The Latin American and Iberian Institute at the University of New Mexico presents, “Modern-Day Slavery in the Americas: A regional approach to a global epidemic,” Wednesday-Friday, April 1-3, at the Sheraton Albuquerque Uptown Hotel, 2600 Louisiana Blvd. NE. The event is free, but registration is required.
Human trafficking is a form of slavery where people – mostly women and children – are bought, sold, and transported against their will, in order to exploit their labor or sexual services. An estimated 27 million people are in bondage globally, and some 4 million are victimized each year through a trade that generates almost $10 billion in annual revenue.
One of the most heavily trafficked regions in the world is the U.S.-Mexico border, where:
· Black-market smuggling of drugs, guns, and undocumented immigrants creates a fertile context for human trafficking.
· An estimated 17,000 people are trafficked into the United States from Mexico each year.
· The growing threat to regional security has led the U.S. to commit $8.2 million in foreign aid to help Mexico combat trafficking along its northern border.
Addressing the problem requires a multi-pronged approach in which researchers, legislators, law enforcement officials, service providers, and victims’ advocacy groups from both sides of the border coordinate their efforts.
Susan Tiano, interim director of the LAII, said, “Our goal is to bring together researchers, policy-makers, law enforcement and U.S. and Mexican service providers to consider the latest information on the causes, consequences and best practices for addressing human trafficking and modern-day slavery.”
She added that the conference will be an opportunity to look at the similarities and differences in the ways humans are trafficked on the U.S-Mexico border compared to other regions of the world.
“We want to engage in thoughtful dialog to increase awareness of the challenges and promote collaboration in addressing them,” Tiano said.
Tiano said they plan to produce written materials on best practices to be used by legislators, law enforcement and service providers. “We also plan to produce a scholarly volume on trafficking and slavery on the U.S.-Mexico border to help address the lacuna of theory and research on this misunderstood issue,” she said.
For more information or to register visit: Modern Day Slavery Conference .
The conference is sponsored by UNM LAII, the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) and the Mexican Consulate of Albuquerque.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu