Editor,
The Reproductive Justice Coalition of UNM would like to call attention to a global issue that is currently being discussed in the New Mexico Legislature.
Senate Bill 71, dealing with human trafficking, has been introduced by Senate Majority Whip Mary Jane Garcia, a Doña Ana Democrat, to outlaw human trafficking, and was endorsed unanimously by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill will create a new criminal offense of human trafficking and a task force to combat it within the state.
New Mexico is one of the few states without specific laws to address this problem. Human trafficking is defined as recruiting, enticing, soliciting or obtaining another person knowing that force, fraud or coercion will be used to subject them to labor, services or commercial sexual activity; obtaining a person under 18 knowing they will be caused to engage in commercial sexual activity or benefiting financially from the above.
It differs from human smuggling in that it is nonconsensual and need not involve transportation from place to place. It is a modern form of slavery whose invisible chains take the form of psychological and legal coercion, including threats of violence against the victims and their families, threats of deportation and threats of reporting victims to the police.
Trafficking violates one of the most fundamental human rights - the freedom of movement. The U.S. government estimates that 14,500 to 17,500 people are trafficked into the U.S. every year. Asia is the largest source region with an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 people trafficked from there to the U.S. annually, according to a government report.
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Another report estimates that at any given time, there are 10,000 people enslaved in the U.S. The largest country of origin was China, followed by Mexico and Vietnam.
The Reproductive Justice Coalition at UNM invites you to show your support for the bill by joining us Monday between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. in Smith Plaza. We will have information available about the bill and human trafficking, what you can do to help and other ways to get involved with our organization this semester.
We would like to encourage you to contact your state representatives and senators about supporting this issue, and we will have their contact information available Monday. The legislative session ends Feb. 15, so act now.
Molly Maguire-Marshall
Reproductive Justice
Coalition of New Mexico
