Remarks by Ambassador John E. Herbst at the Seminar
"Victims of Trafficking in Persons:
Changing Attitudes in Society and Media"
September 20, 2005
Thank you all for joining us today, and thank you for your introduction, Minister Pavlenko.
In cooperation with several Ukrainian institutions and segments of society, the United States Government supports a number of efforts against trafficking in persons. Today, I am pleased to be able to co-host this event with the Ministry of Family, Youth and Sports.
U.S. government support for combating trafficking includes technical assistance, training, and equipment. The Ukrainian government and Ukrainian and international NGO communities are also working to combat trafficking. The success of all these programs, however, hinges on one factor: victims must feel sufficiently supported by their friends, family, and neighbors -- and by their government and its legal system -- to step forward, identify traffickers, and assist in holding these traffickers accountable for their crimes.
When victims are afraid or embarrassed to step forward, it becomes very difficult to prevent trafficking, because too few people realize how easy it is to fall into the trafficking trap. Without cautionary role models, future victims are lulled into thinking, "That won't happen to me." It also becomes difficult to broadly re-integrate victims into society, because they are ashamed to identify themselves as victims to the very organizations set up to help them. Finally, if victims are afraid to step forward as witnesses, it is difficult to identify and prosecute traffickers.
When victims of trafficking feel judged by their fellow citizens and are forced to live their lives in shadow, the vicious cycle of trafficking continues unchecked. Only an active public voice can stop that cycle. Victims must speak out, and for them to speak out, we must first speak out for them. We must name trafficking as the crime that it is; we must acknowledge that victims come from all levels of society and all levels of education; we must accept that sexual exploitation is only one kind of trafficking, that the ranks of victims include men trafficked for forced labor as well as children. I am pleased to see that the Ukrainian government, representatives of the Ukrainian media, members of the international community, the NGO community, and Ukraine's religious community, as well as each individual citizen of Ukraine, are becoming part of that voice.
I hope that today's program encourages all of us to show understanding, compassion and support for the victims of trafficking. I hope that this, in turn, encourages victims to understand that they have nothing to fear from the people who are there to help them reintegrate into society and to pursue justice for those who trafficked them. These men and women need to know that if they step forward and ask for help, we will provide it, and we will do so without judging them, and without shaming them. Thank you.