Under a resolution (2010-H 7027) introduced by Rep. Joanne M. Giannini and unanimously approved by the House of Representatives yesterday, the state recognized the commemoration, which has also been declared on a federal level in a proclamation by President Barack Obama.
The proclamation is meant to call attention to the plight of many in the world, in the United States and right here in Rhode Island who are being held in modern-day slavery for the purposes of forced labor.
To this day, women, men and children are being held against their will, in fear, in suffering and in deplorable conditions, by human traffickers who benefit financially from their slavery and forced labor. We must strengthen efforts to track down and punish the perpetrators and help their victims, and we have to work harder to enact policies that prevent anyone else from victimization by this outrageously cruel underground industry.
Representative Giannini, a Democrat who represents District 7 in Providence, was the sponsor of Rhode Islands legislation, originally passed in 2007, to ban human trafficking. She has also sponsored several bills that enhanced the law, as well as last years successful legislation banning prostitution, which is an industry that relies heavily on human trafficking.