March 8 is International Women’s Day, and the 53rd Commission on the Status of Women meets at UN Headquarters in New York March 2 – 13.When we contemplate the status of women around the world, one area of grave concern is the growth in human trafficking in recent years. Human trafficking means the forced use of human persons as a form of commerce, whether as slave labor or for sexual exploitation. Victims of sexual exploitation are predominantly women and girls, but trafficking is connected to economic, political and social forces that increase the vulnerability and desperation of the poor, of refugees and of immigrants. Women and children are the most vulnerable.
The UN calls for more to be done to reduce the vulnerability of victims of trafficking, to increase the risks to traffickers, and to lower demand for the goods and services of modern-day slaves.
You may want to send a message to the major government representatives at the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) who are members of the Bureau and your own government’s representative:
H.E. Jan Grauls (Belgium)
H.E. Julio Peralta (Paraguay)
