One of the greatest tragedies imaginable today is the phenomenon known as human trafficking. Young people are sold into a modern form of slavery, often into lives of prostitution at home and abroad.

The American Bar Association is working with a number of nations to eliminate this dreadful injustice. Last month, I had the honor and privilege to see these efforts close up during a presidential trip to Ecuador.

This inaugural President’s Journal is devoted to the issues raised by that trip. Organized by the ABA’s Latin America & Caribbean Law Initiatives Council (LALIC), the visit revealed that dramatic progress is being made.

Barely a year ago, human trafficking was not even a crime in Ecuador. With the help of the ABA, legislation has been enacted, and prosecutors are being empowered to crack down on human traffickers. The significance of our work is outlined in an e-mail from an Ecuadorian prosecutor.

Human trafficking was one of the key topics during visits with Ecuador’s president, Alfredo Palacio; Supreme Court President Jose Vicente Troya; Director General for Human Rights Augusto Saa; Solicitor General Jose Maria Borja; and Attorney General Cecilia Armas

Without doubt, the most moving moment came at a shelter for young girls who had been sold into prostitution. One girl, just 13 years old, hopped into my lap, holding her own little baby. As tragic as their lives had been, they were like any other young girls—playful, generous and grateful for the protection this shelter offered. A photograph and a letter from the shelter’s operators depict this visit further.

LALIC is part of the ABA’s ongoing effort to expand the rule of law at home and abroad. As I said in a speech (PDF) at the Catholic University of Quito School of Law, “The ABA recognizes that the rule of law is the single best guarantor of stability, economic prosperity, good governance and respect for the dignity and well-being of a nation’s citizens.”

The ABA's work in Ecuador is funded by the GTIP Office of the US Dept of State.

To learn more about this trip, and about the modern-day slavery we are working to eradicate, you can link to an audio interview, or to a written fact sheet on human trafficking.