While in Washington D.C., international superstar Ricky Martin, a devoted activist for children’s rights, made certain to juggle his musical agenda to privately meet with various government agencies that share vital jurisdictional roles in the battle to eradicate human trafficking.
The meeting hosted by the White House was a collaborative effort between The Ricky Martin Foundation, whose mission is to advocate for the well-being of children globally, and the Department of Homeland Security. The reunion served as a roundtable among representatives from the Department of Justice, Department of Education, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Agency for International Development and Members of the White House Domestic Policy Council and Political Affairs, among others.
Mr. Martin, Goodwill Ambassador to UNICEF, as well as Ángel Saltos, President of the Ricky Martin Foundation, stressed their commitment to prevent, suppress, and punish trafficking in persons around the world with special emphasis on children. In 2004, the Foundation established People for Children as their flagship global initiative to raise public awareness through educational campaigns about child trafficking, and to influence public policy through lobbying efforts that will ultimately bring welfare and protection to this most vulnerable population.
“Putting and end to this modern-day slavery is a tantamount task only achievable through alliances,” said Mr. Martin at the meeting, prior to his music performance in Constitution Hall. “Partnerships between and among international and local non-profit organizations, governments, and individuals, and the private sector are fundamental to effectively combat this abominable crime. Children, women and men need our voice and commitment. I am a stubborn artist fortunate to have found my true mission when I visited India in 2002. My voice and the Foundation are here to serve you, to denounce and hopefully save together more lives from this despicable crime,” he added.
Whereas, Mr. Saltos as President of the Ricky Martin Foundation, thanked the White House and Mr. Carlos Iturregui of Homeland Security for convening representatives from key government agencies, and congratulated them on the enactment of the new bipartisan federal legislation dubbed Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act signed last January 10th. Mr. Saltos also thanked Ambassador John Miller for attending the meeting and for his continuous support to the Foundation.
In 2004, Ambassador Miller and Mr. Martin denounced child exploitation before the United Nations. In 2005, the Ricky Martin Foundation partnered with The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to create Spanish and English Public Service Announcements for the HHS's Rescue & Restore Victims of Human Trafficking campaign that provides a 1-800 number to victims.
“The Foundation is Mr. Martin’s vehicle to enforce children’s rights, as a facilitator and strong believer in advocacy, we believe in partners. We also thank the Interamerican Development Bank (IDB) for being here this afternoon and for supporting us from the outset. We were partners in our first campaign in Latin America to denounce sexual commercial exploitation, and we currently are working on a new campaign that includes a call to action with the support of the International Organization for Migration”, said Mr. Saltos.
He also highlighted the important role the private sector plays in social welfare, and mentioned the historical alliance forged between Microsoft Latin America and the Foundation last November regarding child safety online. In the next few months, Saltos added, “Ricky will feature two educational videos in English, Spanish and Portuguese that include user-friendly tools to prevent children from Internet hazards such as pornography, identity theft and sexual depredators, among others. The videos will initially serve teachers, parents and children across Latin America, but our
compromise is global” Saltos explained.
In the same manner that Mr. Saltos and Mr. Martin expressed their commitment to abolish this modern-day slavery, the representatives of the aforementioned agencies synthesized their efforts and current strategies to fight this scourge. They all underlined the importance of improving collaboration among multisectoral entities in order to identify and protect them against future victimization. Among immediate action plans, a Global Summit on Trafficking is in preliminary talks, as well as an awareness campaign in Mexico.
Mr. Martin said that according to UNICEF, 1.2 million children are trafficked each year around the world. Also between 50 and 60% of the children who are trafficked into sexual slavery are under the age of 16. Statistics also demonstrate that between 600,000 to 800,000 persons are victims of human trafficking across international borders, and million others fall victim within their own territory. In the United States around 14,500 to 17,500 are trafficked within the borders.
