Young people can help abolish “modern-day slavery,” Ambassador John Miller told about 250 people Friday night in Fisk Hall.
“You have the opportunity to join in a struggle to free fellow human beings,” Miller said. “You have the opportunity to be a part of the 21st-century abolitionist movement.”
Miller, the director of the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and senior advisor on human trafficking to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, was the keynote speaker at the Northwestern University Conference on Human Rights.
Miller talked extensively about today’s sex slavery problems, such as forced prostitution and bonded labor slavery, which is not typically discussed even though it is practiced in India. During his speech, Miller outlined possible solutions to the problem of human trafficking and also discussed what conference delegates could do individually. He said people must recognize human trafficking as a form of slavery.
“In the 19th-century American South, the words used to describe slaves were ‘field dames’ or ‘house boys,’ but they rarely used the word ‘slave,'” Miller said. “Today, we use words like ‘laborer’ or ‘sex worker.’ Let’s get our language straight: We are talking about slavery.”
Miller encouraged the audience to finish the work of 19th-century abolitionists.
“I hope you will spread the message,” he said. “Our ancestors started the abolitionist movement and thought they finished the job. Now we face different challenges.”
Miller said the audience can aid the abolitionist movement by bringing national and local attention to the problem.
“We have to keep spotlighting the issue and use the shame and embarrassment factor,” Miller said. “We have to encourage the news media to focus on the story.”
There has been some progress in the fight against slavery, Miller said. But there are still an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 humans being trafficked across international boundaries, Miller said. He said including figures for human trafficking within countries would push up the number to more than one million.
“Whether there are 600,000 or 800,000 or millions, we know that there are too many,” Miller said during the question and answer session.
NUCHR was started in 2003 by Weinberg senior Michael Chanin and 2005 Weinberg graduates Jennifer Manne and Tim Mulvey to organize yearly conferences about specific human rights issues. This year, Chanin and Weinberg senior Ben Snyder were co-chairmen, and the event drew 100 delegates from 82 different universities.
The conference helped delegates learn about trafficking through panel discussions and develop their individual skills to combat slavery, Chanin said. The conference also included a speech from Ambassador Olara Otunnu, the former U.N. special representative for children and armed conflict.
Chanin said the conference was successful because the delegates can now set up a nationwide network of Campus Coalition Against Trafficking, a grassroots activist organization.
“We were surprised and excited about how a large number of students were able to network and take what they learned at the conference to form CCATs on their own campus,” Chanin said.
Snyder said Miller was an authority on the issue of human trafficking.
“We were hoping to open the Northwestern community up to what is happening in the world, Chicago or even Evanston,” Snyder said. “It is always cool to see someone who sets the policy on the issue.”
Andrea Schrijvers, a senior at University of Delaware said she plans to work at a non-governmental organization in the Netherlands to eradicate human trafficking after she graduates. She said Miller was inspirational.
“He is really passionate about what he does,” she said. “There is an energy that comes from him and he makes you want to do something.”
Reach Ketul Patel at [email protected].
