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Ricky Martin takes his fight to stop child sex
slavery to the U.N.
 October
25, 2004 -- Pop star Ricky Martin appealed to Latin American ambassadors at U.N. World headquarters in New York
to help end child sex slavery.
"I want to see abolition of this slavery," the 32-year-old singer from Puerto
Rico told reporters after delivering the appeal during a luncheon with the envoys.
He was introduced by U.S. Ambassador John Miller, who said it was "a very sensitive subject that a lot of people want to deny," but said it was taking place from "Cambodia to Costa Rica." Miller added the tourists come from "the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and Australia so we all have a role to play."
Martin, who has had a very successful singing career and has won numerous
Music Awards, called the child sex tourism trade a "$7 billion a year" industry that involves adults who travel to exploit minors.
"This is war. This is a battle we need to win," Martin said at a luncheon Wednesday attended by U.N. ambassadors and activists trying to end the practice. "This one is worth it. ... We're talking about the lives of children."
But the Puerto Rican singer said the activists needed help.
"We have the voice. But we don't have the power. We cannot do it alone. ... We need you. This is slavery, and this is the year 2004," he said.
He started the Ricky Martin Foundation about 10 years ago to help children in need, and recently initiated the People for Children Project as one of its endeavors to try to end child sex tourism and other illegal practices.
Martin has taken up a cause championed by President Bush, who called for a global campaign to fight the trafficking and sexual abuse of children in his speech to the U.N. General Assembly in September 2003.
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