This Commission examined an escalating human rights problem in the OSCE region: the trafficking of women and children for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Trafficking in human beings is a form of modern-day slavery. When a woman or child is trafficked or sexually exploited by force, fraud, or coercion for commercial gain, she is denied the most basic human rights enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and numerous international human rights agreements. Although trafficking has been a problem for many years in Asian countries, it was not until the end of communism in East-Central Europe and the break-up of the Soviet Union that a sex trade in the OSCE region began to develop. The hearing looked into the U.S. and the global response to this appalling human challenge and what else could be done to address it.
Member
Hon. Chris Smith
Chairman
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
Witnesses
Anita Botti
Deputy Director for International Women's Initiatives
President’s Interagency Council on Women
Steven Galster
Executive Director
Global Survival Network
Louise Shelley
Director
Center for the Study of Transnational Crime and Corruption
Laura Lederer
Director
The Protection Project
Wendy Young
Washington Liaison and Staff Attourney
Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children
Relevant Issues
Relevant Countries
Leadership
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