Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Hilary Clinton Announces 2010 Human Trafficking Report


Yesterday, Hilary Clinton announced the 2010 Trafficking in Persons Report, highlighting a mixed bag of successes and failures in the international effort to eradicate human trafficking. Since the US signed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) and the UN adopted the Palermo Protocol in 2000, there has been an international strategy of Prevention, Prosecution, and Protection for victims of human trafficking. There were several key details in the report that really stood out from the rest:

-$32 billion annual trade for the traffickers
-Prevalence of trafficking victims worldwide: 1.8 per 1000 inhabitants (in Asia and the Pacific: 3 per 1000)
-49,105 victims identified worldwide, a 59% increase over the last reporting year (2008)

However, the report was not all doom and gloom. As Secretary of Hilary Clinton stated during the press conference, "More countries are updating their laws and expanding enforcement, more criminals are facing prosecution, and more survivors are being helped back into a life of freedom." Several successes were highlighted, including a 40% increase in successful trafficking prosecutions from 2008-2009, and 23 countries receiving upgraded rankings the Trafficking in Persons document. For the first time ever, the US has now been included in the report. While there is still much more work to be done, this report highlighted the many successes that have helped reduce the prevalence of global trafficking around the world.

-Matthew Thwaites

SOURCES:
Fact Sheet for 2010 TIP Report (PDF), US State Department Blog on the Report