UNITED NATIONS — After his speech to the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday, U.S. President Barack Obama used an appearance at the Clinton Global Initiative to announce new efforts to help crack down on human trafficking.
Calling the fight against human trafficking “one of the great human rights causes of our time,” Obama announced new steps to deal with a problem he called “barbaric and evil” with no place in a civilized world.

“It is a debasement of our common humanity. It ought to concern every community, because it tears at our social fabric,” said Obama. “It ought to concern every business, because it distorts markets. It ought to concern every nation, because it endangers public health and fuels violence and organized crime. I’m talking about the injustice, the outrage of human trafficking, which must be called by its true name – modern slavery.”