LAW DAY 2013
contact with trafficking victims understand the reality and
impact of this growing problem —from showing how trauma
affects victims to illustrating the barriers they encounter in
accessing help and resources.
bar associations to engage members of the legal profession
in raising awareness of trafficking in their communities
and work to provide pro bono legal services to victims of
trafficking through organizations like GAIN
According to the Polaris Project, one of the leading
organizations in the global fight against human trafficking
and modern-day slavery, Georgia has passed numerous
laws to combat sex and labor trafficking but still have some
important statutes pending. We urge lawmakers in Georgia
to vote to require certain businesses and establishments to
post a notice with the national human trafficking hotline to
enable victims of trafficking to become aware of and obtain
help. We urge lawmakers to also vote to create the Safe
Harbor for Sexually Exploited Children Fund, and to assign
penalties and fees to guilty offenders in order to fund it.
I hope Gloria’s story, and the initiatives I outlined to combat
human trafficking, motivate you to join our effort. Together,
we can end the exploitation and abuse that defines human
trafficking and shatters the lives of hundreds of thousands
of people and their families in our own country and millions
throughout our world.
The battle for justice in Gloria’s case was a team effort.
An attorney with GAIN provided legal representation;
bilingual behavioral health clinicians from the Clinic for
Education, Treatment and Prevention of Addiction (CETPA)
provided counseling services; and Tapestri assisted with
transportation, translation services and access to public
benefits. This demonstrates that not only is help from lawyers
needed stop the trafficking, but also additional assistance is
paramount to keeping them protected. We encourage local
The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association
This year marks 150 years since the Emancipation
Proclamation went into effect. President Lincoln promised
a nation free of slavery — a nation where all are bestowed
with the equal rights and opportunities that every person
deserves. Lincoln’s promise, however, has yet to be fulfilled.
In the Emancipation Proclamation, President Lincoln made a
promise, a promise for the freedom of the slaves of his time.
But he also made a promise for the future. “I do order,” his
proclamation read, “that all persons held as slaves ... are,
and henceforward shall be free.”
Let us unite now to abolish slavery in the United States!
Laurel Bellows is president of the American Bar Association.
Contact her at [email protected]. ▪
April 2013
THE ATLANTA LAWYER
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