Former U.S. Ambassador Heather M. Hodges Speeches

Ambassador Heather M. Hodges remarks deliver at the National Committee for Combating Trafficking in Persons

Balti
October 31, 2003

Mr. Deputy Prime Minister, members of the National Committee for Combating Trafficking in Persons, Mr. Mayor, and other honored guests. It is a great pleasure for me to make my first trip to Balti today, to address this committee, and to help inaugurate the new branch office of the Center for Prevention of Trafficking in Women.

All of you, whether you are government officials or representatives of non-governmental organizations, are involved in critically important work fighting the scourge of human trafficking. Far too many of Moldova's young people have suffered from this modern-day form of slavery, which is one of the greatest human rights problems facing the world today. The fight against trafficking is a major priority of the United States government. President Bush emphasized this in his address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September. I would like to read a portion of his remarks:

"There's a special evil in the abuse and exploitation of the most innocent and vulnerable. The victims of the sex trade see little of life before they see the very worst of life -- an underground of brutality and lonely fear. Those who create these victims and profit from their sale must be severely punished. Those who patronize this industry debase themselves and deepen the misery of others. And governments that tolerate this trade are tolerating a form of slavery…

"We must now show new energy in fighting back an old evil. Nearly two centuries after the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade, and more than a century after slavery was ended in the last strongholds, the trade of human beings for any purpose must not be allowed to thrive in our time."

I know we all share President Bush's view that it is unconscionable that slave markets exist today in Europe where women are bought and sold. These women face experiences so hideous that many risk their lives, or lose them, trying to escape. Others are driven to suicide. And not women only: although the largest group of victims are women trafficked for sexual exploitation, there are also cases of men trafficked for forced labor or prostitution, elderly people and children trafficked for forced begging, and people trafficked for their organs. As human beings, we cannot hear such horrible stories without feeling the need to fight this scourge. In the United States, we have adopted the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which uses sanctions against governments to discourage human trafficking. We applaud the steps taken by the government of Moldova, included those taken by this Committee, and we want to continue to stand with you in this global struggle.

The United States fights against human trafficking not only because our human sense of morality compels us to oppose bondage, repeated rape, and all the other cruelties associated with trafficking, but also because of our interest in global stability. By destroying family support networks, trafficking contributes to social breakdown. Trafficking promotes crime, deprives countries of human capital, undermines public health, subverts government authority, funds illicit activity, and strengthens organized crime groups. Trafficking targets in particular transition countries struggling to establish democracy and a stable economy, helping deprive their citizens of the benefits of rule of law and the chance for a decent quality of life.

Working with you, the U.S. government intends to continue to fund programs in Moldova designed to increase prosecutions of traffickers, to provide treatment and assistance to victims, to train law enforcement officials, to raise awareness, and to help reduce the sense of economic desperation that makes too many people vulnerable to the traffickers' lies. The work being done by the National Committee, the Center for Prevention of Trafficking in Women, and all the government agencies and non-governmental organizations represented here could not be more important, and we are proud to be your partners in this effort.

Thank you very much