President Trump delivered remarks today at a White House summit on human trafficking. The summit culminated in the President signing an executive order which will help combat the scourge of human trafficking through a variety of directives.
The executive order is fitting since January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month and it corresponds with the 20th anniversary of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.
One of President Trump’s point persons on the issue of human trafficking has been his daughter Ivanka Trump. In her remarks, Ivanka called attention to the magnitude of the problem. “Human trafficking is believed to be one of the largest criminal activities in the world with an estimated 24.9 million people trapped in forced labor, domestic servitude or commercial sex trafficking. It is also sadly one of the most lucrative illegal industries worldwide generating over $150 billion in annual profit,” Ivanka Trump said.
According to CNN, the executive order creates a new position on the domestic policy council that will be solely dedicated to combatting human trafficking, calls for the State Department to create and maintain a website that provides resources to combat human trafficking, and directs federal agencies to develop recovery and prevention programs regarding human trafficking and child protection.
President Trump invited a survivor of human trafficking up on stage who told a part of her story. She recounted, “At age 13, I was brought into this country. I survived trafficking along with 19 other girls. Afterwards I was placed in foster care. But this negative experience in my past should not wholly define who I am today. Today I am a college graduate, and American citizen, and I stand before you as the newest member of the U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking.”
White House Domestic Policy Council director Joe Grogan said of the effort, “This is an all-of-government approach with a number of agencies involved. Having someone established here in the White House who can coordinate on all these activities is going to really give us a leg up in combatting human trafficking.”
Speaking with resolve, the President declared, “We will not stop until we’ve stopped every last human trafficker and liberated every last survivor.”
Additional Resources:
How to Identify the Victims and Perpetrators of Sex Trafficking
Facts and Research on Human Trafficking
Understanding the Scope of Human Trafficking
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