Most of the victims of human trafficking come from economically depressed countries and are lured with promises of a better life.
Today, the United States is involved in a fight to eradicate modern-day slavery, also known as human trafficking or trafficking in persons.
2013 marks the 150-year anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, by which President Abraham Lincoln announced the end of slavery in territories in rebellion. The Emancipation Proclamation, which culminated in the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that permanently outlawed slavery, was a legal milestone on the long road toward eliminating involuntary servitude in all its forms, not just in the United States, but all over the world.
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Slavery, Human Trafficking Month
Today, the United States is involved in a fight to eradicate modern-day slavery, also known as human trafficking or trafficking in persons.
“My Administration has been deeply committed to carrying this legacy forward -- beginning with trafficking that happens on our own shores,” said President Barack Obama in a statement by which, for the third year, he proclaimed the month of January to be National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.
“Our commitment to stopping human trafficking does not end at our borders,” said President Obama. “As a leader in the global movement to combat this scourge, the United States has ... partnered with groups around the world to help men, women, and children escape their abusers. And recognizing that no country can meet this challenge alone, we have aided others in addressing modern slavery's root causes, and encouraged nations across the globe to pass comprehensive anti-trafficking laws, enforce them rigorously, and care for survivors.”
Yet today, trafficking in humans is considered by many to be the fastest-growing criminal enterprise in the world. According to the International Labour Organization, nearly 21 million people are enslaved around the world.
“We know the road ahead is long, and change will not come easily,” said President Obama. “We reflect on the Amendment that wrote abolition into law, the decades of struggle to make its promise real, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that has drawn nations together in the pursuit of equality and justice. These achievements once seemed impossible -- but on this day, let us remember that they were not, and let us press on toward the future we know is possible.”
