24 February 2003

"Scale of Suffering is Staggering," Meeting on Sex Trafficking Told, February 24, 2003

(Delegates from 110 nations at State Dept-sponsored conference)

By Charlene Porter
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- Delegates from more than 110 nations gathered in Washington February 24 for a three day conference on sex trafficking, one of the fastest growing forms of criminal activity in the world.

U.S. Congressman Frank Wolfe urged delegates 24 to draw inspiration for their anti-trafficking efforts from such historical champions of freedom as American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. and British parliamentarian William Wilberforce, who led that nation's 19th century battle to end the slave trade.

"You are here to continue in this legacy," Wolf told an estimated 250 activists against sex trafficking which he described as a modern form of slavery. "The scale of suffering is staggering," Wolf said.

Developing precise data on clandestine criminal activity is notoriously difficult, but experts estimate that between 700,000 and 4 million people are victims of human trafficking each year. A significant percentage of that number are women and girls lured into commercial sex activity by false promises of good pay and legitimate work. They are taken across international borders, transported far from their families, and kept as virtual prisoners in brothels.

"Truly, this is one of the most evil practices in the world today," Wolf said.

The conference organized by the U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and a coalition of nongovernmental organizations is devoted to the theme "Pathbreaking Strategies in the Fight Against Sex Trafficking." The goal is to forge relationships between the many activists working on the issue around the world, and help them exchange ideas and methods of preventing the crime, prosecuting the perpetrators and protecting the victims.

Discussion groups are organized around topics such as reaching individuals at high risk of being trafficked, cleaning out corruption that aids traffickers, helping victims, and increasing cooperation with international organizations.

Developing and winning passage of new laws that will effectively combat trafficking is another important topic for many of the assembled delegates. In some countries, victims are treated like criminals themselves when apprehended by authorities because they are in host countries illegally and are engaging in an illegal commercial sex industry.

Activists work for passage of laws that recognize the forced participation of these unfortunate women and girls, and target the organized criminal activity of trafficking.

"We must begin to see them as victims and not criminals," said Eki Igbnedion, the first lady of Nigeria's Edo state, who is attending the conference. She was a key player in changing state law to offer better protections to women and girls snared into trafficking and is currently working for changes in the Nigerian federal law as well.

Parents in Edo state would consent to traffickers taking their daughters away in the misguided belief that they would have better job opportunities abroad, Igbnedion said in a Washington File interview. Parents would even enter into contracts which pledged some portions of their daughter's earnings to the traffickers. Before passage of the new anti-trafficking law in Edo, those contracts would serve as legal instruments for the traffickers to claim money from the parents if the girl escaped or failed to meet their financial expectations.

Igbnedion said the new law prohibits that practice. It also provides shelter and rehabilitation for victims of trafficking who are returned to the country. In addition, she said it promotes an education campaign to raise awareness about the threat of trafficking in vulnerable populations.

State Department officials say the Bush administration is giving a high priority to this conference and the issues before the delegates. A policy statement on sex trafficking is expected to be released from the White House February 25, and several high level officials are expected to address the meeting.