HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says it's an issue with 'no gray area.' Pols push to end child sex trafficking

BALTIMORE — Lawmakers, administration officials and activists pledged to move forward on combating child sex trafficking at a conference here on Wednesday.

“We live in an age where not many issues are black and white, but I would say this is one where there’s no gray area,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said. “Where the incomprehensible evil of child trafficking has to be brought to a halt. And as our president has said, caring for our children is our first job. It’s how as a society we’ll be judged. We cannot and must not let these children down.”


Sebelius was one of a slew of high-profile speakers from across the political spectrum at the Symposium on Meeting the Needs of Child Trafficking Survivors, held at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. That institution was a co-sponsor of the conference, along with the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women initiative and the Advisory Council on Child Trafficking. Other speakers included Democratic Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and Republican Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell.

Both put aside partisan differences to appear within minutes of each other at the conference. Both highlighted the work their states have done to combat trafficking.

“I think symposiums like today … that are obviously events of a remarkable amount of bipartisan cooperation, the president leading at the federal level, governors at the state level and many of you at the level of clinician and community activist,” McDonnell said. “I think this is what we need.”

O’Malley is considered a potential 2016 presidential contender, though he told POLITICO he wouldn’t discuss the election. Instead, he highlighted the importance of increased collaboration between a variety of participants in the realm of public health — something often facilitated by technology.

“What we need to strive for as we move forward on this issue and so many others, I believe, is an embracing of the technology that we have with a greater openness and open-sharing of data,” he said, adding, “There is no such thing as a spare American. There is no such thing as a spare child. Every person is needed.”

He compared collaboration on such issues to ”an immune system.”

“In this work, I think we have to like ourselves to an immune system,” he said. “And an immune system is not strong because it outnumbers the bad actors or the bad bugs. An immune system is strong because it is better coordinated than the bad bugs. It comes together in a more intelligent and concerted way than the bad bugs.”

Speakers emphasized the importance of collaboration between government and organizations with expertise on the issue. Sebelius, for her part, asked conference-goers to weigh in on a HHS proposal designed to assist victims after she detailed the steps the organization has taken in working with a variety of agencies and other partners to improve prevention of trafficking as well as treatment for victims.

“To ensure we’ll continue to close gaps, we’re developing a federal plan to take [this] to a new level,” Sebelius said, urging attendees to explore and comment on the online proposal. “Make your voices heard. We’re committed to making sure this is a collaborative strategy. It won’t happen unless we have your expertise, your comments.”

Other high-profile speakers included the Chief Technology Officer of the U.S., Todd Park, who emphasized the administration’s commitment to combating trafficking; Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.), fashion designer Tory Burch and activist Elizabeth Smart, among other activists, politicos and academics.

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake praised the administration’s handling of the issue so far — it was something President Barack Obama highlighted as a priority in a speech to the Clinton Global Initiative last fall.

“I also want to thank President Obama for bringing leading researchers, policymakers and advocates to identify gaps in research, best practices and evidence to improve lives of sexually exploited children,” she said.

Rawlings-Blake, who noted that the “average age of entry into prostitution in Maryland is 12 years old,” also stressed the importance of working with diverse partners.

“The resources cannot be provided by government alone,” she said. “I think we all understand that we need to develop strong partnerships with advocates, with experts who can leverage their knowledge and resources to serve anyone who is in need.”