Water
Earth Day
2018 will take place on April 22nd! The theme for this year is “End Plastic Pollution.”
Click here for a moving video about the importance of ending plastic pollution!
Click here to join Earth Day Network and receive updates from the world’s largest environmental movement, and
Click here for tips to “make every day Earth Day!”
Immigration
We invite you to attend a webinar on Federal Appropriations hosted by the USCCB’s Justice for Immigrants campaign.
The webinar will be on Friday, April 20, at 2:30 pm (Eastern). Click here to register. (Dial-in: 267-279-9000; PIN 814198#.)
Trafficking
Human Trafficking Committee Good News at Last in the U.S.
A few years ago, the Atlantic-Midwest Province was a co-signer on an Amicus Brief presenting the court with vital information pertaining to the egregious practice of online advertising for the services of trafficking victims; the case in point was Backpage online magazine. On April 11, 2018, a bill to reduce legal protections for online platforms – the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) – was signed into law by the President of the United States.
It has been the Internet Association, which represents major companies like Facebook and Google.
This law, which passed Congress with nearly unanimous bipartisan support, will give prosecutors stronger tools to go after similar sites in the future and suspend liability protections for internet companies for the content on their sites. This isn’t just about Backpage; it’s about hundreds of other companies in the same space, this online marketplace. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has said that Backpage magazine was behind nearly three-quarters of all the public reports it received on child trafficking.
But privacy and civil liberties advocates say it’s a fatally flawed bill that would hurt small online communities, and sex workers say it will make them less safe by driving them offline. Sex workers have already begun figuring out other ways to do business in the days since Backpage magazine was taken down.
Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12), co-chair and co-founder of the Human Trafficking Caucus, has stated that FOSTA corrects ambiguity in previous federal laws by making it clear that internet companies that facilitate sex trafficking are now not shielded by federal law. It also gives states better tools to crack down on these horrendous crimes and empowers trafficking survivors and their families to seek justice.
School Sisters of Notre Dame of the Atlantic- Midwest Province in their Corporate Stance Against Human Trafficking have committed themselves to support national, state and federal anti-trafficking legislation and collaborate with anti-trafficking groups. While we support FOSTA, we will continue to work for the eradication of human trafficking and to advocate for the rights of workers who are exploited for their labor.
Haiti
Click here to watch a 1-minute video that shows the importance of our partnership with Beyond Borders in helping Haitian girls achieve their potential!
Click here to watch the Girl Power Haiti webinar to learn more about Beyond Borders’ work to facilitate gender equality in Haiti!
