Giving Compass' Take:

• Causeartist profiles Outland Denim, an Australia-based company that offers young girls in developing nations a way to earn a fair wage and master a craft in the hopes that this will prevent them from being pulled into sex trade.

• Aid organizations should look at fair trade practices among corporations closely and the impact they have. How many share the #noexploitation ethos of Outland Denim?

• Here are some other companies that make it their mission to end human trafficking.

According to a United Nations report, the most common form of human trafficking (79%) is sexual exploitation. The victims of sexual exploitation are mostly women and girls. The second most common form of human trafficking is forced labour (18%), although this number may actually be more, because forced labor is less detected and reported than trafficking for sexual exploitation. Worldwide, almost 20% of all trafficking victims are children.

Outland Denim has created an approach of zero exploitation, to help prevent young girls being drafted into sex trade, or as slave labor into the garment industry. This approach is done through a program that Outland created called The Denim Project. This program offers young girls with an interest in sewing to earn fair wages, and to learn and master the crafts of sewing and fashion.

Outland Denim began when founder James Bartle travelled to Asia and saw first hand how human traffickers prey on vulnerable young girls in order to service the sex industry. After learning that once a girl has been rescued and rehabilitated, sustainable career path is vital for securing her future, James created the “Denim Project”, which would enable those girls who demonstrated an interest in sewing to put their new skills to use.

Read the full article about the denim enterprise trying to fight human trafficking by Grant Trahant at Causeartist.