Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States (1977-81) is known
for living his convictions. Although Carter may not be considered
the greatest president, only a naive person would deny Carter’s commitment to
the higher ideals of the United States. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for
Peace in 2002.
Recently while listening to
television, I heard President Carter speak about his new book A Call to
Action. I respect Carter as a former
president but had not really thought about him in years. As I listened to him I
was impressed. He is a “statesman,” a man with ability, qualifications,
wisdom and skill in public affairs. One
could call Jimmy Carter a global statesman for his work on “The Global Water Crisis and Guinea Worm Disease.”
Carter’s most recent book,
published Simon & Schuster (March 25, 2014), is titled, A Call to Action. “His urgent report covers a system of discrimination that
extends to every nation. Women are deprived of equal opportunity in wealthier
nations and “owned” by men in others, forced to suffer servitude, child
marriage, and genital cutting. The most vulnerable, along with their children,
are trapped in war and violence.” The book discusses “the suffering inflicted
upon women by a false interpretation of carefully selected religious texts and
a growing tolerance of violence and warfare. Key verses are often omitted or
quoted out of context by male religious leaders to exalt the status of men and
exclude women. And in nations that accept or even glorify violence, this
perceived inequality becomes the basis for abuse.”
President Carter, who is known
for living his spiritual and religious convictions, “was encouraged to write
this book by a wide coalition of leaders of all faiths. President Carter and
his wife, Rosalyn, have visited 145 countries, and The Carter Center has had
active projects in more than half of them. Around the world, they have seen
inequality rising rapidly with each passing decade. This is true in both rich
and poor countries, and among the citizens within them.”
Carter’s book presents the
facts on human trafficking in developed and undeveloped nations. Seemingly, no
nation is free of trafficking and I am sad to say trafficking occurs in my own
city in the quiet middle of the U. S.
Trafficking of persons is the
crime of displacing people with a view to exploiting them. People are lured,
moved to a totally new place and used for crimes like prostitution, drug
peddling, slavery, and even removal of organs. It involves recruiting,
transporting, transferring of persons by means of threat or use of force or
other forms of coercion.
Human
Trafficking Worldwide
• 27
million - Number of people in modern-day slavery across the world
• 12.3
million - Number of adults and children in forced labor around the world
• 49,105
- Number of human trafficking victims around the world who have been identified
• 1.8
per 1,000 inhabitants - Prevalence of trafficking victims in the world
• 1:9
- Ratio of sex trafficking victims to labor trafficking victims, globally
• 800,000
– Number of people trafficked across international borders every year, as of
2007
• 2
million – Number of children exploited by the global commercial sex trade
• 1.2
million – Number of children trafficked globally in 2000
• 80%
– Percent of transnational victims who are women and girls
• 50%
– Percent of transnational victims who are minors
• At
least 56% - Percent of trafficking victims globally who are women
Human
trafficking will only end when good people say, “No More.” Economic and
physical slavery of people cannot be tolerated. Carter’s book has suggestions
for action. We all need to accept responsibility for our sphere of influence. In
my city, St. Louis, hotel and motel workers are trained to recognize the signs
of trafficking so that local police can be notified. A local agency, the
International Institute, helps immigrants by providing programs and help for those
trying to escape victimization. The Salvation Army is active nationwide in the
cause against trafficking.
Jimmy Carter Quotes
Our American values are not
luxuries, but necessities -- not the salt in our bread, but the bread itself.
JIMMY CARTER, Farewell Address, Jan. 14, 1981
War may sometimes be a
necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a
good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's
children.
JIMMY CARTER, Nobel Lecture, Dec. 10, 2002
To be true to ourselves, we
must be true to others.
JIMMY CARTER, Inaugural Address, Jan. 20, 1977
We should live our lives as
though Christ were coming this afternoon.
JIMMY CARTER, speech, Mar. 1976
We cannot resort to
simplistic or extreme solutions, which substitute myths for common sense.
JIMMY CARTER, State of the Union Address, Jan. 25, 1979
America did not invent
human rights. In a very real sense, it is the other way round. Human rights
invented America.
JIMMY CARTER, Farewell Address, Jan. 14, 1981
Because we are free we can
never be indifferent to the fate of freedom elsewhere. Our moral sense dictates
a clear-cut preference for these societies, which share with us an abiding
respect for individual human rights. We do not seek to intimidate, but it is
clear that a world, which others can dominate with impunity, would be
inhospitable to decency and a threat to the well being of all people.
JIMMY CARTER, Inaugural Address, Jan. 20, 1977
http://www.handsacrosstheworldmn.org/resources/Human+Trafficking+Statistics.pdf
Good article to raise awareness.
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