ARLINGTON, Va. — Selling people is the fastest growing criminal activity in the world and the third largest criminal industry after drugs and weapons, according to information distributed by the United Nations.
UNICEF statistics indicate that nearly two million children have been forced into the commercial sex trade worldwide and the U.S. Department of State says 80 percent of human trafficking victims are women and girls; as many as 50 percent are minors.
Tom Lynch of Arlington, Va., a member of McLean (Va.) Baptist Church, was among 130 individuals from 30 states who met with 130 congressional officials to build support for the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act.
The Washington, D.C., event was part of a day of advocacy organized by the human rights agency International Justice Mission. Among those meeting with the group were representatives of two Virginia congressmen — Robert Hurt of the 5th district and Jim Moran of the 8th — and Sen. Jim Webb.
“I was taught at the John Leland Center for Theological Studies that giving a voice to the voiceless was integral in joining in the mission of God in the way of Jesus,” said Lynch. “I want my students to know I’m doing all I can to be part of the voice that eradicates modern slavery.”
The bi-partisan legislation, originally enacted in 2000, established the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (commonly known as the “TIP Office”) to coordinate U.S. anti-trafficking programs overseas and to make human trafficking a federal offense within U.S. borders.
The legislation must be reauthorized every two years, providing an opportunity to strengthen domestic laws that protect victims and to fine-tune U.S. anti-trafficking programs internationally. The TIP Office funds programs internationally to combat human trafficking with a focus on perpetrator accountability and victim relief.
Anti-trafficking advocates asked members of Congress for additional resources for the TIP Office to combat child trafficking in target countries, and for funding to respond to emergencies, enabling the TIP Office to respond quickly to humanitarian crises. Disasters like the earthquake in Haiti put women and children at particular risk for trafficking and exploitation.
The TIP Office’s current budget for grant-making is approximately $22 million, given annually to organizations in over 43 countries. The TIP Office’s budget makes up just .05 percent of the U.S. government’s foreign aid budget, which is about 1 percent of the overall U.S. federal budget.
“Congress is making hard choices about the federal budget,” said Holly Burkhalter, vice president of government relations for the International Justice Mission, “but Americans around the country and across the political spectrum are asking our leaders to maintain America’s role in ending the scourge of modern-day slavery.
“Policymakers who may not agree on other issues share a common commitment to this cause, and their constituents at home strongly support that,” she said.
Groups like IJM say they are seeing big improvements over short periods of time. In just four years of collaboration between IJM and local authorities in Cebu, Philippines, the number of minors available in the commercial sex trade was reduced by 79 percent in that city.
“IJM secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression — this is urgent, difficult, and transformational work,” Lynch emphasized. “IJM has rescued more than 14,000 victims. I want to be part of that Kingdom work.”
Additional information about International Justice Mission’s efforts to secure justice for victims of sexual exploitation, slavery and other forms of violent oppression can be found at www.ijm.org.