Enhancing Women's Rights through Enlightened Public Policy

Since the nation's first feminist policy analysis, research and advocacy institution was founded, women of the United States got a stronger voice. The Center for Women Policy Studies (CWPS) aims to enforce women's rights by promoting social change and providing a unique resource centre for progressive public policy.

The fight against trafficking in human beings is one of the utmost concerns of the Center. Defining violence against women and girls as a public policy issue in the 1970's, the organization got involved with this emerging crime at an early stage.

The US PACT program is one of the most efficient tools of the Center for Women Policy Studies (CWPS) in its fight against human trafficking. It is designed as a collaboration program with US state legislators in order to enhance the protection of girls and women trafficked to the United States.

Recently CWPS has published its annual Fact Sheet on State Anti-Trafficking Laws detailing all US state anti-trafficking laws passed in 2010. These laws serve the purpose of making human trafficking a state felony offense, increasing victim support, regulating bride trafficking and sex tourism. And, some of them aim to create state-wide interagency task forces on human trafficking. The Fact Sheet in now available in the UN.GIFT.HUB Resource Centre.

In 2006 the Center initiated GlobalPOWER® (Partnership of Women Elected/Appointed Representatives), an international network to combat trafficking of human beings. The aim is to confront violations of women's human rights through addressing the "root causes" of trafficking. These are, inter alia, poverty, chattel status, and lack of government support for their most basic human rights.

For more information visit the website of CWPS.

Enhancing Women's Rights through Enlightened Public Policy
Source: www.ungift.org