Private Groups Spearhead Anti-Traffickin...

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Private Groups Spearhead Anti-Trafficking Efforts

Since mid-January, members of the international human rights group Equality Now have gathered outside a Manhattan court house every Thursday to draw attention to the need for a strong law to outlaw human trafficking in the state of New York.  The organization is part of a growing coalition of nonprofit groups helping trafficking victims through aid, public awareness campaigns and lobbying.

Equality Now's effort to support passage of a state law against human trafficking is the coalition's latest action in decades of  work to stop human trafficking, a modern form of slavery estimated to involve millions forced into sex trade or servitude worldwide.  The coalition plans to continue its weekly demonstration until the New York State Legislature passes a law against human trafficking.

"New York is a major port of entry, transit and destination for human trafficking," Taina Bien-Aimé, executive director of Equality Now, said in an interview February 7.  "Sex trafficking disproportionately affects women and girls and involves organized crime, some governments as well as individuals, and very few remedies are available for people who are trafficked."

Equality Now, whose efforts to combat trafficking focuses on the demand that fuels the trade, especially the sex-tourism industry, has been a leader in getting local officials to shut down sex tours. Read more at usinfo.state.gov.

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