The following is a post writen by Vital Voices Human Rights Intern, Kristian Hinson.

June 14 marked the release of the Department of State’s 10^th annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. The TIP report was established by the Trafficking Victim’s Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA). The report ranks 177 countries on their compliance with the TVPA’s minimum standards to combat human trafficking within their borders using a three-tiered scale. A tier one ranking indicates that the government is fully complying with the minimum standards whereas a tier three ranking indicates that the government is not actively trying to meet these standards. Although tier placement rates compliance, it does not necessarily reflect the size of a country’s trafficking problem.

The 2010 TIP report includes several hallmarks. First, the report ranks the United States for the first time. The United States received a tier one ranking for governmental efforts to combat trafficking such as increasing enforcement of anti-trafficking laws. But, the report does recognize that the U.S. has a serious problem with trafficking within its borders. Second, the report notes the growing number of females among trafficking victims.

Women and girls make up approximately 56 percent of all trafficking victims.

During her remarks at the report’s release, the Undersecretary for Democracy and Global Affairs, Maria Otero, labeled this growing trend the “feminization” of human trafficking. Women and girls are more likely to be targeted for sexual exploitation than men and boys. In addition, they are increasingly found in situations of forced labor that were previously thought to predominately affect male victims.

The Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons which was created by the TVPA uses the “3P” approach to address trafficking: Prosecution, Protection, and Prevention. At the June 14 release, Secretary Clinton introduced a fourth P to this paradigm; Partnership. Clinton states, “human trafficking is not someone else’s problem” and that government, law enforcement, NGOs, and faith-based organizations need to ban together to fight this global epidemic and lend support to those who are not meeting the standardsp>

In commemoration of National Freedom Day, Ambassador Louis CdeBaca of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons at the U.S. State Department released a statement recognizing the courage of those around the world “whose pursuit of freedom was and continues to be unflagging.” On the anniversary of President Lincoln’s signing of the 13^th Amendment to the Constitution, which formally abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, CdeBaca said that we honor the sacrifices made by abolitionists who gave their lives to the cause of freedom. He went on to renew the pledge of the United States to the eradication of modern day slavery and human trafficking:

“The United States recommits itself today to pursue a world without modern slavery by utilizing every means necessary to shine a brighter light on this heinous crime, thereby ensuring the protection of victims, the prevention of future occurrences, and the prosecution of traffickers.”

Read Ambassador CdeBaca’s full statement here.

In a proclamation issued on January 4, President Obama declared January 2010 National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. The president said that in recognizing this month of awareness, “we acknowledge that forms of slavery still exist in the modern era, and we recommit ourselves to stopping the human traffickers who ply this horrific trade.” In his address, Obama described the millions of people worldwide who are enslaved or trafficked as a diverse group of “many faces,” who are held “through force, threats, and fear.” Asking all to contribute to eradicating modern day slavery, he said:

“Fighting modern slavery and human trafficking is a shared responsibility. This month, I urge all Americans to educate themselves about all forms of modern slavery and the signs and consequences of human trafficking. Together, we can and must end this most serious, ongoing criminal civil rights violation.”

President Obama further called upon the people of the United States to “recognize the vital role we can play in ending modern slavery,” asking that Americans observe the month with programs and activities focused on the prevention of trafficking and slavery. National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month will end with the commemoration of National Freedom Day on February 1, 2010.

Presidential Proclamation - National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month

On December 12, The Somaly Mam Foundation, Acting for Women in Distressing Situations (AFESIP), and world-renowned anti-human trafficking activist Somaly Mam will join the Cambodian nation in observing National Anti-Human Trafficking Day. In an effort to raise awareness of the crisis of human trafficking in Cambodia, Somaly will commemorate the day by holding a press conference with the Minister of Women’s Affairs, among other senior officials of the government.

For more information, visit AFESIP Cambodia.

On October 27, TIME reported that a hostage situation involving as many as 170 bonded laborers has been unfolding in Pakistan. Officials at the U.S. Embassy based in Islamabad say that at least three landlords have held the laborers hostage at gunpoint on their respective estates since late September. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is currently in Pakistan for a three-day visit. The crisis came about following the decision made by three district courts “to declare as illegal the debts that the landlords were using to compel the workers into indentured servitude.”

The debts in question average around 1,000 Pakistani rupees -$12. A third of the hostages are said to be children, some as young as four months old. A spokesman for Pakistan’s Green Rural Development Organization told TIME that the landlords have “killed one hostage already and are threatening to kill the others unless they drop the cases and return to work.” The workers’ advocate, Amarchand Bheel, was abducted by the landlords while on his way to court.

U.S Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons Luis CdeBaca has said of bonded labor: “Debt bondage is not a relic of history; it continues to exist in communities in South Asia.” He further adds: “We are exploring ways we can help Pakistan to confront the scourge of captive workers, to deliver freedom for these workers and realize the promise of Pakistan’s 1992 emancipation law.”

Pakistan’s Forgotten Plight: Modern Day Slavery -TIME

On September 17, Cindy Dyer, Senior Director for Human Rights, and the human rights team at Vital Voices had the privilege of hosting a Filipino delegation of government and NGO leaders working to stop human trafficking in the Philippines. Two delegates from the International Justice Mission discussed the challenges they face in prosecuting trafficking cases with Ms. Dyer. Ms. Dyer and the delegates shared common victories and struggles that both the U.S. and the Philippines face in addressing the intricate nature of modern human trafficking. The delegates described their inspiring experiences with job fairs that assist victims through local fair-trade and “good conscience” companies seeking to hire new employees.

Looking to the future, the panelists asked if the human rights of women in the U.S. had become accepted and considered more legitimate. Ms. Dyer offered her perspective, explaining that in the years since the 1994 Violence Against Women Act, she has witnessed impressive progress in the U.S. The U.S. has reached a point where there are specialized domestic violence and human trafficking prosecutors who are familiar with the particular needs of victims of these crimes. Training for law enforcement has expanded significantly since the passage of the Violence Against Women Act. The Filipino delegates were inspired and reassured by the similar experiences anti-trafficking and anti-violence advocates in the U.S. have had over the past two decades.

Buenos Aires, Argentina September 2009 -Fundación Mujeres en Igualdad is leading an online campaign to denounce the slavery of human beings, mostly women, children and teens by gathering short plays, dance, paintings, photos, visual installations, and texts against human trafficking.

To mark International Trafficking Day on September 23, Fundación Mujeres en Igualdad is hosting “A world against trafficking,” an online campaign to raise awareness about the scourge of human trafficking. Images on http://stophumantrafficking.ning.com/ will be projected on giant screens of participating cities around the world.

Monique Thiteux Altschul, executive director of Mujeres en Igualdad comments:

“Trafficking in persons is the annulment of all human rights.”

Altschul goes on to describe the initiative: “this campaign focuses on young people, teens and even children as they belong to the population most at risk. Also, it attempts to create awareness among customers: without clients there is no trafficking, nor prostitution, nor sexual exploitation.”

For more information: Monique Altschul, Fundación Mujeres en Igualdad mujeresenigualdad@infovia.com.ar

Three American men were recently expelled from Cambodia and arrested, now facing charges in the United States for alleged crimes of sexual abuse of children in the Asian nation, as CBS News reports. Charged under the Protect Act of 2003, the men will be prosecuted domestically for crimes committed overseas. Since its passage into law, the Protect Act has led to 70 arrests of nationals abroad by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

The offenders are the first to be charged under a new initiative, ‘Operation Twisted Traveler’, which specifically focuses on crimes committed in Cambodia as part of a larger, coordinated effort to crackdown on international sex tourism. ICE Head John Morton described the arrests as a signal to potential offenders:

“Let their arrests serve as notice to any other person who might be tempted to evade justice by victimizing children outside of this country. Boarding a plane to a foreign land is no protection.”

The three men in question are previously convicted sex offenders, a fact that has “reinvigorated support for H.R. 1623, the ‘International Megan’s Law’,” which was first introduced by Representative Chris Smith in March 2009, as TIME reports. The proposed legislation would extend the principles of Megan’s Law into the international arena, mandating that the U.S. alert officials abroad of the travel plans of convicted American sex offenders. The measure is meant to encourage other countries to develop and maintain their own lists of sex offenders, and to share similar travel alerts with American officials.

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On September 10^th 2009, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Bureau of International Labor Affairs released three reports on child and forced labor, including a long awaited ‘List of Goods Produced by Child or Force Labor’, which is required as a component of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Acts (TVPRA) of 2005 and 2008. The list contains 122 goods from 58 countries, spanning every region of the world. The products range from soccer balls in India to Christmas decorations in China, from strawberries in Argentina to vanilla in Uganda. The research contained in the reports and list is by no means exhaustive, as indicated by the DOL, which attributes gaps to a lack of data availability and the intentional suppression of information.

The release of the list empowers business, government and NGO leaders to adjust practices and policies accordingly, a call that Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis urges all to heed:

“It is my strong hope that consumers, firms, governments, labor unions and other stakeholders will use this information to translate their economic power into a force for good that ultimately will eliminate abusive child labor and forced labor.”

The list of goods reflects the stage of production where forced and/ child labor is used. For instance, if child and/ or forced labor occurred in the production or extraction phase but not in the manufacturing phase, only the raw material is included on the List. If forced and/ or child labor was used in both the production or extraction phases as well as the manufacturing phase, the raw material and the final product are mentioned on the List.

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VIENNA — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warns that human trafficking is flourishing in the shadows of the global economic downturn.

Clinton gave a video address to an international conference in Vienna examining the scourge of forced labor, sexual slavery and other forms of exploitation. She says urgent steps are needed to crack down on traffickers.

Clinton says she has seen the suffering firsthand: girls in Thailand who were trafficked as young children and are now dying of AIDS, and mothers in Eastern Europe whose daughters have vanished.

She warns that “new economic pressures are likely to aggravate the problem further.”

Clinton’s speech Monday kicked off a two-day conference of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe.

-Washington Post