The Program on Social Entrepreneurship at Stanford's Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law seeks to actively integrate the on-the-ground experience of social entrepreneurs from around the world with cutting-edge academic research at Stanford University. Building a tangible bridge between academia and practice, the Program exposes students to new models of social change through innovative courses and provides practitioners the opportunity to build their individual and personal capacities as social change leaders.

Human trafficking is a global phenomenon that each year forces millions into lives as prostitutes, laborers, child soldiers, and domestic servants. Traffickers prey on the weak and vulnerable, targeting young victims with promises of a better life. This modern form of slavery impacts every continent and type of economy, while the industry continues to grow with global profits reaching nearly $32 billion annually. In spite of these mounting figures, prosecution and conviction rates are not increasing relative to the surge in these crimes. According to the U.S. State Department, for every 800 people trafficked in 2006, only one person was convicted.

As the size and scope of human trafficking increase, less is known about the root causes of human trafficking on this new scale. A better understanding of the conditions that give rise to human trafficking – income inequality, rural poor populations, cultural norms, and gender disparities – will bring the international community closer to curbing the growth of this criminal industry. Understanding how multi-lateral institutions – from the World Bank to the United Nations – may unwittingly encourage the industry will lead to more informed policies for its eradication.

The Program on Human Rights (PHR) at the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law is launching a new research initiative on human trafficking to address these challenges and generate new knowledge on this issue of international concern. Working in collaboration with Stanford faculty and students, this project will draw on research underway across the university to create a forum on human trafficking. The goal is to produce collaborative research and policy recommendations to better address the multiple dimensions of human trafficking.

"This research collaborative will shift the agenda on human trafficking from one that has adopted a criminal-legal paradigm to one that focuses on all the pre-conditions for trafficking," said Helen Stacy, director of the Program on Human Rights. "Interdisciplinary tools drawing on law, health, gender, and psychology will introduce an integrated approach to this critical area of study."

The speaker series will begin Dec. 12 at a private research workshop featuring Madeleine Rees, the United Nation's representative in post-genocide Bosnia, and Laryssa Kondracki, director of The Whistleblower. Rees is known for her efforts to expose the U.N. for its failure to shut down brothels in Bosnia where they were actively used for human trafficking. The Whistleblower documents this story and helped ignite a debate at the U.N. over this problem.

The Dec. 12 workshop will bring together a multidisciplinary group of Stanford faculty, researchers, and students working on aspects of human trafficking in preparation for the launch of the 2012 speakers series offered in the winter quarter. The 2012 roster of speakers represent a diverse group of those advancing research, policy and activism on human trafficking.

Participants include: Rosi Orozco, Mexican congressional representative and anti-trafficking leader; Bradley Myles, executive director and CEO of Polaris-USA; and Dr. Mohammed Mattar, executive director of the Protection project at Johns Hopkins Univeristy. Stanford researchers will be paired with speakers to pursue original research on the causal factors impacting this field of study. 

The 2012 Human Trafficking is Global Slavery speakers series is funded by Diana Jenkins, founder of the Sanela Diana Jenkins Foundation for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The series is free and open to the public. It will meet on Tuesdays from Jan. 10 to Mar. 13 at the Bechtel Conference Center at Encina Hall, Stanford. It is available to Stanford students as a 1-unit course cross-listed under INTNLREL 110, IPS 271, and POLISCI204.

Paul Kim, the assistant dean for technology & CTO at Stanford University's School of Education, led the Nov. 3 Liberation Technology Seminar Series on “Global Inequalities, Achievement Gaps, and Mobile Innovations.” Kim has been reconceptualizing the whole education system, with a particular focus on the education of children in deprived areas.

Kim firmly believes that education, as is expressed in the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights, is a basic human right that should be available to all children, but the fact is that a large number of children are out of school, and many receive a poor quality of education. In this context, technology could enable the realization of the right to education.

Kim argues that donation of computers in a large scale was the main mode of introducing technology in education, but this model has its problems. Often computers are donated to schools but are not used either because people do not know how to use them or there is no access to electricity. Kim emphasized the importance of creating tools that are simple and likely to work in highly challenging conditions. With this in mind, he has started focusing on the use of mobile phones as a learning tool, given their low power consumption, low cost, ubiquitous availability and increasing capabilities.

He also pointed out that there have been many initiatives such as one laptop per child, where even the distribution of 110,000 in a place like Rwanda has not made a major contribution to educational achievements. He argued that such projects are detached from curriculum, and are focused on technology. In order to be successful, you have to understand the ecosystem, not just particular pieces of technology. You have to understand the value perceptions of everybody in the ecosystem: teachers, parents and students and make sure that all of the values are aligned. Otherwise the project will not succeed.

Kim further suggested that there is often a block at the teacher training stage and that there is a problem of pedagogy. Kim suggested that we should focus more on student centered exploration based learning because if you merely teach, the students switch off. However, if you engage with them, they will be more responsive. He suggested that instead of using words such as ‘teaching’ and ‘students’, we should use words such as ‘coaching’ and ‘agents’ and Kim’s own innovations follow are based on the philosophy of enabling student-led learning with the teachers playing a supportive role.

When using technical devices, Kim argued, it is incredibly important to empower the children themselves to learn how to use them rather than just telling them what to do. Students will express their creativity and extensive knowledge when they are given the opportunity to do so.

Sam Gregory, program director at WITNESS
 and Bryan Nunez, technology manager at Witness, delivered the Oct. 27 Liberation Technology seminar entitled, “Cameras Everywhere: Meeting the Challenges at the intersection of Human Rights, Video and Technology.” The speakers discussed WITNESS’ agenda to harness the power of video cameras in bringing out human rights issues into public attention. The speakers shared their story of working with human rights activists on using videos to transform personal stories of abuse into powerful tools for justice, promoting public engagement and policy change.

Gregory and Nunez discussed the strategic use of video in human rights work and their engagement with activists around the world on this subject. They suggested that there are various protagonists that play an important role as witnesses: from those who are unexpected to those who are more purposeful. In order to understand the impact of videos, it is important to go beyond those who make the videos and also consider the role of aggregators and curators, as they provide a valuable role in the process of ‘witnessing’.

They discussed different ways of capturing information through videos while taking into account security and ethical issues, and the challenges in making videos more usable especially when their production is decentralized. Other challenges they identified include: too much that is competing for our attention; the problem of privacy and of verification. Notwithstanding the challenges, they have had success over the years, and they argued, “We’ve witnessed brave people of all ages coming together to effect a profound change in their country.”

Some specific recommendations were made, including: supporting curation of human rights videos, facilitating user education and understanding of human rights issues. They suggested that it is important to have autonomous sites and options for people for hosting content. In particular, it is essential to look at resources that are not controlled by governments.

The Program on Human Rights at the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) is hosting the Human Rights Watch 2011 Voices for Justice honorees at a special event at Stanford University on November 18, 2011. This year's honorees —Consuelo Morales and Sussan Tahmasebi— will discuss their work defending human rights on the front lines in Mexico and Iran.

The Program on Human Rights at the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) is hosting the Human Rights Watch 2011 Voices for Justice honorees at a special event at Stanford University on November 18, 2011. This year's honorees —Consuelo Morales and Sussan Tahmasebi— will discuss their work defending human rights on the front lines in Mexico and Iran.

“These women are powerful and inspirational leaders," said Helen Stacy, director of the Program on Human Rights at CDDRL. "It is a rare and unique opportunity for the Stanford community to learn from their experiences and heroism.” Sitting at the intersection of research and policy, the Program on Human Rights provides a forum for Stanford faculty who work in disciplines that engage or border on human rights and student-initiated human rights groups on campus.

Human Rights Watch is one of the world’s leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. Each year Human Rights Watch honors individuals who have put their lives and safety at risk in the name of defending human rights, presenting these human rights defenders with The Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism.

Consuelo Morales works in Mexico defending victims of human rights violations to hold their abusers accountable. Security forces have committed widespread violations against civilians in Mexico—including torture, rape, and “disappearances”—yet their crimes are virtually never investigated. In the face of intimidation, Morales’s organization continues to lead efforts in the state of Nuevo Leon to document these abuses, litigate key cases, and provide critical support for victims of violent crime. Human Rights Watch honors Morales because of her courageous efforts to end impunity and aid victims of abuses in Mexico’s “war on drugs.”

Sussan Tahmasebi raises broad public awareness about how discriminatory laws violate the human rights of women in Iran. She helped found the award winning One Million Signatures Campaign, which rallies support for an end to Iran’s gender-biased laws. Tahmasebi has been harassed by security forces and was banned from traveling abroad because of her work. Human Rights Watch honors Tahmasebi for her fearless commitment to promoting civil society and bringing national prominence to women's rights issues in Iran.

“We are proud to be honoring two remarkable women and we are thrilled to be able to bring these exceptional defenders to engage with the Stanford human rights community,” said Andrea Dew Steele, director of the California Committee North at Human Rights Watch.

The Human Rights Defenders on the Front Line event will be held at the Bechtel Conference Center at Encina Hall on November 18 from 12:00 to 1:30PM.

For more information and to RSVP, please click Human Rights Defenders on the Front Line: a conversation with 2011 HRW honorees.

To learn more about the 2011 Human Rights Watch Voices for Justice Dinner on November 17, please visit: http://hrw.org/san-francisco