US Fund for UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Lucy Liu speaks out against child trafficking at a symposium organized by the US Agency for International Development in Washington, DC. (Photo: USAID/2009)Source: UNICEF
WASHINGTON DC, 18 September 2009 – US Fund for UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Lucy Liu delivered an impassioned speech here this week to raise awareness about the estimated 1.2 million children who are trafficked worldwide every year.
The internationally acclaimed actress and humanitarian activist spoke at a symposium organized by the US Agency for International Development on 16 September.
Ms. Liu has become increasingly involved in efforts to end child trafficking since her appointment as a Goodwill Ambassador in 2004. She recently produced a documentary film, ‘Red Light’, which focuses on the issue of trafficking in Cambodia.
Effects on women and girls
At the USAID event, Ms. Liu described girls’ experience of being trafficked, both globally and in the United States.
“With no options and not enough protection,” she said, “the world’s poorest children are being recruited more and more into a gruesome array of practices that include trafficking for sex, soldiering, begging, scavenging, working in factories and on farms, and domestic servitude.”
As Ms. Liu pointed out, the most common form of human trafficking, by far, is for sexual exploitation, whose victims are predominantly women and girls. Trafficking for forced labour is the next most common form.
Creating a ‘protective environment’
Other speakers at the trafficking symposium included USAID Acting Administrator Alonzo Fulgham, Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons Luis CdeBaca and Carlson Companies CEO Marilyn Carlson Nelson.
The participants noted that statistics on trafficking are difficult to gather and often unreliable. Children trafficked into domestic work, for example, are hard to document because servitude in private homes is often hidden from public view and unregulated.
UNICEF’s efforts to protect children from trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation and other forms of abuse focus on creating a ‘protective environment’ for them. In such an environment, people at all levels of society work to enforce protective laws. They also educate children, educators and social service providers about how to prevent and respond to abuse, and challenge discrimination.
“I truly believe there is hope,” said Ms. Liu. “I believe this because of devoted workers and individuals around the world in organizations like UNICEF and USAID.”
The internationally acclaimed actress and humanitarian activist spoke at a symposium organized by the US Agency for International Development on 16 September.
Ms. Liu has become increasingly involved in efforts to end child trafficking since her appointment as a Goodwill Ambassador in 2004. She recently produced a documentary film, ‘Red Light’, which focuses on the issue of trafficking in Cambodia.
Effects on women and girls
At the USAID event, Ms. Liu described girls’ experience of being trafficked, both globally and in the United States.
“With no options and not enough protection,” she said, “the world’s poorest children are being recruited more and more into a gruesome array of practices that include trafficking for sex, soldiering, begging, scavenging, working in factories and on farms, and domestic servitude.”
As Ms. Liu pointed out, the most common form of human trafficking, by far, is for sexual exploitation, whose victims are predominantly women and girls. Trafficking for forced labour is the next most common form.
Creating a ‘protective environment’
Other speakers at the trafficking symposium included USAID Acting Administrator Alonzo Fulgham, Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons Luis CdeBaca and Carlson Companies CEO Marilyn Carlson Nelson.
The participants noted that statistics on trafficking are difficult to gather and often unreliable. Children trafficked into domestic work, for example, are hard to document because servitude in private homes is often hidden from public view and unregulated.
UNICEF’s efforts to protect children from trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation and other forms of abuse focus on creating a ‘protective environment’ for them. In such an environment, people at all levels of society work to enforce protective laws. They also educate children, educators and social service providers about how to prevent and respond to abuse, and challenge discrimination.
“I truly believe there is hope,” said Ms. Liu. “I believe this because of devoted workers and individuals around the world in organizations like UNICEF and USAID.”
6 comments:
I like Lucy now much more than I ever before.
Lucy Liu is a Bitch saying Cambodia is a dirty place on earth on CNN.
Why she doesn't go bakc living in China? Because China got more polution than other country in the world.
gno gnoy nai lucy liu. you are a wonderful person, you can say cambodia a dirty place any time. Thanks for bringing about the attention of truth and reality.
11:14 PM,
Lucy Liu is a very beautiful American Lady and she is not Chinese. It was great to see her criticized Hun Sen government how dirty place of Cambodia is under Hun Sen thugs.
Dear Lucy Liu
That good thing to say about the rality of life of humanity, I love you and your idea.
I love my people so much I want to see their smile from heart not cry by fear.goof luck Lucy Liu
If our government wants to really cleaning up Cambodia, all they have to do, is reading trip advisors' comments. There are plently of thing to do and to improve, but they couldn't careless. Hopefully Ms. Lucy is getting them somewhere.
Another thing is, we seem to be so used to being poor and dirty and it didn't matter, if the garbage gets piled up one mile from the ground or if it's stink like sewage tank everywhere. Blaim it on Prahok or Krorpik.. Did it smell any different? It's the culture of being opposit to the rich country and the leader that deosn't have the mentality to really help changing it. Being dumb or stuburn? both.
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