Children throughout the world are highly vulnerable to exploitation for labor and sex. [Kay Chernush photo]

Trafficking in Persons Report Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000: Trafficking in Persons Report Western Hemisphere Praised for Fight Against Human Trafficking

01 December 2005

(Martin named one of U.S. State Department's "heroes" against trafficking)

By Eric Green
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- Grammy award-winning singing star Ricky Martin is lending his voice to help the U.N. International Organization of Migration (IOM) fight the illegal trafficking of people in Colombia.

The Geneva-based IOM said in a November 29 announcement that its office in Colombia had signed an agreement for the pop singer to appear in television public-service announcements and provide support for the Andean nation’s fight against human trafficking through the Ricky Martin Foundation.  Martin's foundation works to raise awareness among English- and Spanish-speaking audiences on ways to assist child victims of human trafficking.  Martin went to Colombia November 25 as part of his concert tour of Latin America.

The Puerto Rico-born Martin, now a resident of Miami, said in a statement that "more than half of trafficking victims worldwide are children, forced into pornography, prostitution and labor servitude."

He added that "human trafficking is an unscrupulous market that generates around $10 billion dollars annually."  Martin said that signing an agreement with the U.N. migration agency's Colombia office to fight child trafficking "strengthens our mission.  We hope to establish a call to action in more countries" besides Colombia.

For his work against human trafficking, the U.S. State Department named Martin as one of its "Heroes in Ending Modern Day Slavery" in a section of the Department's 2005 Trafficking in Persons Report.  The department said Martin is "lending a powerful voice to vulnerable children who are unable to speak for themselves" and "reaching tens of millions of people around the world."  That section of the report, as well as the full text of the report, may be viewed on the State Department Web site.

The State Department actively has been involved in helping the global community identify and combat human trafficking.  John Miller, director of the department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, said November 15 that the Western Hemisphere is now much more active than in previous years in fighting the human trafficking problem, which he likened to "modern-day slavery."

"When I came to the State Department three years ago, the issue was in its infancy.  We are seeing so much more recognition [of] and activity" against trafficking, Miller said. (See related article.)

The collaboration between IOM and the Ricky Martin Foundation is part of a trafficking prevention campaign that the U.N. agency is launching in Colombia in 2006.  The campaign will promote the number of a telephone help line that provides assistance and information, including reports of trafficking in Colombia.

Martin’s personal commitment against trafficking became even more pronounced starting in 2002, when he took time off from working in the music industry to devote his energies to fighting injustices affecting the world’s most defenseless people.

In addition to his work against human trafficking, Martin became a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, where he has tried to draw attention to "sex tourists" who travel to foreign countries to exploit children drawn into prostitution.  He also visited Thailand in the aftermath of the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami to help orphans and families who lost relatives.

Martin says he started working in the performing arts when he was 9 years old, "but it was my choice."  Children who are victims of traffickers, said Martin, "do not have a choice.  They're forced into slavery."  Even some of the victims of trafficking, he said, "don't know that they are victims."

The United Nations says trafficking in people is a global problem affecting large numbers of children.  Some estimates have as many as 1.2 million children being trafficked every year.  Children and their families often are unaware of the dangers of trafficking, believing that better employment and lives await in other countries.

In addition to human trafficking, the public service announcements supported by the Martin foundation also will focus on child sex exploitation.  Other groups supporting the television announcements include the Inter-American Development Bank, the Inter-Agency Committee against Trafficking in Colombia, which is made up of 14 state institutions in that country and the IOM.

Diego Beltrand, the IOM chief of mission in Colombia, said Martin's recent visit to Colombia provided an "opportunity to emphasize the massive mobilization of civil society against human trafficking and the social awareness on the need to protect the victims, particularly children, of sexual exploitation."

Beltrand added that Martin's visit also came at an "important time in the fight against trafficking."  The IOM said a new Colombian law against human trafficking just has come into force.  The Colombian law defines trafficking as a crime that can lead to a 13-23 year prison sentence of those convicted of the offense.

Martin's many musical honors include the 1999 Grammy award for "Best Latin Pop Performance."  In 2004 at the Latin Billboard Awards in Miami, he won "Latin track [song] of the year," top male Latin pop airplay track, and top Latin album.