Madrid, Spain – The Interparliamentary Taskforce on Human Trafficking (ITHT) was honored to participate in the 29th Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum in Madrid on 22-23 May 2025. It was hosted by Spain’s President of the Senate, Pedro Rollan Ojeda and US Congressman Robert Pittenger.
The forum brought together 182 delegates from 57 countries and featured 35 expert presenters dedicated to advancing security and intelligence collaboration worldwide. In addition to this, 3000 people also participated online.
Our Chair Anne Basham, Senator Linda Reynolds (Australia), Dame Karen Bradley MP (UK), and Hon. Jane Lasonder (OSCE ISTAC Vice-Chair) had the privilege of presenting on behalf of the ITHT. Their speeches focused on how to stop human trafficking in businesses and supply chains and explored the critical intersection of human trafficking and terrorism. They spoke about how human trafficking is not just a human rights issue but it is also a global security issue as it ties into every single nation in the world and every nation that threatens the security of the world uses it as a form of financial gain. They challenged the lawmakers in the room that they actually have the biggest capacity in the world to change this and therefore have a responsibility and part to play. Lastly, they described human trafficking as a corrupt business model rooted in a financial crime, and therefore put a call out to businesses to disrupt this model through their supply chains.
While we were in Madrid, the ITHT also had the honor of hosting an Anti-Trafficking in Persons (ATIP) Policy Dinner with 10 leaders from all around the world. It was an incredibly productive dinner where we discussed how to combat child trafficking worldwide and we have already seen numerous action items as a result. We would like to particularly thank The Foundation United for sponsoring this dinner and for all of their support.
We had a very productive few days with an incredibly engaged group of delegates and leaders and we look forward to continuing the dialogue, innovation, and international partnerships that have resulted from this trip.
