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1. How to Dismantle the Business of Human Trafficking

Author:
Annick Febrey
Publication Date:
12-2016
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Human Rights First
Abstract:
The United States abolished slavery with the ratification of the 13th Amendment over 150 years ago. Yet according to the International Labor Organization, there are still more than 20 million slaves around the world today—about double the number of people in bondage during the transatlantic slave trade. The United States continues to be both a source and destination country for human trafficking victims. Traffickers earn an estimated $150 billion annually in illicit profits, while NGOs and governments worldwide spend about $124 million annually to combat this crime. Meanwhile, American workers are forced to compete against free labor, as companies take advantage of the global failure to enforce anti-slavery laws. To thwart the national security threats posed by human trafficking, the Bush and Obama Administrations supported anti-trafficking legislation, increased funding for anti-trafficking programs, and focused on addressing slavery both here at home and around the world. Increasingly, organized crime rings and international terror organizations traffic in human beings to accumulate wealth and power. Trafficking is a lucrative crime that undermines government rule of law. A continued commitment to addressing slavery will help eliminate the national security risks associated with corruption, terrorism, and organized crime. Traffickers utilize modern day slavery to exploit global markets and undermine the stability of free markets. As the largest single purchaser of goods and services in the world, the U.S. government is in the position to protect world markets and can do extensive work to stop enabling slavery. The United States has a zero-tolerance policy regarding trafficking and government employees and contractors engaging in any form of it. This policy sets the stage to continue strengthening protections for trafficked persons and continue ensuring American tax dollars are not given to federal contractors that enslave people. Keeping slavery out of the supply chains of companies that sell goods in the United States helps us to protect vulnerable individuals and protect the integrity of workers, businesses, and international markets
Topic:
Slavery, NGOs, and Human Trafficking
Political Geography:
United States, Washington, and D.C.

2. How to Dismantle the Business of Human Trafficking

Author:
Amy Sobel
Publication Date:
12-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Human Rights First
Abstract:
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery in the United States. Yet in the world today there are an estimated 20.9 million people enslaved, and the United States is both a source and destination of victims. While the United States would have a moral responsibility to address this problem even without its history of slavery, its legacy heightens this imperative. Contemporary slavery manifests in various ways. Many trafficking victims are forced to toil in fields, factories, and fishing boats for little or no pay. Others are held captive in private homes. Forced prostitution rings imprison women, girls, and boys in brothels or force them to work in the streets under threat of abuse. What links all these forms—as well as historic American slavery—is the profit motive. Human trafficking is a lucrative criminal enterprise, generating $150 billion annually in profits worldwide. The United States should seek to reduce substantially the number of victims by implementing policies and practices that dismantle the business of trafficking. Since passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000—and its subsequent reauthorizations—the U.S. government has undertaken significant steps to build an anti-human trafficking infrastructure. Through annual publication of the Department of State’s (DOS) Trafficking in Persons report (TIP report), it has called worldwide attention to this blight. The DOS Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (J/TIP) provides grants to U.S. and foreign institutions involved in prevention/awareness, protection/services, law enforcement/prosecution, research and data collection, and evaluation. J/TIP also coordinates U.S. agencies both at home and abroad, including agencies on the President’s Interagency Task Force (PITF). Despite these efforts, human trafficking continues to be a horrific human rights problem both in the United States and around the world. The 2014 DOS TIP report used law enforcement data to determine that 44,738 survivors were reported globally in 2013 —a paltry figure considering the number of victims. It is clear that far more needs to be done.
Topic:
Human Rights, United Nations, Slavery, and Human Trafficking
Political Geography:
United States, Global Focus, Washington, and D.C.