Geneva, 25 January 2013 – United States President Barrack Obama declared January 2013 as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month and recognized the efforts of individuals and organizations, such as ICMC, working to combat this “inexcusable” human rights abuse.

"Human trafficking endangers the lives of millions of people around the world, and it is a crime that knows no borders,” the presidential proclamation said. “Although abuses disproportionally affect women and girls, the victims of this ongoing global tragedy are men, women, and children of all ages.”

The declaration is aimed at increasing awareness of the more than 20 million victims of human trafficking around the world – a form of modern-day slavery. It is part of a five-year national plan, that President Obama launched in September, involving the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Justice, and Homeland Security and both government and non-government bodies to combat human trafficking and deliver services to survivors that President Obama launched in September.

ICMC, through its own programme promoting the prosecution of traffickers in Indonesia, contributes to this awareness-raising process.

In partnership with another NGO, Solidarity Center, and with funding from the U.S. Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (JTIP), this ICMC project aims to increase prosecutions and push policymakers to address remaining gaps in the implementation of anti-trafficking laws.

Among its interventions, ICMC was recently invited by the American Embassy in Jakarta, to present a training programme to promote cooperation among police, prosecutors and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in addressing trafficking in Indonesia. This collaboration allowed ICMC to educate police and prosecutors with regard to issues that arise in the shelter, care counseling, and protection of human trafficking victims.

Vanessa Matyas, ICMC Communications Officer in Geneva /lb