Human Trafficking and the Bush administration

In yesterday's NY Times, Nicholas Kristof writes a column giving the Bush administration credit for attempting to curb human trafficking. As he writes:

Yet there is one area where Mr. Bush is making a historic contribution: he is devoting much more money and attention to human trafficking than his predecessors. Just as one of Jimmy Carter's great legacies was putting human rights squarely on the international agenda, Mr. Bush is doing the same for slave labor.
We don't tend to think of trafficking as a top concern, so Mr. Bush hasn't gotten much credit. But it's difficult to think of a human rights issue that could be more important than sex trafficking and the other kinds of neo-slavery that engulf millions of people around the world, leaving many of them dead of AIDS by their early 20's.

To be fair, this administration has done a lot to try to put a stop to the sex trade and the slavery of our time. However, I don't understand why the administration doesn't do a better job publicizing their efforts to try to get even more resources devoted to the cause. Maybe their message just doesn't make it through the media's filter that produces nothing but crap, but I think a more focused PR campaign highlighting successes in this area could lead to more private donations and support.

To read the full column by Kristof, click here.

--Tom Hayes