Thursday, April 25, 2013

Administration invites help in battling human trafficking

Excerpted from "Working Together to Support Victims of Human Trafficking," April 9, 2013, U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security blog by DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano - This morning, I joined Senior Advisor to President Obama Valerie Jarrett and Attorney General Eric Holder at the White House Forum on Combating Human Trafficking where we announced the Administration’s latest effort to combat the hidden crime of human trafficking and help victims of human trafficking. During the Forum, we released a draft Federal Strategic Action Plan on Services for Victims of Human Trafficking, which will be open for public comment for 45 days.

Developed collaboratively with Federal partners including the Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services, and Labor, and with leadership and guidance from the White House, this plan will better coordinate efforts across the Federal government to identify, rescue and support victims. You can view the Plan and provide your comments here. When final, the Plan will complement and advance anti-trafficking efforts already underway at DHS.

Nearly three years ago, we launched the DHS Blue Campaign to unite the Department’s effort to combat human trafficking and leverage our relationships with other federal agencies, state, local, tribal and territorial law enforcement, non-governmental organizations, the private sector and international partners.

Last year alone, we received more tips through the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) tip line than ever before, investigated a historic amount of cases and rescued more victims of human trafficking, and provided support to over 1,200 human trafficking victims. We have also expanded our victim assistance program, and will continue to make combating human trafficking a priority.

Working together, we can take comprehensive action to stop this terrible crime, rescue victims and put perpetrators behind bars. We look forward to receiving your feedback. To learn more about human trafficking and what you can do, please visit www.dhs.gov/bluecampaign and the Blue Campaign Facebook page.

Commentary


Jeffery Barrows, DOJeff Barrows, DO, MA - CMDA anti-trafficking education contributor and Director, Abolition International Shelter Association: “This blog post by Secretary Napolitano announces the recent release of a draft Federal Strategic Action Plan on Services for Victims of Human Trafficking by the federal government as well as an opportunity for the public to submit comments regarding the 'Plan'. CMA is in the process of finalizing its comments for submission pointing out two critical items. First of all, as one of the few professions to regularly encounter victims of trafficking, healthcare professionals play a critical role in identifying and freeing these modern day slaves from their captivity. Second, for several years CMA has been playing a lead role in educating healthcare professionals on the issue of human trafficking. A small group of CMA members have put together a series of 11 online educational modules geared specifically to the healthcare professional that teach in depth about the issue of human trafficking and how to identify a victim within the healthcare setting. These are available for CME and can be found at cmda.org/tip. As healthcare professionals and members of CMA, you have a role to play in helping to end modern day slavery. Consider submitting your comments on the 'Plan' here."

Resources
CMDA Human Trafficking CME/CDE modules
CMDA Resource Page for Human Trafficking

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