Siddharth Kara Wins the Frederick Douglass Book Prize

We were very excited to learn that Siddharth Kara won the Frederick Douglass Book Prize for his book Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery.

The prize goes to the best book written in English on slavery or abolition. Sex Trafficking is the first winner to examine contemporary slavery. Martha Hodes, the 2010 Douglass Prize Jury Chair and Professor of History at New York University, wrote:

[Sex Trafficking] carefully and compassionately convinces us to understand the phenomenon of modern-day human sex trafficking as part of the history of slavery and abolition. For his research, Kara posed as a customer across Asia, Europe, and the United States, entangling himself with perpetrators and speaking confidentially with victims. Sidestepping sensationalism and absent any delusion of casting himself as a rescuer, Kara relates wrenching stories in lucid prose, thereby shedding a strong and steady beam of light on a widespread and ongoing global crime. With an exemplary mixture of courage and humility, the author combines a gripping first-person narrative with trenchant economic analysis and clear-eyed proposals for change. In the end, this book prevents us from consigning slavery to the past.

For more on the book: Watch a video of Kara discussing the book | Read an interview with Siddharth Kara | Read excerpts from the book or look inside the book.