Human Trafficking Has No Place in Our World

— -- Human trafficking is "the world's third-most lucrative illegal commercial activity," according to the U.S. Agency for International Development. UNICEF estimates as many as 2 million people are exploited each year for sex or forced labor, more than half of them children. This week, pop music star and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Ricky Martin testified at congressional hearings in Washington about this scourge.

WASHINGTON, D.C., Sept. 26, 2006— It is very hard to look away from a child in need.

It is hard to look into his or her eyes and not feel compelled to act on their behalf.

Yet for some reason while the eyes of one compel us to act, the unseen eyes of millions in similar strife are surprisingly easy to ignore.

This is the plight of too many children who have fallen victim to a practice many thought was a relic of another time.

In the 21st century, we use terms like "human trafficking" to describe what has become a multibillion-dollar industry.

Make no mistake, be it for sex, sweatshops or mines, this is modern-day slavery.

It is an ugly term and an even uglier problem, and not one confined to countries that thrive on the much publicized sex trade.

This is an issue for every country on the planet in 2006.

There isn't a single nation not entangled in child trafficking as a source, a destination or a transit point.

I had a unique encounter with this tragedy on a trip to Calcutta, India, more than four years ago.

There on the street, I met three little girls. They were street kids. Three of thousands who roam the alleys scraping out an existence at an age when most kids are learning to ride a bike.

They were headed for a life of forced prostitution, when my team intervened.

At a time when children should be learning to read and write, they were forced into the world of trafficking.

Public safety officials, designated to protect, are often paid to look the other way or worse, to cooperate in this criminal activity.

When we were educated on the scope and the depth of this problem, we returned home determined that saving three was nowhere near enough.

I have spent the last several days in Washington, D.C., urging lawmakers to remember the faces of the lost and reminding them that this a problem with solutions.

But the solutions require the United States to become a leader and a good international partner in ongoing efforts. That means at a minimum:

Calling for global standards for birth certificates. Without documentation, children can easily become invisible.

Expanding federally funded initiatives to prevent child exploitation on the Internet.

Signing the Charter of the Convention of Rights of the Child.

Until we here in the United States and the broader world community acknowledge this is a real problem, we will never effectively eliminate it.

Let us begin to fight this battle with real policy change and real action.

Let us work together to create a world in which the basic rights of all individuals are respected, and our children can be safe and live without fear.

Human trafficking has no place in our world today.

React. It's time.

Ricky Martin is a Grammy Award-winning singer and president of the Ricky Martin Foundation. For more information, please go to www.rickymartinfoundation.org