26th Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum – Democracy, Human Rights/Trafficking and Religious Freedom

Hon. Mary Vigil highlighted her extensive work on human trafficking since 1995, involving direct engagement with victims, advocacy organizations, and roles in both the executive and legislative branches. Working with Congressman Chris Smith on the US Trafficking Victims Protection Act reauthorization, she emphasized the intersection of human trafficking with democracy, human rights, and religious freedom.

Touching on the definition of human trafficking in the US, aligning with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and the UN protocol, Hon. Vigil underscored the importance of addressing child trafficking and the inclusion of organ trafficking in the reauthorization. She emphasized the global and varied nature of human trafficking, occurring across social classes, races, ethnicities, religions, and countries. Discussing the involvement of diverse individuals, including parents, strangers, teachers, church leaders, relatives, friends, and even peers, Hon. Vigil stressed the critical role of everyone learning how to prevent, identify, and respond to human trafficking. She emphasized the need for national action plans, laws, and their implementation and enforcement in the fight against human trafficking. Pointing to the three key aspects of prosecution, prevention, and protection, she added the importance of partnerships. Hon. Vigil highlighted the significance of a Survivor Advisory Council, acknowledging survivors as experts and leaders with crucial insights. She shared ongoing efforts in the US, including a prevention education grant targeting children from kindergarten to age 18. Addressing the issue’s complexity, she reiterated the importance of the Survivor Advisory Council in shaping policy recommendations. Looking toward the future, Hon. Vigil listed several ongoing issues, such as online exploitation, organ trafficking, child labor, illicit financing, supply chain scrutiny, monitoring convicted child sex offenders globally, and training law enforcement and judges. She concluded by emphasizing the significance of enforcing sanctions to reduce trafficking and deter traffickers.