The Department of State has released its eighth annual Trafficking in Persons Report. The report documents the efforts of 170 countries to investigate and prosecute human trafficking crimes, protect victims, and ultimately abolish trafficking in persons. Each country is placed in one of three tiers. The governments of countries in Tier 1 are said to fully comply with the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) minimum standards, while those in Tier 2 are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance, and those in Tier 3 do not fully comply and are not making significant efforts to do so. In addition, the Tier 2 Watch List contains countries in danger of falling to Tier 3 for various reasons. The Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Lithuania, and Poland are among the Tier 1 countries, but most countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union (CEE/FSU) are listed in Tier 2, and many of those are on the Watch List. Moldova is the only European country in Tier 3, where it was placed because of its failure to address government corruption and complicity in trafficking.According to the report, eighty percent of transnational victims of trafficking are women and girls, the majority of whom are trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation. In addition to describing the scope and nature of the problem, the report highlights the recent accomplishments of governments, human rights and women's groups, faith-based organizations, and others who have participated in the fight against human trafficking.
For the full report, click here.
Compiled from: “Release of the Eighth Annual Trafficking in Persons Report,” U.S. Department of State, 4 June 2008; “Trafficking in Persons Report 2008,” U.S. Department of State, June 2008; Andrew Tully, "U.S.: Human-Trafficking Report Finds Key Criminals Often Go Unpunished," Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 5 June 2008.