27 Million Slaves Project

Modern-day slavery is all around us. From young girls trafficked around the world to be sex slaves, to the children working in the cocoa fields, to those toiling in sweatshops and produce fields, to even the dishwashers at your favorite restaurant – we are surrounded by those who have been forced into servitude. They live in fear – used and abused by their owners and taken advantage of by those of us who benefit from their services. We see the products they produce everyday, but they themselves remain in the shadows – their slavery hidden from the world.

My friend Carl knows that simply exposing the slavery in the world today and raising our collective awareness of the issue is the first step in helping bring it to an end. Abolition starts with information. So he has proposed a project to visually tell the story of modern-day slavery to the world. -

I want to help raise awareness to the fact there are more slaves today than ever in history by starting an open-source photography project to combat the horrors of slavery as it exists today.

I want to travel to the countries that are the major sources of slavery to document what the key players in this fight are doing to combat the issue. I also want to photograph local celebrities in these nations to help bring notice to the general public and hopefully to some victims to help them realize there is hope, there is a way out. Finally, I want to photograph business and government leaders who are committed to reducing their dependence on the products and labor of those enslaved.

My project will be the catalyst to a worldwide, open-source photo project. I would like this project to culminate in a photo essay book with all proceeds going to the organizations best prepared to make a difference.

My project would be one of many in which people are joining the movement to become a modern day abolitionist started by the film "CALL+RESPONSE". The documentary started this grassroots movement of open-source activism to end slavery. My project would be another link in the chain to meet the needs as expressed by CALL + RESPONSE…

"There is a sea of change happening in human rights activism. The world’s issues cannot be solved alone by governments and non-profits, but require community-based participation. CALL+RESPONSE is creating interactive field projects for each aspect of human slavery: sex slavery, labor slavery, child soldiers and child slavery."

"Slavery is thriving from the child brothels of Cambodia to the slave brick kilns of rural India to reveal that in 2007, Slave Traders made more money than Google, Nike and Starbucks combined."

I want to do something about this worldwide tragedy because I am an abolitionist.

Will you join me?

He has submitted his project idea to the Name Your Dream Assignment photography contest. But to make this dream a reality, he needs our support. So please drop whatever you are doing right now and vote for his idea. The story of modern-day slavery must be told and we can help him tell a part of it.