On December 2, Georgetown University’s Institute for Women, Peace & Security marked 25 years of deliberate US policy focus on the global scourge of human trafficking, at a summit that celebrated many leaders who have made and are making a difference. The courage, persistence, and moral fiber of so many of those involved shone through the day, from Melanne Verveer’s opening comments, Hillary Clinton’s keynote address, to three panels that highlighted both historic milestones and lessons and current challenges as we look ahead. Survivors’ voices (Evelyn Chumbow prominent among them) were a central feature and theme. The core message is that, while there is now a far clearer appreciation for the problems that we refer to as human trafficking and better language and policy instruments to frame response, there’s still far to go: we’ve got to keep pushing forward.
The two historic events that framed the meeting were the year 2000 passage of the United States’ Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) and, by the United Nations, the Palermo Protocol. Hillary Clinton took the discussion back further, highlighting the 1995 Beijing Conference on Women, and the vital need for true integration of women’s rights within the human rights framework and approaches to trafficking. The drive for dignity, safety, and equality of women puts the indignity, abuse, and denigration of women in different forms of trafficking and servitude in stark relief, especially as the phenomena are so often “hidden in plain sight”, with predators in many crevices and places.
The rich tapestry of action on the different dimensions of trafficking that led to the 2000 events and to policies and action since then was laid out in the keynote and panel discussions: leadership by the successive US Ambassadors-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, survivor activism and courage, and both public and private actors were in focus. But the event also framed the topic as part of a 150 year old movement, with both activism and ideas and deep roots in civic action, policy, and ethics. These link action on racial equality including slavery and women’s rights to the contemporary movement and legal frameworks. For example, the 1910 Mann Act (the White Slave Traffic Act), a 1U.S. federal law that prohibits transporting women or girls across state lines for prostitution or other "immoral purposes" was cited. Approaches to contemporary human trafficking need both to look to anchors in long-standing human rights debates and hopeful progress as well as changes that shape phenomena today, including, of course, the Internet. Above all it’s important to name the harm being done, and to steer away from tendencies to “commodify” trafficking.
The contemporary scene in Washington DC was very much on the agenda, notably the collapse of much US capacity with foreign aid cuts and the end of USAID. In the US, the bipartisan support for action to address trafficking 25 years ago had to overcome the real complexities of the various dimensions of trafficking and modern slavery, and there’s hope that it can stand the test of today’s challenges. Aside from the classic 4 Ps of action (prevention, protection, prosecution, and partnerships), persistence was highlighted as a fifth. With today’s focus on migration and borders, dramatic increase in online forces propelling trafficking, and sharp policy and geopolitical divides, the hard won consensus evident in the year 2000 achievements is beset with fragilities. Two essentials are the need to hold governments accountable, and to press forward with commitment to principles and agreed action, continued vigilance, education, and innovation.
The December 2 discussions reflected the complexities and different facets of the global trafficking scourge: criminality and finance, desperation of parents who sell their children, attitudes that demean women, complex supply chains, forced and bonded labor, and far more: an array of ugly underbellies of today’s world. They also highlighted heroism, both within policy circles, and of survivors, willing to repeat their painful stories so that the problem has a true human face.
The Summit focused on the policy process and political negotiations. But religious actors also came into the discussion. The debates and bipartisan alliances that led to the 1998 US passage of the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) was a material factor in bringing together diverse voices; the coalitions involved were different but overlapped in significant ways. And several cited the vital roles that Catholic sisters played in different countries and communities: a “secret weapon”, one commentator observed.
