26 September 2006
Entertainer Ricky Martin Urges Effort Against Human Trafficking, September 26, 2006(Recording artist tells U.S. Congress at-risk families need support)
By Carolee Walker
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington – Supporting children and families at risk worldwide will help them avoid exploitation by human traffickers, pop recording artist Ricky Martin told a U.S. congressional hearing on human trafficking September 26.
“Child trafficking is a global nightmare,” Martin said in testimony before the House International Relations Committee. “It is the modern day form of slavery.” Two million people are victims of trafficking yearly, Martin said, and nearly 1.2 million of these are children. “Human trafficking does not happen in isolation but rather that its roots lie in poverty and hopelessness,” Martin said.
“This past year, we’ve seen a greater global effort to combat human trafficking by punishing traffickers, protecting victims and preventing future acts of slavery,” testified Ambassador John R. Miller, director of the U.S. State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.
Miller said according to the State Department’s Trafficking in Persons 2006 Report, which was released in June, active efforts and advocacy for anti-trafficking measures are causing trafficking to receive “the worldwide attention it deserves.” U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has named 12 countries that have not met the minimum standards specified in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act: Belize, Burma, Cuba, Iran, Laos, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Uzbekistan, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. (See related article.)
“The movement to end trafficking in persons continues to gain momentum, thanks to Presidential leadership, Congressional commitment, and support from innumerable faith-based, community, human rights, and women's groups, as well as from individual citizens,” Rice said in the report.
Miller commended Martin for his efforts to fight human trafficking. Martin is among many performers who use their celebrity status on behalf of worthy causes. (See related article.)
Martin, a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, is a Grammy-award winning recording artist and president of the Ricky Martin Foundation. He was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His commitment to the issue of human trafficking began in 2002 when he witnessed three young girls trembling beneath plastic bags on a street corner in Calcutta. “I knew then that I had to do something about it,” Martin said. “I could not turn away,” he told the committee.
Martin’s Vuelve won the 1999 Grammy award for Best Latin Pop Album. In 2004 at the Latin Billboard Awards in Miami, he won Latin track of the year, top male Latin pop airplay track and top Latin album. In 1996, Martin starred on Broadway as Marius in Les Misérables.
In 2005, Martin signed an agreement to appear in public service announcements and take other actions to help Colombian authorities combat human trafficking. (See related article.)
The full texts of Martin’s and Ambassador Miller’s prepared testimonies are available on the House International Relations Committee Web site.
The full text of the Trafficking in Persons Report is available on the State Department Web site.
