President Delivers Historic Remarks on Human Trafficking
Today at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Conference, President Obama unveiled several new White House initiatives aimed at increasing support for victims of human trafficking. In his historic speech, the President addressed all forms of human trafficking, including the sexual exploitation of U.S. born women and girls, signaling that the Administration seeks to make survivors a top priority.
We applaud the President’s comprehensive plans to support victims of human trafficking. We also support and commend the President's call to begin viewing trafficked persons as victims instead of criminals. Today’s speech represents a pivotal moment in the fight against human trafficking in the U.S. and demonstrates the Administration’s commitment to fight this problem both at home and abroad. For more information, see the White House’s initiatives outlined here. |
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Working to make the lives of U.S. young women and girls a human rights priority.
Image via Piero Sierra at Flickr
Our recent accomplishments include:
- Worked with the White House on development of the President's Anti-Human Trafficking Initiative to raise up the specific plight of domestically trafficked children.
- In partnership with NCMEC, convened a national coalition of child welfare and juvenile justice leaders to improve both systems' response to girls, including high level meetings on trafficking policies with White House Domestic Policy Council and the Department of Health and Human Services.
- Co-hosted and presented at a Congressional briefing on Improving the Juvenile Justice System for Girls on October 23, 2012.
- Panelist on a briefing hosted by the House Victims' Rights Caucus on Child Sex Trafficking on the Internet on July 12, 2012, where we discussed Backpage.com and its role in the facilitation of child sex trafficking in the U.S.
- Succeeded in preserving the $5 million in the President's FY 2013 Budget for victims of domestic child sex trafficking in the Senate LHHS Appropriations Bill.
- Moderated a briefing hosted by the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth on the Child Welfare Response to Trafficking on July 18, 2012, where panelists discussed the intersection between the child welfare system and child sex trafficking in the U.S.
- Invited to participate in the Google Ideas Info Summit in July 2012 to explore the ways in which technology can work to combat human trafficking and other illicit networks.
- Invited to participate in the White House Technology and Anti-Trafficking Workshop to discuss and advise on the ways in which technology can be used in innovative ways to help end the trafficking of children on the internet.