National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, 2012

Proclamation 8772 of December 30, 2011

National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention
Month, 2012

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Nearly a century and a half ago, President Abraham
Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation--a
document that reaffirmed the noble goals of equality
and freedom for all that lie at the heart of what it
means to live in America. In the years since, we have
tirelessly pursued the realization and protection of
these essential principles. Yet, despite our successes,
thousands of individuals living in the United States
and still more abroad suffer in silence under the
intolerable yoke of modern slavery. During National
Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, we
stand with all those who are held in compelled service;
we recognize the people, organizations, and government
entities that are working to combat human trafficking;
and we recommit to bringing an end to this inexcusable
human rights abuse.

Human trafficking endangers the lives of millions of
people around the world, and it is a crime that knows
no borders. Trafficking networks operate both
domestically and transnationally, and although abuses
disproportionally affect women and girls, the victims
of this ongoing global tragedy are men, women, and
children of all ages. Around the world, we are
monitoring the progress of governments in combating
trafficking while supporting programs aimed at its
eradication. From forced labor and debt bondage to
forced commercial sexual exploitation and involuntary
domestic servitude, human trafficking leaves no country
untouched. With this knowledge, we rededicate ourselves
to forging robust international partnerships that
strengthen global anti-trafficking efforts, and to
confronting traffickers here at home.

My Administration continues to implement our
comprehensive strategy to combat human trafficking in
America. By coordinating our response across Federal
agencies, we are working to protect victims of human
trafficking with effective services and support,
prosecute traffickers through consistent enforcement,
and prevent human rights abuses by furthering public
awareness and addressing the root causes of modern
slavery. The steadfast defense of human rights is an
essential part of our national identity, and as long as
individuals suffer the violence of slavery and human
trafficking, we must continue the fight.

With the start of each year, we commemorate the
anniversaries of the Emancipation Proclamation, which
became effective on January 1, 1863, and the 13th
Amendment to abolish slavery, which was signed by
President Abraham Lincoln and submitted to the States
for ratification on February 1, 1865. These documents
stand as testaments to the gains we have made in
pursuit of freedom and justice for all, and they remind
us of the work that remains to be done. This month, I
urge all Americans to educate themselves about all
forms of modern slavery and the signs and consequences
of human trafficking. Together, and in cooperation with
our partners around the world, we can work to end this
terrible injustice and protect the rights to life and
liberty entrusted to us by our forebears and owed to
our children.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the
United States, do hereby proclaim January 2012 as
National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention
Month, culminating in the annual celebration of
National Freedom Day on February 1. I call upon the
people of the United States to recognize the vital role
we can play in ending modern slavery and to observe
this month with appropriate programs and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirtieth day of December, in the year of our Lord two
thousand eleven, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.