make a serious change in their lives.

The Big Issue team in the early days was ambitious and hopeful about sales in Melbourne based on the success of the UK model. However, stereotypes of someone who was homeless being either a drug addict or a “dero” eroded public perception, and as a result sales didn’t quite meet expectations – initially.

Over the years, The Big Issue continues to educate Australian’s about issues surrounding homelessness and marginalisation to break down those stereotypes. Gemma, the Victorian State Manager, Vendor Support says: “Everything has changed for the better, the way the organisation is run, the quality of the magazine and more people know about it … back then it was so hard to get sales.”

Another challenge that The Big Issue faced in the 90s was encouraging vendors to sell. Kirstie, who has worked in vendor support from day one in Melbourne, says: “We would go down on a bus with a packet of cigarettes and walk the line at Sacred Heart Mission to encourage the guys to sell, and put them back on the bus after dinner … things are a little different these days.”

Fourteen years later, The Big Issue has supported over 3,500 homeless and marginalised Australian’s and currently works with 350 vendors on a national scale. The Big Issue readership has now soared up over 20% to 154,000 readers (Roy Morgan Readership Survey, 2010) while circulation is 30,000 nation-wide.

With four innovative and national programs now underway, The Big Issue is a driving force behind social change in Australia, and has come a long way from its humble beginnings in 1996. When asked what the biggest achievements have been along the way, Kirsty comments: “Seeing a difference in the vendors is what we are here for, that is the real accomplishment in my eyes”.