Soroptimists STOP Trafficking

To:  President-elect Obama

January 8, 2009

Dear President-elect Obama:

On the occasion of the 2009 National Day of Human Trafficking Awareness (January 11), we the undersigned, as represented by Soroptimist International of the Americas, write to urge you to exert the full power of your presidency to support and enforce the newly enacted William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act.

Each year approximately 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders and 75 percent of those are trafficked into the commercial sex industry—the vast majority of them women and girls. And this does not include the millions of victims who are trafficked within their own national borders. In the U.S. alone, at any given time, there are between 30,000 – 50,000 women and girls being forced against their will into sexual slavery. Women such as “Jennifer” from Oklahoma City.

After a new “friend” tricked Jennifer into coming over to his house, Jennifer was held in isolated captivity and sexually assaulted by numerous men over the course of a week. Then one night, she was ushered outside, locked in the trunk of a car and driven to a truck stop several hours away. There, upon threat of her life, she was ordered to provide sex to any man who would pay for it. Jennifer is now forced to travel from truck stop to truck stop where her nights are filled with unimaginable pain, humiliation and despair.

If we are serious about helping the countless number of women and girls who, like Jennifer, are terrorized, tortured, held in isolated captivity and forced into sexual slavery, the Wilberforce Act must be actively and passionately supported and enforced by your administration.

We know that you are as outraged as we are about the state of sex trafficking in the U.S. and the world today. We are counting on you, as president of the United States, to do all in your power to see that traffickers are prosecuted to the full extent of the law; victims of trafficking are protected and given the resources they need to rebuild their lives; and that other countries are held accountable for their inaction to end this heinous crime.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Soroptimists STOP Trafficking Petition to President-elect Obama was created by Soroptimist International of the Americas and written by Jessica Puterbaugh (jessica@soroptimist.org).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.