Of all the voiceless people on Earth, I can think of few more unfortunate than the multitudes — mostly women and children — who toil as modern-day slaves. They typically suffer cruelty, deprivation of their rights and unspeakable living conditions. And they face only two certainties, both unpleasant: that they will wake up tomorrow to [...]

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Facing the old slave market from the sea, you can try to imagine what it was like to arrive here as a captive in the 1500s, with a future of forced servitude as your fate. You can try, but you can never grasp the totality of the horror. In those long-gone [...]

When President-elect Barack Obama uttered the word “slavery” in a historical reference during his post-election acceptance speech, I could not avoid making a connection to modern victims of forced servitude around the world.
Slavery is not a relic of the past. Indeed, the problem – also known as human trafficking – has reached epidemic proportions, subjugating [...]

President-elect Barack Obama has already demonstrated a sensible impulse: to make haste slowly as he prepares to tackle the nation’s pressing issues in a pro-active, bipartisan manner. His next steps will be most effective if they captivate, inspire, energize and assist Americans.
Obama has no choice about the No. 1 priority, the economy. He cannot avoid [...]

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — The slaves who once stared with terror at prospective buyers in the covered market here in America’s oldest city may be long gone, but tens of millions of their 21st-century brethren wear similar desperate expressions all over the world, including in the United States.
How can we tolerate such a disgrace? How [...]

WASHINGTON — More than two centuries after America’s first president, George Washington, dramatically freed his personal slaves, President George W. Bush grapples with the issue of involuntarily subjugated people. So will his successor, which leads me to ask:
Will human trafficking, as it is now known, ever end? Equally important, does anyone care?

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – In 1799, George Washington, America’s first president, personally took an important but still-debated step against one of the most despicable practices in human society: slavery.

When slavery first entered my consciousness long ago, I was most shocked by the plight of the unfortunate people who, against their will, found themselves subjected to unspeakable horrors. I also could not fathom the behavior of those who engaged in the exploitation – from the slave-traders themselves to those who abetted them.
Then, about 15 [...]