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Miami
Trafficking Incident Brings National Problem to Light, Says Consumer
Group
National Consumers League Releases
Report, Calls on State and Local Governments to Act on Trafficking in
U.S., One of Top Three Global Trafficking Destinations
Release Date: March 30, 2004
Contact: 202-835-3323,
media@nclnet.org
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National
Consumers League (NCL) expresses its outrage today at a human
trafficking incident that came to light in Miami last week — the
trafficking and eight-year enslavement of a young girl. According to
news reports, a Haitian couple has been indicted by a grand jury for
smuggling the young girl from
Haiti when she
was 9 years old for forced domestic service and sexual exploitation. NCL
commended the U.S. attorney’s office for taking legal action against
those responsible and released a report, “The
Unrestricted Highway: A Report on State Efforts to Identify and Combat
Human Trafficking in the United States.”
The U.S. is among the top three countries to which people are trafficked
into modern-day slavery.
“Many consumers think of slavery as a
thing of the past,” says Linda Golodner, NCL president and co-chair of
the Child Labor Coalition, a group organized by NCL. “Unfortunately,
they are gravely mistaken. This young woman is proof that gross
trafficking violations occur on our very own soil, and no state or city
is immune.”
The Department of State estimated in its
annual Trafficking
in Persons Report, released in June 2003, that an
estimated 18,000-20,000 people are trafficked into the
U.S. annually. This figure does not count the tens of thousands of
children and adults who are trafficked throughout the United States
.
NCL released a report today assessing the
trafficking problem in the United States
and outlining steps state and local governments could take to help
decrease the incidents of human trafficking. The report, “The
Unrestricted Highway: A Report on State Efforts to Identify and Combat
Human Trafficking in the United States,” identifies steps a handful
of proactive state governments have taken to curb human trafficking.
“Millions of people are enslaved around
the world, and both slaves and slave-made goods are being bought and
sold within the United States,” said Kevin Bales, president of Free the
Slaves.
NCL coordinates the Child Labor Coalition,
a group of advocates committed to ending the exploitation of children in
the U.S. and abroad. To order a copy of the report, visit
www.nclnet.org
or
www.stopchildlabor.org.
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About NCL
The
National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America's pioneer
consumer organization. Our mission is to identify, protect, represent,
and advance the economic and social interests of consumers and workers.
NCL is a private, nonprofit membership organization. For more
information, visit
www.nclnet.org.
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