Stop the Traffik: People Shouldn't Be Bought & Sold [Paperback]

Cherie Blair (Author), Steve Chalke (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2009

Human trafficking is the fastest growing global crime, second in size only to the illegal arms trade. It involves the movement of people through violence, deception, or coercion for various purposes, among them sex, forced labor, and even body parts. Collected in this moving volume are real-life stories from individuals exposed to and working to stop human trafficking, each accompanied by stirring photographs. Along with information on the history of trafficking and its status today, practical action points for working to stop its progress are also provided.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Aside from emphasizing the obvious horrors of human trafficking, this book offers little useful information about its causes and consequences. Social activist Chalke (The Lost Message of Jesus) spotlights mostly girls and women who were duped or forced into slavery and prostitution, depicting former slaves as anonymous victims of a shady power that the book makes only a marginal attempt to investigate. The anecdotes (relayed out of context) combined with the moody portraits of trafficked women feel bizarrely staged and off-putting. While this isn't a book that gives the reader even a general understanding of the mechanisms of human trafficking, Chalke does offer familiar actions everyone can take to ensure they don't contribute to the business—like buying fair-trade goods and organizing petitions and fund-raisers for groups that fight trafficking. Chalke wants to call ordinary readers to action, but the content of the book will resonate deepest with those already invested in grassroots groups that fight human trafficking. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Cherie Blair is a human rights lawyer and the wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Steve Chalke is special advisor on human trafficking to the UN and founder of Stop the Traffik. He is the author of several books, including Change Agents, Intelligent Church, The Lost Message of Jesus, and Trust.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Lion UK (April 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0745953603
• ISBN-13: 978-0745953601
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,605,660 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Steve Chalke is an ordained minister and the founder of Oasis, which over the last 25 years has developed into a group of charities working to deliver education, training, youth work, health care and housing around the world. He is the senior minister of Church.co.uk, Waterloo and a UN Special Advisor working to combat people trafficking. In 2004 he was awarded an MBE by the Queen for his work in social inclusion.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Expose on human trafficking will leave readers heartbroken and changed, April 30, 2009

By 

Christina Lockstein "Christy's Book Blog" (Oconto Falls, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Stop the Traffik: People Shouldn't Be Bought & Sold (Paperback)

Stop the Traffik by Steve Chalke is a heartbreaking expose of the growing industry of slavery around the world. Chalke is an expert on human trafficking, and Cherie Blair is the wife of former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Together they have created this consise and informative primer on how human trafficking works in the sex industry as well as the exploitation of workers. My heart broke again and again reading this book. It's filled with pictures of women and children who have been rescued, as well as statistics about the amount of people who are trapped. Reading the sheer magnitude of the millions of people, as well as the billions of dollars based on this industry, it's easy to see that the only way to shut it down for good is by the combined effort of people around the world. Along with the heartrending stories of the victims, Chalke includes ways that everyone, even those of us in small towns, can make a difference. Buying Freetrade chocolate and coffee, forming community groups to raise awareness, and recognizing the signs of trafficking are just a few. It's impossible not to be inspired to want to stop human trafficking after reading this book.

4.0 out of 5 stars Textbook-Like, September 21, 2010

By 

Jennifer Bogart "@ Quiverfullfamily.com" (Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stop the Traffik: People Shouldn't Be Bought & Sold (Paperback)

If you've been tuned into the rising tide of social awareness about the ongoing issue of modern human slavery and want to know more, Stop the Traffik is filled with facts, statistics, and personal stories that cast a portrait of the slavery situation around the world.

However, Stop the Traffik doesn't seem as reader-friendly as other titles I've read on human trafficking (though it is a good, comprehensive overview.) The bold black and white design often includes large sections of white text planted on black backgrounds, and the layout is more reminiscent of a high-school textbook, with short snippets of information and facts rather than longer stretches of narrative. It's a presentation style that I'm not entirely keen on, though I do appreciate the subject matter deeply.

Chalke methodically covers the main areas of trafficking: the problem of modern trafficking, the particular vulnerability of women, the signs of trafficking and how to be aware of it even domestically, factors that make individuals vulnerable to being trafficked, how consumer purchasing decisions can be used as a force for change (fair trade products etc.), and other actions that individuals can take in the fight against trafficking.

Human trafficking can seem like such an overwhelming issue when it is first understood. The sheer magnitude in numbers of victims, the world-wide geographic scope of the crime....but yes, individuals can make a difference by partnering with regional and international organizations that are banding together to apprehend traffickers. Many of the first-person portraits included in Stop the Traffik come from victims who have been freed from lives of economic and sexual slavery. It is possible to make a difference; it is necessary to make a difference.

5.0 out of 5 stars Please read this... never before have made a plea for more readers, May 17, 2009

By 

Embrace Life - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stop the Traffik: People Shouldn't Be Bought & Sold (Paperback)

THis topic is so gut wrenching and repulsive...and TRUE. It is amazing how unaware people are of the buying and selling of people. To know about it is painful, but imagine living it? The more awareness peole like Steve Chalke can bring to the public, I pray that a change will come. Think about it, learn about it, talk about it and hopefully take a step toward change. We need more books telling regular folks exactly what they can do to help...