wfn.org | Methodists urge Congressional action on exploitation of women

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Oct. 7, 1998	Contact: Linda Bloom*(212) 870-3803*New York
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By United Methodist News Service		

United Methodists are being asked to call their senators immediately to
urge action on a resolution regarding the exploitation of women and
children.

The Women's Division of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries
issued the request Oct. 6.

The "anti-trafficking" resolution concerns girls and women who are
forced into prostitution, sweatshop labor, exploitative domestic
servitude or abusive situations. It calls upon the Department of
Justice's Office of Violence Against Women to work with the Immigration
and Naturalization Service on the problem of international trafficking
of women and girls.

The Senate Foreign Relations committee approved the resolution in July
with bipartisan support, according to Lois Dauway, assistant general
secretary for Christian Social Responsibility at the Board of Global
Ministries. But if not placed on the Senate calendar in October, the
measure will have to be reintroduced next spring, delaying an end to the
human rights abuses, she said.

To contact the Congressional switchboard about the anti-trafficking
resolution, call (202) 224-3121.

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United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
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