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Vital Voices June 2006 Trafficking Alert: US & International Editions

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The United States Government issued two important annual reports on human trafficking in the past month: the US Department of State’s 2006 Trafficking In Persons (TIP) Report and the US Department of Justice’s US Government Activities to Combat Trafficking In Persons, Fiscal Year 2005. The State Department’s TIP Report assesses 158 countries’ governments’ anti-trafficking efforts in 2005 and places them in Tier 1, 2, 2 Watch List, and 3. This year’s report brings attention to labor and sex trafficking, especially low-skilled workers from developing countries. 12 countries are placed in Tier 3 this year, meaning that these governments do not comply with the minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so. While civil society barely exists in most of the Tier 3 countries and access to these governments remains difficult, it is time for the international community to think creatively about new approaches to help these countries improve their anti-trafficking efforts by engaging all stakeholders.

In addition to our recent regional conference to promote civil society and government collaboration to combat human trafficking in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region, Vital Voices hosted a Latin America Summit in Miami, Florida with women leaders, including anti-trafficking and gender-based violence experts. Mrs. Maria Beatriz Pare de Palacio, First Lady of Ecuador, gave a keynote speech on her anti-trafficking work. The First Lady is recognized in this year’s TIP Report as one of the ten international heroes to combat trafficking for her leadership and commitment to address this issue.