April 15, 2010 – Pipestem resident, Travis Wirt returned home late Monday night from Washington, D.C. after meetings with the offices of Congressman Nick J. Rahall II, Senator Robert C. Byrd, and Senator John D. Rockefeller IV. Travis was among 125 individuals from 35 states who took part in a day of advocacy organized by human rights agency International Justice Mission (IJM). Participants met with more than 130 Congressional offices to build support for The Child Protection Compact Act (CPCA), legislation that aims to eradicate the trafficking of minors into forced prostitution and forced labor in target countries that have shown a demonstrated commitment to dealing with the problem but lack adequate resources. The trafficking of persons is the third largest criminal industry after drugs and weapons, and the fastest growing criminal activity in the world. According to UNICEF, there are nearly two million children in the commercial sex trade worldwide and, according to the U.S. Department of State, 80% of human trafficking victims are women and girls, as many as 50% are minors. National Geographic estimates that there are over 27 million individuals currently trafficked in the modern day slave trade.
“I have seen the difference advocacy makes in this community to help those who are marginalized, and I wanted to do something similar for victims of trafficking around the world. I feel absolutely humbled and privileged to speak up on behalf of those who have no voice. Christian Leupold, a friend of mine who works in International Justice Mission’s German office, also attended each congressional meeting with me. It was incredible to have a foreign national advocate with me demonstrating that human trafficking is a widespread, borderless crime.” (Direct quote from Travis Wirt)
The bi-partisan legislation, endorsed by nearly 100 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives, was introduced in the Senate on March 25 by Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Sam Brownback (R-KS), and Ben Cardin (D-MD). If passed, the CPCA would add resources to the U.S. Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (G/TIP). The additional resources would be used to provide multi-year funding to facilitate the eradication of child trafficking in several designated target countries. Recipient countries will receive multi-year assistance to build public justice systems that effectively investigate crimes against children and prosecute perpetrators in numbers sufficient to deter and eventually eliminate the crime, thereby creating a model for other countries grappling with the crime. G/TIP’s current budget for grant-making is approximately $22 million, given annually to organizations in over 43 countries. The CPCA would increase G/TIP’s grant-making budget by as much as 50%, allowing for this kind of targeted, sustained investment.
“When it comes to fighting human trafficking, a relatively small amount of money goes an extremely long way,” said Holly Burkhalter, Vice President of Government Relations at IJM. “The State Department’s Trafficking in Persons office makes grants that save lives and build international capacity to end the exploitation of children. We should scale up and replicate what works because the problem is growing faster than the resources to fight it.”
Groups like IJM are seeing big improvements over short periods of time. In just under two years of collaboration with local authorities in Cebu, Philippines, IJM has seen the number of child prostitutes reduced by 72 percent.
“International Justice Mission secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other form of violent oppression—this is urgent, difficult, and transformational work. IJM has brought rescue to more than 14,000 victims. I’m privileged to work with IJM in their advocacy and foreign policy work.” (direct quote from Travis Wirt.)
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.
