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 Good
morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am here today to present the Department of
State's Second Annual Trafficking
in Persons Report.
The Trafficking Victims Protection Act that mandates the report condemns
trafficking as a modern form of slavery. This report represents the resolve of
the entire US Government to stop this appalling assault on the dignity of men,
women and children.
Traffickers
prey on the most vulnerable members of our human family, violating their most
basic rights, subjecting them to degradation and misery. Every year, an
estimated 700,000 to 4 million people around the world are victimized by
traffickers through fraud, coercion, and outright kidnapping. The overwhelming
majority of victims are women and children. Traffickers often force them into
pornography and prostitution, subjecting them to terrible mental and physical
abuse, and putting them at risk from devastating diseases such as HIV/AIDS.
Trafficking
leaves no land untouched, including our own. Approximately 50,000 people are
trafficked into the United States every year. Here and abroad, the victims of
trafficking toil under inhuman conditions -- in brothels, sweatshops, fields and
even in private homes.
 The
Annual Trafficking in Persons Report shines a much-needed light on this global
problem. We use the information that we collect to bolster the will of the
international community to combat this unconscionable crime. We welcome and
encourage the vital sharing of information by other countries, nongovernmental
organizations, and individuals. The United States seeks to work with all nations
to document this egregious form of exploitation and to cooperate with them to
end it once and for all.
In
the year since the last report, I am pleased to announce that South Korea, by
the standards of the report, has made great strides in improving its record.
Romania and Israel also have worked with us to significantly strengthen their
anti-trafficking efforts. We hope that other countries will take similar steps.
Countries
that make a serious effort to address the problem will find a partner in the
United States, ready to help them design and implement effective programs.
Countries that do not make such an effort, however, will be subject to sanctions
under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act beginning next year.
For
our own part, President Bush has directed all relevant United States agencies to
combine forces to eradicate trafficking and help rehabilitate its victims. In
accordance with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, the President has
established an interagency task force to coordinate our domestic and foreign
activities. Earlier this year, I chaired the task force's first meeting of
cabinet level officials. Since this important meeting, our teams have been
working closely together to intensify United States Government efforts and to
keep the issue in sharp focus.
We
hope that this year's Trafficking in Persons Report will galvanize action across
the globe. If the world community works together, countless thousands can be
spared abuse and despair, and those already victimized can be helped back to
lives of dignity and freedom.
will
now turn the podium over to the Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat
Trafficking in Persons,  Ambassador
Nancy Ely-Raphel
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June
10, 2002
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