Order Code RL30545
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Trafficking in Women and Children:
The U.S. and International Response
Updated August 1, 2001
Francis T. Miko
Specialist in International Relations
Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
Grace (Jea-Hyun) Park
Research Associate
Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress
Trafficking in Women and Children:
The U.S. and International Response
Summary
The trafficking in people for prostitution and forced labor is one of the fastest
growing areas of international criminal activity and one that is of increasing concern
to the United States and the international community. The overwhelming majority of
those trafficked are women and children. An estimated 700,000 to 2 million people
are trafficked each year worldwide; between 45,000 and 50,000 to the United States.
Trafficking is now considered the third largest source of profits for organized crime,
behind only drugs and weapons, generating billions of dollars annually.
Trafficking affects virtually every country in the world. The largest number of
victims come from Asia, with over 225,000 victims each year from Southeast Asia
and over 150,000 from South Asia. The former Soviet Union is now believed to be
the largest new source of trafficking for prostitution and the sex industry, with over
100,000 trafficked each year from that region. An additional 75,000 or more are
trafficked from Central and Eastern Europe. Over 100,000 come from Latin America
and the Caribbean, and over 50,000 victims are from Africa. Most of the victims are
sent to Asia, the Middle East, Western Europe and North America.
In 1998, the Clinton Administration launched a government-wide anti-trafficking
strategy of (1) prevention, (2) protection and support for victims, and (3) prosecution
of traffickers. The Bush administration has continued to focus attention on the
problem. The State Department issued its first Congressionally mandated report on
worldwide trafficking in July 2001. It categorized countries according to the efforts
they were making to combat trafficking. Those countries that do not cooperate in the
fight against trafficking could face U.S. sanctions, starting in 2003.
The international community began meeting in 1999 to draft a Protocol to
Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children
in conjunction with the U.N. Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime. The
U.N. General Assembly adopted the Convention and the Protocol on Trafficking in
November 2000. Since 1999, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE) has also given a high priority to combating trafficking in the OSCE
area. The European Union has also undertaken programs to curb trafficking.
The 106th Congress passed H.R. 3244, the Victims of Trafficking and
Violence Protection Act of 2000, in October 2000 (P.L. 106-386). In the 107th
Congress, the House-passed version of H.R. 2506, the Foreign Operations, Export
Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act of 2002 includes at least
$30 million to fight trafficking and assist victims.
Contents
Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Scope of the Problem Worldwide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Causes of Rise in Trafficking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Traffickers and Their Victims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Regional Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Asia and the Pacific . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Middle East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Latin America and the Caribbean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Trafficking in the United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
U.S. Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
The Clinton Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
The Bush Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
The International Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Congressional Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
106th Congress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
107th Congress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Current Trafficking Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Trafficking in Women and Children:
The U.S. and International Response
Definition
The U.S. Government definition of trafficking in persons encompasses: “All acts
involved in the transport, harboring, or sale of persons within national or across
international borders through coercion, force, kidnaping, deception or fraud, for
purposes of placing persons in situations of forced labor or services, such as forced
prostitution, domestic servitude, debt bondage or other slavery-like practices.”1
Others have put forward slightly different definitions.2 In the case of minors, there
is general agreement in the United States and much of the international community
that the trafficking term applies whether a child was taken forcibly or voluntarily.
Trafficking is distinguished from alien smuggling which involves the provision of a
service, albeit illegal, to people who knowingly buy the service in order to get into a
foreign country.
Scope of the Problem Worldwide
Trafficking in people, especially women and children, for prostitution and forced
labor is one of the fastest growing areas of international criminal activity and one that
is of increasing concern to the U.S. Administration, Congress, and the international
community. Although men are also victimized, the overwhelming majority of those
trafficked are women and children. According to official estimates, over 1 million
women and children are trafficked each year worldwide for forced labor, domestic
servitude, or sexual exploitation.3 An estimated 45,000 to 50,000 persons are
trafficked each year to the United States. Trafficking is now considered the third
largest source of profits for organized crime, behind only drugs and guns, generating
billions of dollars annually.
1 [http://secretary.state.gov/www/picw/trafficking].
2 Some religious groups, as well as feminist organizations, have campaigned to broaden the
definition of trafficking to include all forms of prostitution, whether forced or voluntary, on
grounds that prostitution is never truly voluntary and that traffickers will simply force their
victims to claim to be acting voluntarily. However, others have rejected this broadened
definition, arguing that it would impede the capacity of the international community to achieve
consensus and act decisively against major traffickers.
3 Trafficking in Women and Girls: An International Human Rights Violation. Fact Sheet
Released by the Senior Coordinator for International Women’s Issues, Department of State,
March 10, 1998.
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Trafficking is a problem that affects virtually every country in the world.
Generally, the flow of trafficking is from less developed countries to industrialized
nations, including the United States, or toward neighboring countries with marginally
higher standards of living. Since trafficking is an underground criminal enterprise,
there are no precise statistics on the extent of the problem and estimates are
unreliable. But even using conservative estimates, the scope of the problem is
enormous, between 700,000 and 2,000,000 victims per year. The largest number of
victims trafficked internationally still come from Asia, with over 225,000 victims each
year believed to be coming from Southeast Asia and over 150,000 from South Asia.
The former Soviet Union is now believed to be the largest new source of trafficking
for prostitution and the sex industry, with over 100,000 trafficked each year from that
region. An additional 75,000 or more are trafficked from Eastern Europe. Over
100,000 come from Latin America and the Caribbean, and over 50,000 victims are
from Africa. Most of the victims are sent to Asia, the Middle East, Western Europe
and North America. They usually end up in large cities, vacation and tourist areas,
or near military bases, where the demand is highest.4
Causes of Rise in Trafficking
The reasons for the increase in trafficking are many. In general, the criminal
business feeds on poverty, despair, war, crisis, and ignorance. The globalization of the
world economy has increased the movement of people across borders, legally and
illegally, especially from poorer to wealthier countries. International organized crime
has taken advantage of the freer flow of people, money, goods and services to extend
its own international reach.
Other contributing factors include:
! the continuing subordination of women in many societies, as
reflected in economic, educational, and work opportunity disparities
between men and women. Many societies still favor sons and view
girls as an economic burden. Desperate families in some of the most
impoverished countries sell their daughters to brothels or traffickers
for the immediate payoff and to avoid having to pay the dowery to
marry off daughters;
! the hardship and economic dislocations caused by the transition
following the collapse of Communism in the former Soviet Union
and Eastern Europe, as well as the wars in the former Yugoslavia.
The lack of opportunity and the eagerness for a better life abroad
have made many women and girls especially vulnerable to
entrapment by traffickers. With the weakening of law enforcement
in post-Communist societies, criminal organizations have grown and
established themselves in the lucrative business of international
trafficking;
4 These figures come from a variety of sources cited specifically under regional trends.
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! the high demand, worldwide, for trafficked women and children for
sex tourism, sex workers, cheap sweatshop labor, and domestic
workers. Traffickers are encouraged by large tax-free profits and
continuing income from the same victims at very low risk;
! The inadequacy of laws and law enforcement in most origin, transit,
and destination countries, hampers efforts to fight trafficking. Even
in the United States, more effective legal remedies are only now
being considered. Prostitution is legal or tolerated in many
countries, and widespread in most. When authorities do crack down,
it is usually against prostitutes, themselves. Penalties for trafficking
humans for sexual exploitation are often relatively minor compared
with those for other criminal activities like drug and gun trafficking.
! The priority placed on stemming illegal immigration in many
countries, including the United States, has resulted in treatment of
trafficking cases as a problem of illegal immigration, thus treating
victims as criminals. When police raid brothels, women are often
detained and punished, subjected to human rights abuses in jail, and
swiftly deported. Few steps have been taken to provide support,
health care, and access to justice. Few victims dare testify against the
traffickers or those who hold them, fearing retribution for themselves
and their families since most governments do not offer stays of
deportation or adequate protection for witnesses.
! The disinterest and in some cases even complicity of governments is
another big problem. Many law-enforcement agencies and
governments ignore the plight of trafficking victims and downplay
the scope of the trafficking problem. In some cases, police and other
governmental authorities accept bribes and collude with traffickers
by selling fake documentation, etc.5 In addition, local police often
fear reprisals from criminal gangs so they find it easier to deny
knowledge of trafficking.6 Many countries have no specific laws
aimed at trafficking in humans.
Traffickers and Their Victims
Chinese, Asian, Mexican, Central American, Russian and other former Soviet
Union gangs are among the major traffickers of people. Chinese and Vietnamese
Triads, the Japanese Yakuza, South American drug cartels, the Italian mafia, and
Russian gangs increasingly interact with local networks to provide transportation, safe
houses, local contacts, and documentation.
5 For instance, according to Global Survival Network, an NGO group, Russian traffickers can
obtain false documentation in order to enable a minor to travel to destination countries to work
as a prostitute from corrupt officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for approximately
$800.
6 Human Rights Watch/Asia, Rape for Profit, Trafficking of Nepali Girls and Women to
India’s Brothels, 1995, p 59.
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Traffickers acquire their victims in a number of ways. Sometimes women are
kidnaped outright in one country and taken forcibly to another. In other cases,
victims are lured with job offers. Traffickers entice victims to migrate voluntarily with
false promises of good paying jobs in foreign countries as au pairs, models, dancers,
domestic workers, etc. Traffickers advertise these phony jobs, as well as marriage
opportunities abroad in local newspapers. Russian crime gangs reportedly use
marriage agency databases and match-making parties to find victims. In some cases,
traffickers approach women or their families directly with offers of well-paying jobs
elsewhere. After providing transportation and false documents to get victims to their
destination, they subsequently charge exorbitant fees for those services, creating life-
time debt bondage.
While there is no single victim stereotype, a majority of trafficked women are
under the age of 25, with many in their mid to late teens. The fear among customers
of infection with HIV and AIDS has driven traffickers to recruit younger women and
girls, some as young as seven, erroneously perceived by customers to be too young
to have been infected.
Trafficking victims are often subjected to cruel mental and physical abuse in
order to keep them in servitude, including beating, rape, starvation, forced drug use,
confinement, and seclusion. Once victims are brought into destination countries, their
passports are often confiscated. Victims are forced to have sex, often unprotected,
with large numbers of partners, and to work unsustainably long hours. Many victims
suffer mental break-downs and are exposed to sexually-transmitted diseases, including
HIV and AIDS. They are often denied medical care and those who become sick are
sometimes even killed.
Regional Trends
Asia and the Pacific. An estimated 225,000 victims are trafficked from
Southeast Asia annually according to the U.S. Department of State. The growth of
sex tourism in this region is one of the main contributing factors. Large-scale child
prostitution occurs in many countries. Thailand, Cambodia, and the Philippines are
popular travel destinations for “sex tourists”, including pedophiles, from Europe,
North America, Japan, and Australia.
Japan is the largest market for Asian women trafficked for sex, where some
150,000 non-Japanese women are involved. Half are from the Philippines and 40%
are from Thailand.7 Victims are also trafficked in increasing numbers to newly
industrializing countries and regions, including Taiwan, Malaysia, Hong-Kong, and
Thailand. Cross-border trafficking is prevalent in the Mekong region of Thailand,
Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and the Southern Yunan province of China.
Vietnamese women are trafficked to China and Cambodia. According to various
NGO sources, hundreds of thousands of foreign women and children have been sold
into the Thai sex industry since 1990, with most coming from Burma, Southern China,
7 The Coalition against Trafficking in Women (CATW), Trafficking in Women and
Prostitution in Asia. The CATW is an international NGO and the Pacific
(web site: [http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/catw/]).
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Laos, and Vietnam. East Asia, especially Japan, is also a destination for trafficked
women from Russia and Eastern Europe.
Victims from Southeast Asia, especially China, Burma, the Philippines, Thailand,
Cambodia, and Vietnam, are also sent to Western Europe, the United States,
Australia, and the Middle East.
In South Asia, the U.S. Department of State estimates that some 150,000 victims
are trafficked annually. The low status of women in some societies as well as the
growth of sex tourism contribute significantly to trafficking in this region. Sri Lanka
and India are the favored destinations of sex tourists from other parts of the world.
Bangladesh and Nepal, the poorest countries in the region, are the main source
countries. India and Pakistan are the key destination countries. Estimates of the
number of Nepalese girls and young women lured or abducted to India for sexual
exploitation each year ranges from 5,000 to 10,000. The total number of Nepalese
working as prostitutes in India range from 40,000 to 200,000, according to women’s
rights organization and NGOs. The total Indian prostitute population is estimated to
be over 2 million. More than 15,000 women and children are believed to be trafficked
out of Bangladesh every year. 8 Over 4,000 women and children from Bangladesh are
trafficked to Pakistan each year. In total, more than 200,000 women are believed to
have been trafficked to Pakistan. Also, according to Amnesty International, Afghan
women have been sold into prostitution in Pakistan.
Some 7,000 Nepalese women and children are trafficked for prostitution to the
Asia Pacific area, especially Hong Kong.9 A non-government source reports that
about 200,000 Bangladeshi women and children have been trafficked to the Middle
East in the last 20 years. Some 20,000 Pakistani children are said to have been
trafficked to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). India is a source, transit, and
destination country, receiving women and children from Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan,
Sri Lanka, and Pakistan and sending them to Europe and the Middle East.
Australia has been a prime source of sex tourists in Asia. The Philippines,
Thailand, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Hong Kong are some of the primary Asian
destinations for organized sex tours from Australia. Indonesia and Taiwan are
secondary destinations.10 Australians also travel to Europe and Latin America. To
counterattack this problem, Australia has been active in review and introduction of
extraterritorial legislation and public awareness campaigns aimed at travelers.11
8 Police estimates, The Hindu Online, [http://www.hinduonline.com/], February 19, 1998.
9 CATW. Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in Asia.
10 CATW -Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific.
11 World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, Regional Profiles.
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International criminal organizations traffic hundreds of Thai women yearly to
Australia.12 Australia plans to introduce tougher laws including long jail terms to curb
the increased trafficking of Asian women to Australia for prostitution.13
Europe. The former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe have
replaced Asia as the main source of trafficked women to Western Europe. Victims
come from Russia, Ukraine, and other East European countries. With the economic
and political turmoil after the collapse of the Soviet Union, trafficking from the region
has escalated from a minor problem before 1991 into a major crisis. As criminal
organizations have grown, especially in Russia, they have gravitated to this lucrative
business. Russian organizations now play a dominant role not just in the trafficking
of Russian women but also women from throughout Eastern Europe. Russian
organized crime groups and others including Albanian, Estonian, Chechen, Serb, and
Italian groups are involved in human trafficking in Europe. Furthermore, Russian
organized crime is starting to take over the sex industry in a number of West
European countries. Russian criminal groups reportedly are also gaining control of
prostitution in Israel, and parts of the United States.14
The largest number of the more than 175,000 victims trafficked annually from
the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe come from Russia and Ukraine. In
addition, several Central and East European countries are reported to be source,
receiving, and transit countries. The conflicts in Bosnia and Kosovo provided new
opportunities for traffickers in the former Yugoslavia and the Balkans. Recently,
traffickers have targeted refugee women who fled Kosovo. According to the
Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children, Albanian traffickers have
smuggled thousands of Kosovo women into Italy by boat for the sex trade.
An estimated 70% of Russian and East European victims are believed to be sent
to West European countries (especially Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland, the
Netherlands, Greece, Austria, England). Another 15% are sent to the Middle East
(especially Israel and Saudi Arabia) and the Far East (especially Japan and Thailand).
About 5,000 or 3% are thought to be sent to the United States or Canada. The
remainder are sent to Central European countries, especially Poland, Hungary, the
Czech Republic.15
Western European countries are also destination points for victims from other
parts of the world, including Africa (Ghana, Nigeria, Morocco), Latin America
(Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic), Southeast Asia (the Philippines,
Thailand).16
12 CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific, Gabriela,
Statistics and the State of the Philippines, July 24, 1997.
13 Maria Moscaritolo, “Australia takes aim at Asian sex slave trade,” Reuters, May 26, 1998.
14 Global Survival Network. An Expose of the Traffic in Women for Prostitution from the
Newly Independent States. Washington, D.C., 1998, p. 5-10.
15 Ibid.
16 Europe national data, “Trafficking of Women to the European Union: Characteristics,
(continued...)
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Middle East. The sexual exploitation of women and children in the Middle
East tends to involve the import of women from other regions. The exploitation of
Middle Eastern women tends to have less of a commercial dimension.17
Women and children, mostly from Asia (Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia),
are trafficked as prostitutes or brides to the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, The United
Arab Emirates). Women from the former Soviet Republics are sent to Israel.
According to the Israel Women’s Network, every year several hundred to 2000
women from Russia and the former Soviet Union are brought to Israel by
well-organized criminal groups. Israel has no specific law against trafficking and
prostitution is not illegal.18
Latin America and the Caribbean. Estimate of the number of Latin
American and Caribbean women and children trafficked for sexual exploitation each
year is over 100,000, according to the U.S. Department of State. Impoverished
children are particularly vulnerable to trafficking for prostitution. The Organization
of American States estimates that more than 2 million children are being sexually
exploited in Latin America.
The presence of sex tourism from Europe, North America, and Australia has
significantly contributed to the trafficking of women and children. A growing number
of sex tourists are going to Latin America, partly as a result of recent restrictions
placed on sex tourism in Thailand, Sri Lanka, and other Asian countries.19 Favored
sex tourism destinations are Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Honduras,
Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Argentina.
Brazil has one of the worst child prostitution problems in the world.20 More than
50,000 women from the Dominican Republic reportedly have been trafficked abroad.
Victims from Latin America and the Caribbean are trafficked to Western Europe
and the United States. The Central American countries and Mexico are also transit
countries for trafficking to the United States.
Africa. In Africa, over 50,000 victims are believed to be trafficked annually
according to the U.S. Department of State, although the extent of trafficking is not
well documented. Like elsewhere, poverty and the low status of women are major
contributing factors. In addition, wars and civil strife engulfing countries like Sudan
16 (...continued)
Trends and Policy Issues,” European Conference on Trafficking in Women, (June 1996),
IOM, May 7, 1996.
17 World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, Regional Profiles.
18 Michael Specter, “Traffickers’ New Cargo: Naive Slavic Women,” New York Times,
January 11, 1998.
19 Casa Alianza/Covenant House Latin America, “Casa Alianza Warns That Central America
Is New Sex Tourism Destination,” November 17, 1997.
20 Social Security Network, “Brazil spends $1.7mil on helping child prostitutes.” Reuters,
June 12, 1998.
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and Rwanda, as well as the indifference of some governments make women and
children vulnerable to trafficking.21
Trafficking in children for labor is a serious problem in Togo and Benin as well
as Botswana, Zaire, Somalia, Ethiopia, Zambia, Nigeria, Algeria. Victims are
trafficked to Nigeria, Gabon, Ghana, and South Africa. Africans, especially women
from Nigeria are trafficked to Western Europe and the Middle East.
Trafficking in the United States
Between 45,000 and 50,000 women and children are trafficked to the United
States each year, according to the most recent Department of State estimates.22 Most
come from Southeast Asia and the former Soviet Union. About half of those are
forced into sweatshop labor and domestic servitude. The rest are forced into
prostitution and the sex industry, or in the case of young children, kidnaped and sold
for adoption. While many victims come willingly, they are not aware of the terms and
conditions they will face. Women trafficked to the United States most often wind up
in the larger cities in New York, Florida, North Carolina, California, and Hawaii.23
But the problem is also migrating to smaller cities and suburbs. Russian crime groups
are said to be actively involved in trafficking and the sex industry in the United States.
The United States is the major destination country for young children kidnaped
and trafficked for adoption by childless couples unwilling to wait for a child through
legitimate adoption procedures and agencies. The largest source country is Mexico.
Mexican children over twelve years of age are kidnaped and trafficked to the United
States for child prostitution.
American men, along with Europeans and Australians, are reportedly the most
numerous sex tourists in Central America (Costa Rica, Honduras), South East Asia
(The Philippines, Thailand), and South Asia (India, Sri Lanka). Many companies
operating in a number of large cities reportedly specialize in sex tours.
As in many countries, existing U.S. laws are widely believed to be inadequate to
deal with trafficking in women and children. Nor are there thought to be adequate
laws and services to protect and assist victims.
U.S. Policy
The Clinton Administration. The trafficking issue has been gaining
attention in the United States and worldwide since the late 1990s. The problem was
21 John Eibner of Christian Solidarity International, Karin Davies, “Slavic Trade Thrives in
Sudan,” Associated Press, February 7, 1998.
22 Testimony of Frank E. Loy, Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs, before the
Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, February 22, 2000.
23 U.S. Department of State. Bureau of Consular Affairs, Fraud Digest, November/December,
1997.
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addressed as a priority by the Clinton Administration and the 106th Congress. As part
of former President Clinton’s announced International Crime Control Strategy, an
interagency working group was set up to address international crime implications of
trafficking. On March 11, 1998, President Clinton issued a directive establishing a
U.S. government-wide anti-trafficking strategy of (1) prevention, (2) protection and
support for victims, and (3) prosecution of traffickers. The strategy, as announced,
had strong domestic and international policy components.
On the domestic side, a Workers’ Exploitation Task Force, chaired by the
Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the Solicitor’s Office in the
Department of Labor, was charged with investigating and prosecuting cases of
exploitation and trafficking. In addition, the Department of Justice reviewed existing
U.S. criminal laws and their use to see if they adequately dealt with the crime of
trafficking. The Department of State funded the creation of a database on U.S. and
international legislation on trafficking.
An Interagency Council on Women formed
by the Clinton Administration established a senior governmental working group on
trafficking. The Council sponsored a meeting of governmental and non-government
representatives from source countries, transit countries, and international
organizations to call attention to the trafficking issue and to develop strategies for
combating this problem.
The Clinton Administration worked with Congress on what it considered
urgently needed legislation to strengthen the tools available to fight trafficking at
home and abroad. In particular, the Administration argued for legislation building on
its framework of “prevention, protection, and prosecution” to strengthen tools
available for the fight and to help advance the U.S. agenda on trafficking in other
countries. The Clinton Administration also urged the enactment of legislation to
encourage and support strong action by foreign governments and help the work of
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in this area:
! In the area of prevention, the Clinton Administration outlined the
need for programs to increase economic opportunities for potential
victims and dissemination of information in other countries to
increase public awareness of trafficking dangers and funding for more
research on trafficking.
! In terms of victim protection and assistance, the Clinton
Administration argued for legislation to provide shelter and the
support services to victims who are in the country unlawfully and
therefore presently ineligible for assistance. It pressed for creation
of a humanitarian, non-immigrant visa classification to allow victims
to receive temporary resident status so that they could receive
assistance and help to prosecute traffickers. Also, support was
sought for developing countries to protect and reintegrate trafficking
victims once they were returned.
! As far as prosecution and enforcement, the Clinton Administration
pressed for laws to more effectively go after traffickers and increase
the penalties they can face. In addition, restitution for trafficked
victims was sought in part by creating the possibility of bringing
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private civil lawsuits against traffickers. The Department of Justice
called for laws that would expand the definition of involuntary
servitude, criminalize a broader range of actions constituting
involuntary servitude, and increase the penalties for placing people
in involuntary servitude. Justice Department spokesmen also urged
that prosecutors be give the capability to go after those who profit
from trafficking, not just those directly involved in trafficking.24 They
also called for amending immigration statutes to punish traffickers
who entrap victims by taking their passports and identification from
them.
The Bush Administration. The Bush Administration and the 107th Congress
have continued the anti-trafficking effort with strong bipartisan support. Attorney
General John Ashcroft announced in March 2001 that U.S. law enforcement agencies,
including the FBI, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the Justice
Department’s Civil Rights Division would cooperate closely to upgrade their efforts
to combat trafficking. The Justice Department also announced new guidelines for
federal prosecutors to pursue trafficking cases.25
On July 12, 2001, the State Department issued its first Annual Trafficking in
Persons Report, mandated by Congress under P.L.106-386.26 On the same day, the
State Department released a fact sheet outlining U.S. Government programs and
initiatives against international trafficking in persons.27 At his press conference
releasing the report, Secretary of State Colin Powell announced the formation of a
new interagency task force on trafficking in persons. The task force would identify
what more needs to be done “to safeguard the vulnerable, to punish the traffickers,
to care for their victims, and to prevent future trafficking.” He stressed that the
United States would work closely with other governments, non-governmental
organizations and concerned people throughout the world to put an end to trafficking.
The report rates countries according to whether they meet “minimum standards”
with regard to their anti trafficking commitment and policies. Governments meeting
“minimum standards” are defined in the Trafficking and Violence Protection Act
of 2000 (P.L.106-386) as those that: (1) prohibit trafficking and punish acts of
trafficking; (2) prescribe punishment commensurate with that for grave crimes, such
as forcible sexual assault, for the knowing commission of trafficking in some of its
most reprehensible forms (trafficking for sexual purposes, trafficking involving rape
or kidnaping, or trafficking that causes a death); (3) prescribe punishment that is
24 Testimony of William R. Yeomans, Chief of Staff of the Civil Rights Division, Department
of Justice, before the Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, April 4, 2000.
25 Attorney General John Ashcroft’s news conference on March 27, 2001. See
[http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/speeches/2001/032701workerexploitation.htm].
26 See [http://www.state.gov/g/inl/rls/tiprpt/2001].
27 See [http://www.state.gov/g/inl/rls/fs/2001/index.cfm?docid=4051]
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sufficiently stringent to deter, and that adequately reflects the offense’s heinous
nature; and (4) make serious and sustained efforts to eliminate trafficking.28
Countries are ranked in three groups or tiers. Countries that are not listed either
are not seen as having a significant trafficking problem as source, transit, or
destination countries or there is insufficient information about their role.
Tier I is made up of countries deemed by the State Department to have a serious
trafficking problem but fully complying with the Act’s minimum standards for the
elimination of trafficking.
(Included are Austria, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy,
The Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom)
Tier 2 countries are those whose governments the State Department views as
not fully complying with those standards but making “significant efforts to bring
themselves into compliance.”
(They include Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Fasso,
Cambodia, Cameroon, China, Costa Rica, Cote d’Ivoire, Czech Republic,
Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Ethiopia, France, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala,
Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, India, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lithuania, Macedonia,
Mali, Mexico, Moldova, Morocco, Nepal, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, Sierra
Leone, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Thailand, Togo,
Uganda, Ukraine, and Vietnam)
Tier 3 are those countries whose governments the State Department deems as
not fully complying with those standards and not making significant efforts to do so.
(They include Albania, Bahrain, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burma, Democratic
Republic of Congo, Gabon, Greece, Indonesia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Lebanon,
28 The Act also established criteria that should be considered as evidence of serious and
sustained efforts to eliminate trafficking: These are whether a government (1) vigorously
investigates and prosecutes acts of trafficking within its territory; (2) protects victims of
trafficking, encourages victims’ assistance in investigation and prosecution, provides victims
with legal alternatives to their removal to countries where they would face retribution or
hardship, and ensures that victims are not inappropriately penalized solely for unlawful acts
as a direct result of being trafficked; (3) has adopted measures, such as public education, to
prevent trafficking; (4) cooperates with other governments in investigating and prosecuting
trafficking; (5) extradites persons charged with trafficking; (6) monitors immigration and
emigration patterns for evidence of trafficking, and responds appropriately; and (7) vigorously
investigates and prosecutes public officials who participate in trafficking, and takes all
appropriate measures against such officials who condone trafficking.
The Act also spells out three factors that the Department is to consider in determining
whether a country is making significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with these
minimum standards. These considerations are: (1) the extent of trafficking in the country; (
2) the extent of governmental noncompliance with the minimum standards, particularly the
extent to which government officials have been complicit in trafficking; and (3) what measures
are reasonable to bring the government into compliance with the minimum standards in light
of the government’s resources and capabilities.
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Malaysia, Pakistan, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Sudan,
Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and the Republic of Yugoslavia)
P.L. 106-386 makes countries listed in Tier 3 (beginning with the 2003 State
Department report) subject to sanctions, including termination of non-humanitarian,
non-trade-related assistance and loss of U.S. support for assistance (except for
humanitarian, trade-related, and certain development-related assistance) from
international financial institutions, specifically the International Monetary Fund and
multilateral development banks such as the World Bank. Sanctions may be waived by
the President based on national interest.
The International Response
The United States and other countries are also pursuing a number of bilateral and
multilateral programs and initiatives to combat trafficking. The steps taken by the
United States internationally include the following:
! The Departments of State and Justice are training foreign law
enforcement and immigration officers to better identify and crack-
down on traffickers and their victims at the border.
! U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide are working with other
countries to stop international trafficking in women and children.
The United States has expanded its program to heighten public
awareness about trafficking in source countries, targeting the
messages to potential victims.
! The United States is also working with the European Union, the
Group of Eight, the United Nations, the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the governments of Israel,
Italy, Finland, and Ukraine, and other countries to combat trafficking
in women and children.
The United States and the European Union agreed on a joint initiative to combat
trafficking in November 1997.29 U.S. and EU officials met in Luxembourg to launch
a jointly funded initiative against trafficking in women from Russia and Eastern
Europe. It is primarily an information campaign, warning potential victims and an
education program for law enforcement, customs and consular officials to heighten
their awareness of the problem. Pilot projects were launched in Poland by the EU and
in Ukraine by the United States. If successful, the program could be expanded to
other countries. The United States has initiated bilateral cooperation programs in
Russia, other former Soviet Republics, Bosnia, Albania, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary,
Thailand and the Philippines to fight trafficking.
At the OSCE Summit Meeting in Istanbul in November 1999, leaders of the 55
OSCE member states from Europe, Central Asia, and North America, agreed to make
29 Fact Sheet: US-EU Initiative to Prevent Trafficking in Women. USIS Washington File,
December 5, 1997.
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combating trafficking in the OSCE area (where some 200,000 people are trafficked
annually) a priority issue. A follow up meeting on trafficking was held in Vienna on
June 19, 2000. The participating states agreed on steps to increase their efforts and
better coordinate actions to fight the problem.
The international community began meeting in 1999 to draft a Protocol to
Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children
in conjunction with the U.N. Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime.
The United States, along with Argentina, introduced the draft protocol in January
1999. Negotiations were concluded in 2000 on a revised draft. On November 15,
2000, the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Convention on Transnational Crime,
including the Protocol on Trafficking. The Convention and Protocols formally signed
in Palermo, Italy, in December 2000, were designed to enable countries to work
together more closely against criminals engaged in cross-border crimes.
The United States is party to two other international agreements that have been
adopted to address aspects of trafficking in children. The International Labor
Organization (ILO) Convention 182 concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action
for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor was ratified by United States
in December 1999.30 The Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on
Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography was signed by the United
States July 2000.31
Congressional Action
106th Congress. The last Congress took several legislative initiatives on the
issue of trafficking in persons for sexual and other exploitation. The focus of bills
paralleled the Clinton Administration’s framework of “prevention, protection, and
prosecution. However, some of the congressional initiatives went beyond Clinton
Administration recommendations in several areas, especially in calling for actions
against governments that tolerate trafficking.
Several bills on trafficking were introduced in the House and Senate in 1999 and
2000.32 H.R. 3244, was introduced by Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ) on November
30 See [http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/about/factsheet/facts23.htm].
31 See [http://www.unicef.org/crc/crc.htm].
32 On March 11, 1999, S. 600 was introduced by Senator Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) and
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. An identical bill, H.R. 1238, was introduced
in the House by Representative Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) The bills were entitled the
International Trafficking of Women and Children Victim Protection Act of 1999.
Subsequently, H.R. 1356 was introduced in the House by Representative Christopher Smith
(R-N.J.) on March 25, 1999 and referred to several Committees. It was titled the Freedom
From Sexual Trafficking Act of 1999.
On October 27, 1999, Rep. Sam Gejdenson (D-CT ) introduced H.R. 3154, the
“Comprehensive Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 1999.” Senator Paul D. Wellstone
introduced an identical bill in the Senate, S. 1842. These bills had the support of the Clinton
(continued...)
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8, 1999. It was co-sponsored by Representative Sam Gejdenson (D-CT) and others
who had taken a strong interest in previous initiatives, in an effort to combine the
most important elements and move legislation forward. The bill was referred to
several House Committees.
H.R. 3244, as amended was marked up by the House International Relations
Committee, on November 9, 1999 and was reported out as amended on November
22, 1999 (H.Rept. 106-487, Part I). The bill was also referred to the Judiciary and
Banking and Financial Services, and Ways and Means Committees. The House
Judiciary Committee reported the bill as amended on April 14, 2000 (H.Rept. 106-
487, Part II). The House Ways and Means Committee was granted an extension for
further consideration of the bill until May 3, 2000. On May 9, 2000, the bill was
brought to the floor under a suspension of the rules and passed by voice vote.
In the Senate, two other bills similar to H.R. 3244 were introduced in April
2000. On April 12, 2000, Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN) introduced S. 2414, the
“Trafficking Victims Protection Act.” On April 13, Senator Sam Brownback (R-
KS) introduced S. 2449, the “International Trafficking Act of 2000.” Both were
referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
H.R. 3244 was received in the Senate on May 10, 2000, read a first time on May
25, read a second time on June 6, and placed on the Legislative Calendar. On July 27,
2000, the full Senate took up H.R.3244, and passed a substituted S.Amdt. 4027
sponsored by Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-MN), as
further amended by S.Amdt. 4028 introduced by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT).
Differences between the House and Senate versions of H.R. 3244 were worked
out in Conference September 26, 2000. In conference, the bill was combined with the
Violence against Women Act of 2000 and repackaged as the Victims of Trafficking
and Violence Protection Act of 2000, along with miscellaneous anti-crime
provisions. The Conference Report H.Rept. 106-939 was agreed to by the House
on October 6, 2000, by a vote of 371 to 1. The Senate agreed to the conference
report by a vote of 95-0 on October 11, 2000. President Clinton signed the bill into
law on October 28, 2001 (P.L.106-386).
Among its key provisions, H.R. 3244, as passed:
! Directed the Secretary of State to provide an annual report by June
1, listing countries that do and do not comply with minimum
standards for the elimination of trafficking and to provide in his
annual report on human rights information on a country-by-country
basis describing the nature and extent of severe forms of trafficking
in persons in each country and an assessment of the efforts by
governments to combat trafficking;
32 (...continued)
Administration as being in line with its own approach.
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! Established an Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat
Trafficking, chaired by the Secretary of State, and authorized the
Secretary to establish within the Department of State an Office to
Monitor and Combat Trafficking to assist the Task Force;
! Called for measures to enhance economic opportunity for potential
victims of trafficking as a method to deter trafficking, to increase
public awareness, particularly among potential victims, of the
dangers of trafficking and the protections that are available for
victims, and for the government to work with NGOs to combat
trafficking;
! Established programs and initiatives in foreign countries to assist in
the safe integration, reintegration, or resettlement of victims of
trafficking and their children, as well as programs to provide
assistance to victims of severe forms of trafficking in persons within
the United States, without regard to such victims’ immigration status
and to make such victims eligible, without regard to their
immigration status, for any benefits that are otherwise available under
the Crime Victims Fund;
! Provided protection and assistance for victims of severe forms of
trafficking while in the United States;
! Amended the code to make funds derived from the sale of assets
seized from and forfeited by trafficking available for victims
assistance programs under this Act;
! Amended the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow the Attorney
General to grant up to 5000 non-immigrant visas per year to certain
victims of severe forms of trafficking who are in the United States
and who would face a significant possibility of retribution or other
harm if they were removed from the United States. In addition,
amended the Act to adjust to lawful permanent resident the status of
up to 5000 victims per year who have been in the United States
continuously for three years since admission, who have remained of
good moral character, who have not unreasonably refused to assist
in trafficking investigations or prosecutions, and who would face a
significant possibility of retribution or other harm if removed from
the United States;
! Established minimum standards applicable to countries that have a
significant trafficking problem. Urged such countries to prohibit
severe forms of trafficking in persons, to punish such acts, and to
make serious and sustained efforts to eliminate such trafficking;
! Provided for assistance to foreign countries for programs and
activities designed to meet the minimum international standards for
the elimination of trafficking;
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! Withheld U.S. non-humanitarian assistance and instructed the U.S.
executive director of each multilateral development bank and the
International Monetary Fund to vote against non-humanitarian
assistance to such countries that do not meet minimum standards
against trafficking and are not making efforts to meet minimum
standards, unless continued assistance is deemed to be in the U.S.
national interest;
! Encouraged the President to compile and publish a list of foreign
persons who play a significant role in a severe form of trafficking in
persons. Also encouraged the President to impose sanctions under
the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, including the
freezing of assets located in the United States, and to exclude
significant traffickers, and those who knowingly assist them, from
entry into the United States; and
! Amended the U.S. Code to double the current maximum penalties for
peonage, enticement into slavery, and sale into involuntary servitude
from 10 years to 20 years imprisonment and to add the possibility of
life imprisonment for such violations resulting in death or involving
kidnaping, aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill.
The conference agreement (H.Rept. 106-997) on the Foreign Operations,
Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act of 2001 (H.R.
4811) earmarked at least $1,350,000 for the Protection Project to study international
trafficking, prostitution, slavery, debt bondage, and other abuses of women and
children (P.L. 106-429, Chapter 6, Sec.601).
107th Congress. The version of H.R. 2506, the Foreign Operations, Export
Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act of 2002, passed by the
House on July 24, 2001, includes at least $30 million to fight trafficking and assist
victims. Under SEC. 584, Funding for Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000,
the House directed that of the amounts made available for development assistance, the
Economic Support Fund, assistance for Eastern Europe and the Baltic states,
assistance for the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union, International
Narcotics control and law enforcement, and Migration and refugee assistance:
(1) $10,000,000 shall be made available for prevention of trafficking in persons,
as authorized by section 106 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000
(division A of P.L. 106-386);
(2) $10,000,000 shall be made available for the protection and assistance for
victims of trafficking of persons, as authorized by section 107(a) of such Act; and
(3) $10,000,000 shall be made available to assist foreign countries to meet
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, as authorized by section 134 of
the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.
The Foreign Operations bill also stipulated that of the funds appropriated for
assistance to the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union, not less than
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$1,500,000 should be available only to meet the health and other assistance needs of
victims of trafficking in persons.
The Senate Appropriations Committee took up and approved their version of the
Foreign operations bill on July 26, 200 but has not yet released its report.
Current Trafficking Issues
A broad consensus seems to be shared in Congress and the policy community on
the need for decisive action to curb trafficking. And the general framework of
“prevention, protection, and prosecution” also has widespread support. Differences
are still apparent over some of the details.
Should sanctions against foreign governments be used as a policy
instrument? Most agree that extensive international cooperation will be needed to
stop international trafficking and that both “carrots” and “sticks” may be needed to
encourage other governments, including assisting governments in their efforts to curb
trafficking. The Clinton Administration argued that sanctions are unnecessary and
counterproductive since very few, if any, governments favor or support trafficking.
Instead, it was argued, the focus should be on cooperation. H.R. 3244 as agreed in
conference called for sanctions against those countries that not only do not meet
minimum standards against trafficking but that also are making no efforts to meet
minimum standards. It gave the President broad waiver authority. In the Bush
Administration, Secretary of State Powell has expressed concern in general that
sanctions are an overused policy tool. How this view will influence current
Administration policy on trafficking is not clear. The debate over this issue may
intensify following the issuance of the first State Department Annual Report on
Trafficking. The tier 3 list of non-cooperating countries includes a number of key
U.S. allies and countries which are some of the largest recipients of U.S. assistance.
However, the sanctions will not go into effect until 2003 by which time the rankings
could change.
Who is eligible for protection as a victim of trafficking? Should protection
be limited to victims of “severe forms of trafficking”33 and require that victims prove
that they are in the United States as a direct result of trafficking and that they have a
well-founded fear of retribution if they are returned to their country of origin? Critics
argue that the line between pure victims and those who have a degree of complicity
in being brought to the United States may be difficult to draw. Such distinctions, they
argue, will leave some victims unprotected. H.R. 3244 as passed gives the executive
branch some discretion in determining who qualifies.
33 Severe forms of trafficking is defined in Section 3 of the bill as “sex trafficking in which
either a commercial sex act or any act or event contributing to such act is effected or induced
by force, coercion, fraud or deception or in which the person induced to perform such acts has
not attained the age of 18,” as well as “the purchase, sale, recruitment or harboring,
transportation, transfer or receipt for the purpose of subjection to involuntary
servitude....effected by force, coercion, fraud, or deception.”
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More broadly, differing perspectives on what constitutes trafficking could make
international cooperation more difficult. In the United States, some politicians,
religious groups, as well as feminist and other organizations, have campaigned to
broaden the definition of trafficking to include all prostitution, whether forced or
voluntary, with the argument that no one really wants to be a prostitute, that
prostitutes are always victims, and that traffickers will simply force their victims to
claim to be acting voluntarily. However, a number of countries including some
western democracies with otherwise strong human rights records have legal and
regulated prostitution, believing that the “world’s oldest profession” cannot be
stamped out and that a carefully regulated sex industry is the best protection for those
involved from becoming victims of trafficking abuse.
Should victims of trafficking receive special visa status and eventual
eligibility for permanent residency? H.R. 3244 as agreed in conference grants
special visa status to up to 5,000 victims per year. Proponents believe that this is one
of the most important steps to free victims from their bondage. Some critics fear that
such an exception from general immigration rules will set a dangerous precedent for
other categories of people who are in the country illegally but believe they have been
the victims of mistreatment. Others see the 5,000 ceiling on visas as being arbitrarily
restrictive. Controversy also exists over what U.S. social benefits should be made
available to victims of trafficking, given the precedents that might be set.
Is the government adequately organized to fight trafficking? H.R. 3244 as
agreed in conference called for the establishment of an interagency task force to
monitor and combat trafficking. The Clinton Administration argued that no new
entity is required, pointing to the fact that it had already established a Workers’
Exploitation Task Force, chaired by the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division
and the Solicitor’s Office in the Department of Labor for investigating and
prosecuting cases of exploitation and trafficking. Secretary of State Powell
announced in July 2001 that an interagency task force will be established by the Bush
Administration. Proponents of the bill believe that interagency coordination needs to
take place at the highest levels of government.