Ambassador Whitney comments on the Trafficking in Persons Report 2008 (June 17)
Release of 2008 Trafficking in Persons Report
In every country around the world, including the United States, there is evidence of trafficking in human beings. Men, women, and children are held in domestic servitude, exploited for commercial sex, forcibly recruited as child soldiers, or abused in factories and sweatshops. These forms of human trafficking are, in fact, modern-day slavery.
This year, America commemorates the bicentennial of the outlawing of the transatlantic slave trade. The same lie which underpinned the transatlantic slave trade of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, namely that some people are less than human, is the very lie that fuels human trafficking.
As Ambassador to Norway, I followed this issue closely and see the need to actively abolish this trade in people. I know that when our two governments, our NGOs and our people stand up to meet this need, we can have a powerful impact.
Human trafficking is a crime that steals peoples’ freedom and dignity. This week Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice released our 8th annual Trafficking in Persons Report to raise the level of awareness and to stimulate action to address this crime. It is an invaluable tool in drawing the world's attention to the existence of modern-day slavery. Millions more people are aware of human trafficking as a result of U.S. efforts to publicize the issue and warn potential victims. In the report, we welcome Norway’s strong commitment to combating this modern form of slavery and its generous funding to international anti-trafficking projects. We also look to Norway to continue its prosecution and appropriate sentencing of traffickers.
This year’s Report highlights the issue of demand, and its role in perpetuating the phenomenon of trafficking. A mirror must be held up to the so-called “customers” of the “sex industry” to realize how the demand for commercial sex can directly or indirectly fuel sex trafficking. With respect to labor trafficking, companies can play an important role in prevention by working to ensure that the products they provide for consumers are not derived wholly or in part from forced labor. Whether sugar cane produced with slave labor in Brazil, shrimp processed with the forced labor of Burmese migrants in Thailand, or apparel made in Jordan by migrant workers under debt bondage, consumers need to be aware of the tainting of production chains with this modern-day slavery.
As we continue to shed light on emerging global trends for trafficking in persons, we are steadfast in support for countries such as Norway which are willing to partner with us in this global fight. Just as the transatlantic slave trade was abolished many years ago, so too can this form of modern-day slavery be abolished today. Let us remain committed to act as a voice for the many voiceless victims of this crime—the prostituted woman or child, the exploited domestic worker, the trapped agricultural laborer. Their bondage demands our attention and action. Let us together restore the human dignity of all those affected by this dehumanizing and horrific crime.
Benson K. Whitney
US Ambassador to Norway