Originally posted 11/5/2009
MIAMI – State Senator Arthenia Joyner (D-Tampa), the chief legislative architect behind the creation of the Florida Statewide Taskforce on Human Trafficking, will be the keynote speaker at a two-day summit on human trafficking and slavery scheduled to begin Wednesday in Miami.
The summit, convened by DCF Secretary George Sheldon and FDLE Commissioner Gerald M. Bailey, will focus attention on the problem of human trafficking in advance of the first meeting of the task force, set for Friday.
“While many people may have heard of human trafficking, they tend to think of it as occurring primarily in hidden, backstreet operations in Asia or Europe,” said Sen. Joyner. “Unfortunately, Florida is among the top geographical hotspots for this illegal and immoral activity. This convening of the summit, followed by the task force, aims at helping Florida emerge as an international pioneer in stopping the human slave trade.”
Senator Joyner, whose task force legislation (Senate Bill 168) won passage earlier this year, will join Ambassador Luis CdeBaca, director of the U.S Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, along with Secretary Sheldon and Commissioner Bailey in addressing human rights advocates, law enforcement officers, and other summit participants. Her speech will be delivered on Thursday.
Both the summit and the task force are expected to concentrate on such issues as coordinating local, state and federal law enforcement efforts, boosting and expanding current penalties involving traffickers, as well as prevention, victim services, and public awareness.
According to the latest statistics, human trafficking is now the third most profitable criminal activity, surpassed only by the arms and drug trades. Worldwide, it generates an estimated $10 billion annually, involved not only in forced prostitution, but the migrant farm labor and hotel and tourism industries, among others.
Over the last few years, Florida has consistently ranked among the top four states in the country for the number of people trafficked.
http://www.theweeklychallenger.com/news/Article/Article.asp?NewsID=99969&sID=13
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