C elebrate! Here are some recent advocacy victories we can rejoice in and thank God for. Send any good news you want us to celebrate to Kristyn@esa-online.org. The release of prominent newspaper editor Eynulla Fatullayev is a step in the right direction for freedom of expression in Azerbaijan, according to Amnesty International, which led an international campaign for his release and named him a prisoner of conscience after his arrest and imprisonment in 2007 on trumped-up charges of terrorism and defamation. The campaign for his release culminated in an international Twitter action targeting President Aliyev’s Twitter account. The action was launched by Amnesty’s UK section on May 24th. More than 800 people took part in the action, which led to his release just two days later. The ECPAT Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism requires hotels to train their staff to recognize victims of sexual exploitation, educate their guests about the dangers of sex tourism, communicate with local law enforcement, and advocate for victim rights. This creates a first line of defense against global sex trafficking. When brothels were discovered in Hilton hotels in Ireland and China, thousands of protesters sent letters to the hotel chain, but Hilton didn’t respond until the CEO was faced with the threat, voiced by 317,000 Avaaz.org members in a 24-hour period, of hard-hitting ads appearing in his hometown. Hilton signed. Now 180,000 hotel employees will be trained to spot and prevent the horror of sex slavery of women and girls. Learn more at TheCode.org.
For decades, the insecticide Endosulfan was used in spite of its incredible toxicity. But it’s the end of the road for the deadly pesticide thanks to the tireless efforts of activists, including the 28,000 of you who signed the Environmental Justice Foundation’s petition calling for a global ban. Thank you for protecting people and the environment from the devastating impacts of Endosulfan use!
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Uganda’s anti-gay law, which looked sure to pass in early May, was dropped after 1.6 million petition signatures were delivered to Parliament and tens of thousands of phone calls were placed to gove rnme nt s around the world. Please keep advocating against the horrific practice of “corrective rape,” used to “set lesbians straight,” in South Africa. Scholastic, the world’s largest educational publisher, was until recently pushing “The United States of Energy,” a controversial fourthgrade curriculum paid for by the American Coal Foundation. Just two days after the Campaign for Commercial-Free Childhood and Rethinking Schools launched a campaign against Scholastic, the publisher announced that it would immediately stop distributing the materials. This is a significant victory for anyone who believes that schools should be free of industry PR and teach fully and honestly about coal and other forms of energy. Learn more at CommercialFreeChildhood.org. In March, PRISM editor Kristyn Komarnicki marched from Philadelphia’s court house to the school district building, along with hundreds of students, teachers, and other lovers of education. The Campaign for Nonviolent Schools was protesting Pennsylvania’s latest budget proposals, which includes spending $650 million on the construction of three new state prisons while slashing $550 million from education funding! In June, she joined a group of homeless folks and homeless advocates outside City Hall in Philadelphia, demanding that a bill be thrown out that would criminalize the homeless. This was part of the Solutions, Not Citations Campaign. Not all advocacy efforts result in quick victories, but small efforts build up into small victories over time and make a difference in the end. What kind of advocacy work do you engage in? Tell us what you’re up to, and we’ll do our best to share it with our readers.