It’s not uncommon to get riled up when you realize that what you’re talking about isn’t some piece of meat but rather an actual person; someone’s daughter, mother or neighbor. This was all too obvious inside the Rayburn Home Office Building room that I found myself in. One extra hot topic: Vietnam. Tempers flared as the pressure was directed towards the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons to move Vietnam’s 2009 tier ranking from Tier 2 to Tier 3 in the soon to be released 2010 Trafficking in Persons Report (Can’t wait? See the 2009 report here). U.S.

Human Trafficking is defined as “the recruitment and transportation of persons within or across boundaries by force, fraud or deception for the purpose of exploiting them economically.”  (For a more in depth definition of the issue, check out Understanding Slavery and Trafficking).  As the definition implies, modern slavery knows no geographical or social boundaries.  It affects citizens of every country and people of every race and religion.  For many trafficking victims, it is the promise of a good job and education that induces them to leave their homes and families only to end up half way around the world trapped in someone’s basement to be farmed out as a domestic servant during the day or forced to work in

For years, ILRF's Rights for Working Women campaign has worked to end the abuses women face in the workplace.  For example, our Fairness in Flowers campaign focuses on eliminating sexual harassment, forced pregnancy tests, poor occupational health conditions and violations of trade union rights in the production of cut flowers in Ecuador and Colombia.  You can learn more about the abuses women face in this industry by reading this report by ILRF and USLEAP.  You can find out how to supp