In our most recent Ethicast series, Stephen L. Brown, Senior Advisor at KPMG Board Leadership Center spoke to Cindy McCain, co-chair Arizona Governor’s Council on human trafficking, member of the McCain Institute’s Human Trafficking Advisory Council, about advancing human rights the corporate impact on societal integrity & protecting the value of people. Check out our YouTube channel for more on this topic at our 9th Annual Global Ethics Summit.
Full transcript available. Highlights from the interview:
Brown: We live in very interesting times and polarizing geopolitical climate. What needs to happen to ensure that human rights and human trafficking are not lost among the leading agendas that are out there among governments, businesses, and communities?
Data is one of them. That’s where we’re trying to help in this. Along with Arizona State University, we’ve produced some significant and important data with regards to human trafficking, but we have a long way to go. Quite frankly, there are still laws on the books in many states that criminalize children if they’re picked up, and generally, these kids are picked up by police.
Brown: You’ve certainly have had in that the institute and in the state of Arizona some very good progress, great success here. Where do you think some of the biggest holes lie in this fight against trafficking?
We believe in what’s right. We live by it. We make our mistakes, but we are a truly dignified country when it comes to treating people generally with regards to what’s correct in human rights, so we need to lead on this issue worldwide, and we can’t do it unless we have our own house in order. My intention and I know the intention of many other people that work in this arena across the country is to keep the heat turned up. We’ve already talked to the Trump administration about this issue. They, I believe, are going to be very engaged on it. I have no reason to believe otherwise, and so I look forward to great progress in this area with this administration and hopefully future administrations as well.
