U.S Intervention
Agenda Item 3:
Interactive Dialogue with Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons
UN Human Rights Council – 23rd Session
Geneva,
May 28, 2013
The United States also thanks Special Rapporteur Joy Ngozio Ezeilo for her very insightful report. We share her concern that demand for cheap goods and commercial sex fuels the abuse through which traffickers hold their victims in servitude.
In the last year alone, the U.S. Administration has greatly increased efforts to combat trafficking in persons through awareness raising, public private partnerships, and more rigorous contractor protocols. The President issued an Executive Order entitled “Strengthening Protections Against Trafficking in Persons in Federal Contracts,” to strengthen the federal government’s existing zero-tolerance policy on human trafficking in government contracting. The Executive Order establishes new contract and subcontract compliance measures and provides federal agencies with additional tools to foster compliance by its contracting partners.
Individual departments and agencies within the U.S. government are also taking important actions in this regard. The Department of State developed guidance to help its contracting officials more effectively monitor trafficking and worker abuse in its contracts. The Departments of State and Homeland Security are collaborating on online, interactive training for the federal acquisitions workforce on combating human trafficking. And the Department of Labor has issued a Toolkit for Responsible Business to make businesses aware of child labor and forced labor in supply chains.
In closing, we note that the Special Rapporteur’s report does not address the role of technology. Does the Special Rapporteur have any thoughts on how member states can use technology to combat demand for both labor and sex trafficking?