The Current

Today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released the 2012 Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP Report), a diplomatic tool used to fight human trafficking around the world. Tomorrow, we’ll give an update on the release of the TIP Report, but today we wanted to give you an opportunity to take action!

A Letter to the Editor is typically written in response to an event recently covered in the newspaper.  Many papers will cover the launch of the 2012 Trafficking in Persons Report, and this is a great opportunity to respond.  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. 

You can use or edit the draft text below and 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 JusticeCampaigns@ijm.org.

Instructions for submitting 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 150-200 words.
4. Include your name, title/affiliation (if relevant), and contact information.
5. 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:

On Tuesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released the 2012 Trafficking in Persons Report, which ranks 184 countries on their efforts to combat human trafficking, including the United States. While the U.S. has long been a global leader in the fight against modern-day slavery, this Congress has thus far failed to pass a critical piece of anti-trafficking legislation: The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. This bill renews the landmark TVPA of 2000, which made human trafficking a federal crime and established the Trafficking in Persons Office to combat trafficking internationally. Fighting slavery has always been a rare point of bipartisan cooperation in Washington. As we approach the anniversary of our nation’s founding—a nation “conceived in liberty,” in the words of President Lincoln—Congress should come together again to rid the world of slavery, once and for all.

Eileen Campbell is the Director of Justice Campaigns for International Justice Mission. Justice Campaigns mobilizes people around the country in support of U.S. policies that will lead to the abolition of human trafficking and modern-day slavery.