The Current

Advocacy News + Updates

Today, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo released the 2018 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, a critical tool to shed light on the present state of human trafficking around the world. This is a unique opportunity to educate your community about this crime by writing a Letter to the Editor. (It's easy—everything you need is below!)

The release of this report is a major milestone in the abolitionist community. It is also a great opportunity to raise the profile of this issue with your elected officials.

Policy makers pay attention to Letters to the Editor—one of the most read sections of the paper—so they are an important advocacy tool. Follow these simple instructions to submit your own Letter to the Editor today! Let us know if you submit one—and if it’s published!—by emailing advocacy@ijm.org.

How to Submit Your Letter to the Editor:

1. Look up your local newspaper’s website or call to find the email address for submitting Letters to the Editor.

2. If your paper has covered the TIP Report release or a related topic, start your letter with the following format: “Your article, ‘TITLE, by AUTHOR, on DATE…”

3. Feel free to rely on the draft text below. If you have time, add a line or two to personalize it. Keep the overall length to about 150 words.

4. Include your name, title/affiliation (if relevant), and contact information.

Important Tip: Speed is (almost) everything! Editors receive hundreds of letters every day. Often deciding which ones to print boils down to timing. Responding to a news story the same day it was printed will greatly increase your chance of getting published.

Draft Text

To the editor:

It would surprise most Americans to know that slavery still exists… it surprised me. In fact, right now, more than 40 million people are someone else’s property—enslaved in factories, fishing boats, and brothels. On [DAY], the U.S.  State Department released the 2018 Trafficking in Persons Report, which shines a spotlight on human trafficking, and ranks 188 countries on their efforts to bring an end this crime within their borders. It is essential that this annual report tell the truth about slavery so we can effectively work towards a world where everyone is free. The Trump Administration and Congress should utilize U.S. diplomacy and foreign aid to combat slavery, specifically by protecting the integrity of the report, reauthorizing the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, appointing a new Ambassador to head the Trafficking in Persons office, and fully funding U.S. efforts to bring an end to this stoppable crime.


After writing your Letter to the Editor, keep sharing this news!

Reach out to your members of Congress directly on Twitter.

Access the full 2018 TIP Report here.