There are an estimated 2.5 million people in forced labour (including sexual exploitation) around the world as a result of human trafficking.
For the fourth year running, US President Barak Obama has named January as Slavery and Human Trafficking Awareness Month in an effort to spotlight the global problem.
SPP Assistant Professor Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick has been researching the issue of modern-day slaveholding for the last decade and has conducted face-to-face interviews with agricultural slaveholders whose unpaid laborers work the fields of their modest farms. To many Westerners, the very word “slaveholder” is terrifying and conjures images of cruel, abusive tyrants. However, even as the world underscores its commitment to protecting human rights, everyday realities differ based on culture, geography, and local law enforcement.
On January 15, the Human RightS Initiative (HRSI) in collaboration with SPP hosted a panel discussion on Human Trafficking and Modern Day Slavery. You can watch a video of the discussion here.
Click here to read more about Choi-Fitzpatrick's work.
This term at SPP, Choi-Fitzpatrick will teach a class entitled Human Trafficking and Contemporary Slavery which will bring students of the two-year Master of Public Administration program together with the issue.
He has also edited a book entitled From HUman Trafficking to Human Rights: Reframing Contemporary Slavery which you can read online at Project Muse.
If you would like to learn more about Slavery and Human Trafficking Awareness Month and the work of some organizations fighting to end modern-day slavery you can visit the following: