On Tuesday, 3/25, I went into the World Bank for a seminar on the advantages of Public/Private Partnerships in combating human trafficking. I saw a colleague from Sisters of Mercy who furtively remarked that she felt like we were in the 'belly of the beast' - how odd to be in a building which I could have been protesting outside of just under a week previous.
As it happened on a Tuesday, I was only able to stay until lunch, but the morning was helpful to hear from different speakers representing a range of sectors - tourist industry, legal community, large corporate tech people - and to receive many useful resources related to anti-trafficking and anti-sex tourism.
Everyone received a packet from the State Department's Office to Monitor & Combat Trafficking in Persons (G/TIP) and a copy of the most recent Assessment of US Government Efforts to Combat Trafficking in Persons, compiled by the US DoJ from Sept. 2007.
The G/TIP materials are peppered with quotes from our .. esteemed .. leaders, and I find it slightly distracting/deterring to the good work their office attempts. For example, on the very first page of the Assessment, it quotes G.W.B. and former Att. Gen. Al Gonzales. The latter says about human trafficking, it "is a violation of the human body, mind and spirit. For this vile practice to be taking place in a country that the world looks to as a beacon of freedom...is a terrible irony and an utter tragedy." Speaking of irony and tragedy...what if we inserted "torture" to the beginning of his statement? I just keep picturing a plank, an eye, some sawdust...
Back to the seminar: the first panel discussed travel, tourism, & hospitality. Starwood Hotels & Resorts (the big guys who own Sheraton and others) shared their new commitment to raising awareness since some shareholders put pressure on them. World Vision and ECPAT-USA shared some of their campaigns for combating child sex tourism.
The second panel had reps from the tech sector and legal community. Microsoft shared their software that helps network law enforcement agencies. Some of the law firms shared how the pro-bono work in caring for victims of trafficking is positive and should be expanded.
Some themes that continue to swirl around this topic are the dearth in substantive statistics, the reticence of corporations to work with a topic that has "sex" in the title (they prefer human trafficking to anything with 'sex tourism' in it), and the struggle to raise awareness and political will to change.
I will now check on what is happening legislatively (if anything) and reconnect with the staffer from Clinton's office to report back to Maryknoll's Cambodia site.
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