Trafficking in Persons Report -Report Home Page
Released by the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons
June 4, 2008
Global Law Enforcement Data
The Trafficking Victims Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2003 added to the original law a new requirement that foreign governments provide the Department of State with data on trafficking investigations, prosecutions, convictions, and sentences in order to be considered in full compliance with the TVPA’s minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking (Tier 1). The 2004 TIP Report collected this data for the first time. The 2007 TIP Report data shows for the first time, a breakout of the number of total prosecutions and convictions that related to labor trafficking, placed in parentheses.
|
Year
|
Prosecutions
|
Convictions
|
New or Amended Legislation
|
|
2003
|
7,992
|
2,815
|
24
|
|
2004
|
6,885
|
3,025
|
39
|
|
2005
|
6,178
|
4,379
|
40
|
|
2006
|
5,808
|
3,160
|
21
|
|
2007
|
5,682 (490)
|
3,427 (326)
|
28
|
The numbers in parentheses are those of labor trafficking prosecutions and convictions.
The ILO Addressing Forced Labor
The ILO’s Special Action Program to Combat Forced Labor works to raise global awareness about the forced labor phenomena around the world, and provides technical assistance to governments, workers’ organizations, and employers’ organizations in developing and implementing effective strategies to prevent this serious form of labor exploitation. Over the last year, this ILO program has expanded outreach to the private sector, and has developed a suggested list of 10 promising practices to address ways in which employers might prevent forced labor in their own enterprises and cooperate with broader efforts to combat forced labor and trafficking:
- Have a clear and transparent company policy, setting out the measures taken to prevent forced labor and trafficking. Clarify that the policy applies to all enterprises involved in a company’s product and supply chains;
- Train auditors, human resource and compliance officers in means to identify forced labor in practice, and seek appropriate remedies;
- Provide regular information to shareholders and potential investors, attracting them to products and services where there is clear and sustainable commitment to ethical business practice including prevention of forced labor;
- Promote agreements and codes of conduct by industrial sectors (as in agriculture, construction, and textiles), identifying the areas where there is risk of forced labor, and take appropriate remedial measures;
- Treat migrant workers fairly. Monitor carefully the agencies that provide contract labor, especially across borders, blacklisting those known to have used abusive practices and forced labor;
- Ensure that all workers have written contracts, in a language that they can easily understand, specifying their rights with regard to payment of wages, overtime, retention of identify documents, and other issues related to preventing forced labor;
- Encourage national and international events among business actors, identifying potential problem areas and sharing good practices;
- Contribute to programs and projects to assist, through vocational training and other appropriate measures, the victims of forced labor and trafficking;
- Build bridges between governments, workers, law enforcement agencies, and labor inspectorates, promoting cooperation in action against forced labor and trafficking;
- Find innovative means to reward good practice, in conjunction with the media.
Report Home Page |
