Highlighting the 2001 murder of the 20-year-old Russian woman, Oksana Rantchev, in Cyprus while trying to escape her captors, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in an op-ed piece in today's Washington Post reaffirms that stopping the crimes of human trafficking and modern-day slavery are a top State Department priority because these are crimes that threaten and violate both basic individual human rights and world peace.

Secretary Clinton notes the strong links between human trafficking and involuntary sexual servitude by women and children. With more than 12 million victims and global criminal trafficking rings, the problem is neither limited in numbers nor to a particular geographic region.

 

Secretary Clinton emphasizes that the Obama Administration, which in March, 2009, appointed Luis de Baca as Ambassador-At-Large to monitor and combat human trafficking, is committed to combating trafficking both domestically and abroad by efforts coordinated with governmental and nongovernmental entities. In addition to taking on traffickers, she advocates identifying and removing the root causes, financial and otherwise, for trafficking. Identifying the present program of prosecution, protection and prevention, Secretary Clinton advocates adding a network of partnerships, domestic and international, to help root out these crimes. She compelling concludes by stating:

 

“The criminal networks that enslave millions of people cross borders and span continents. Our response must do the same. The United States is committed to building partnerships with governments and organizations around the world, to finding new and more effective ways to take on the scourge of human trafficking. We want to support our partners in their efforts and find ways to improve our own.

Human trafficking flourishes in the shadows and demands attention, commitment and passion from all of us. We are determined to build on our past success and advance progress in the weeks, months and years ahead. Together, we must hold a light to every corner of the globe and help build a world in which no one is enslaved. “

 

For more information, read the U.S. State Department's 2009 Trafficking in Persons Report..