Washington, D.C.—The scourge of human trafficking is getting more attention nowadays than in past years. It was estimated by a U.S. Government sponsored study that 800,000 people, of which 80% are female, are annually trafficked across national borders, cited in the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) 2007 Report. This estimate does not include the millions trafficked within their own countries.
The International Labor Organization (ILO), a United Nations agency that addresses labor issues, estimates 12.3 million people are in exploitive relationships, including forced labor, bonded labor, forced child labor, and sexual servitude, says the TIP 2007 Report. Perhaps 14,500 to 17,500 are trafficked across the U.S. border, an estimate that the State Department works off of.
"Trafficking in persons is a modern-day form of slavery, a new type of global slave trade. Perpetrators prey on the most weak among us, primarily women and children, for profit and gain. They lure victims into involuntary servitude and sexual slavery," writes Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a letter appearing in the TIP Report.
The common factor in human trafficking is the use of force or deception or coercion to exploit a person for profit. A person is subjected to labor exploitation or sexual exploitation, and sometimes both. The use of force can be direct and violent or the coercion can be psychological.
The seventh annual Trafficking in Persons Report or "TIP Report" was released June 12th by the Department of State (DOS), Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons ("TIP Office," for short), and purports to be the "most comprehensive worldwide report on the efforts of governments to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons." It rates the various nations on how they are performing in combating human trafficking.
On June 20th the School of Advanced International Studies hosted a discussion in Washington, D.C. on the TIP Report with Ambassador Mark Lagon, new director of the TIP Office.
Human trafficking deprives people of their human rights and freedom, increases global health risks and fosters the growth of organized crime, says the report. But perhaps trafficking's most poignant outcome is the devastating effect it has on the victims, "who often suffer physical and emotional abuse, rape, threats against self and family…, and even death."
Consider two examples which the TIP Report describes as typical.
Sex Trafficking: A 14 year old girl, who worked in the Kagali market, Rwanda, was told by her boss to go with two men. He said they would take her to live abroad where she would be safe and go to school. When she reached Great Britain, she was taken from the airport to a house where a man raped her. "For two years the teenager was forced to live in a locked kitchen with access to only a toilet and basin. The men kept her as a sex slave until she escaped and flagged down a driver, who took her to the police," says the report.
Forced Labor: Boys around five years old were playing in their village in India when some men drove up and asked the boys if they wanted to see a "video." "The boys piled in the back of the vehicle and were driven 200 miles away. They were locked in a room for days and were beaten," says the report. The boys had been abducted and made to weave carpets. One of the boys was shot and killed while trying to escape, and another died of some illness. The boys were 14 when they were finally rescued. They were malnourished and barely able to speak.
Ambassador Lagon mentioned that while prostitution may be tolerated and even legal in some places, it acts as a "magnate" drawing human trafficking to the sex trade. "Sexual servitude is particularly grotesque in human trafficking," said Lagon. He also said that India has the world's largest volume of human trafficking. India is not doing anything substantial to address its huge population of bonded laborers, estimated to be as high as 65 million.
The Will to Eradicate Trafficking
The method which the State Department in the TIP Report uses to assess a country's efforts to eliminate human trafficking is mandated by U.S. law. The 2000 Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), which was amended in 2003 and 2005, mentions three kinds of efforts: punish the traffickers, protect the victims, and prevent trafficking. Evaluation of a country considers efforts at the prosecution of offenders, providing protection services to victims, and prevention.
The DOS created three lists, described as "tiers," with Tier 2 separated into two groups. The most weight is given to the extent that the government of the nation is taking action to eliminate the problem. Prosecutions, convictions and prison sentences for traffickers are particularly important. Drafting anti-trafficking laws may be laudable but don't count as "action."
A country is placed in Tier 1, consisting of 28 countries, if it fully complies with the standards in the TVPA. Examples of Tier 1 countries are Canada, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Malawi and Georgia have made great strides and have recently been upgraded to Tier 1.
Being a Tier 1 country doesn't mean that the nation is free, or even largely free, of trafficking. Italy, for example, was the destination country (or "country of transit" to other European countries) for an estimated 70,000 women in 2003, who were trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation, according to Maina Elefante, who works for the Protection Project at the John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
"Governments that comply with the minimum standards and are not making significant efforts are placed in Tier 2," says the report. A determining factor in Tier 2 is that the country must be a "country of origin, transit or destination for severe forms of trafficking" (emphasis added).
Among the 75 countries in Tier 2, are Taiwan, Israel, Japan, and Turkey—all democracies. But merely because a country is democratic and is governed by the rule of law doesn't mean it is doing all it should to combat trafficking and using its resources and capabilities, says the report.
Governments that are not making significant efforts to combat human trafficking are placed in Tier 3, which consist of 16 countries—seven more this year. Most of the counties in Tier 3 are rogue states, e.g., Algeria, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Burma, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria, where there is little hope for improvement at this time. Economic sanctions can be applied to Tier 3 countries in 90 days.
Finally, DOS has a few more lists, the most important of which is the Tier 2 Watch List. These are countries that exhibit some volatility recently in either moving from Tier 1 or 3 to Tier 2, or show a significant increase in the number of victims, or some other troubling change, like in its lack of effort to punish traffickers. The TIP Office places a lot of importance on the extent progress is being made in eliminating the complicity of corrupt government officials, such as border guards, in the trafficking.
Examples of the 32 countries in the Tier 2 Watch List are China (PRC), Mexico, India, Cambodia, South Africa and Russia. The Tier 2 Watch list should act as a warning, says Ambassador Lagon. But sadly, "…too many major countries on the Tier 2 Watch List have ignored this warning year after year. India, Mexico, and Russia are on the Tier 2 Watch List for the fourth consecutive year. Armenia, China, and South Africa are on Tier 2 Watch List for a third consecutive year," said Ambassador Lagon.
Not all news is negative. Ambassador Lagon was immensely pleased with Taiwan and contrasted the democratic government with its counterpart, Communist China:
"Last week, a raid in Taiwan, a real success story, demonstrated a welcome new attitude. Working closely with U.S. law enforcement, Taiwan broke up a cross-border trafficking ring, arresting 12 people suspected of trafficking women to the United States and other countries where they were exploited in prostitution and pornography. Countries that have established credentials in good governments and rule of law are more likely to move quickly in protecting victims of trafficking and handing down justice to exploiters. For example, while China resisted joining the international community in upholding universal anti-trafficking standards, given a lack of rule of law, Taiwan's vibrant civil society and democratic character have helped it adopt significant reforms over the past year."
The TIP Report can be found online at http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2007/
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