In Modern Bondage: An International Perspective on Human Trafficking in the 21st Century

Before joining the Department of State I spent years collecting all the foreign national laws that address trafficking in persons. I am asked in every forum for the definition of trafficking in persons. I can tell you that no two laws and no two definitions of human trafficking are the same. Our law in the U.S. defines trafficking as the recruiting, transporting, harboring, providing, or obtaining a person, by force, fraud, or coercion, for the purposes of forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. But this definition tells us nothing about what happens to a real human being when she is trafficked, so I want to start by telling you about the case that was our “wake up call” in the United States. I do this because this case makes the harm visible.

Rosa’s Story
This is the story of Rosa, who was trafficked from Mexico to the United States. Her story was read into the record at a hearing on trafficking in the U.S. Senate in 1999 because she was too sick to testify herself. Rosa was 13 and waiting tables in a restaurant in a small village near Vera Cruz, Mexico when she was approached by an acquaintance of the family who told her, “You know you can make ten times more money in the U.S. doing what you’re doing here. I know someone who can find you a job in Texas–you can send money home to your family, you can have your own life. If you don’t like the job we’ll get you a new one. If you’re homesick, we’ll bring you back across the border. You can’t lose.”

Rosa was young and hopeful. She asked her parents if she could go but they forbade her. But she wanted a better life than what she had, and so, against her parents and friend’s warnings, she accepted the offer. She was told to go to the main hotel in town on Friday evening.

When she got there, a car was waiting, with several other young girls in it from other neighboring villages. They drove northward hundreds of miles into the desert until the road ended. There, they met up dozens more young women and girls from other towns in Mexico.

On the ground were backpacks and water bottles. They were told to put the backpacks on their backs, and then they walked. They walked 4 days and 4 nights–through the desert, across the Rio Grande, and into Brownsville, Texas, where they were picked up by a white van and driven across Texas and Louisiana into rural Florida. They were dropped off in a rural town called Avon Park, in front a series of trailers.

A big, burly man met them outside and Rosa said they were told, “I’ve just purchased you. Now you work for me.” They told her she was in a brothel and would have to buy her freedom by sexually servicing men.

Rosa was young. She was a virgin. She was Catholic. She knew what the man was telling her was bad, a sin. She began to cry and begged for the restaurant job she was promised. She was told, “There are no restaurant jobs–only this.”

When she refused to do what they said, the burly man brought out three other men who took her into one of the trailers and gang-raped her to induct her into the “business.” Then they locked her in the trailer without food and water until she succumbed.

For the next 6 months she was a prisoner. She was forced to service ten or more men a day. On the weekends it was as many as 20 to 30 men. The men bought a ticket, which was a condom, for $20.00. But they often didn’t use it.

Twice Rosa was impregnated and twice forced to have an abortion. And twice forced back into the brothel the next day. She was beaten if she refused a customer’s demands. She was guarded 24 hours a day, even when she went to the bathroom. She was passed around at private parties that the trafficking ring held in the evenings and on weekends.

Once she and several others tried to escape. They were caught and pistol-whipped around the head and face in front of the other girls to deter them all from trying that. Shortly after the second abortion and this beating, Rosa became sick and felt crazy. She was very beautiful and much in demand with the customers. In order to keep her functioning in the brothel, the traffickers gave her drugs and alcohol to numb her pain.

She was only “rescued” when one of the young women jumped out of a second story window at one of the private parties and ran to a neighbor’s house. The neighbor called the local police. The police called the INS and FBI, and a sting operation was set up. Over 40 young women and girls were rescued and 14 traffickers were arrested.

A medical doctor examined Rosa. She had several STDs; she had broken bones that hadn’t healed properly from the beatings; she had pelvic inflammatory disease and scar tissue from the forced abortions. She was addicted to drugs and alcohol, was suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome, including nightmares, flashbacks, depression, and suicidal tendencies. In short, she was physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually broken.

Scope of the Problem
Now if you take Rosa’s story and multiply it by hundreds of thousands, even millions, you will get an idea of the magnitude of the problem. The State Department estimates that approximately 800,000 people are trafficked internationally every year. This does not count the number of people trafficked internally. If you take these numbers in the aggregate, millions of people have been trafficked over years.

Peacekeeping and Trafficking
We are often asked, “which countries are the worst offenders?” The answer is that almost every country has a trafficking problem, whether it is a country of origin, transit or destination. Trafficking thrives when there is poverty, political and economic instability, low status of women and girls, official corruption, weak laws and enforcement, demand for cheap labor, and high profits. These conditions are all the more acute during humanitarian crises and civil conflict. Where there is an international humanitarian or peacekeeping/military presence there tends to be an increase in prostitution leading to a rise in sex trafficking. This is because there is demand for commercial sexual exploitation with ready cash and these operations take place in countries with heightened conditions for victimization. Crime groups set up brothels or nightclubs, and provide a steady supply of local and foreign women and girls who are forced to service the influx of visitors and deployed personnel. We’ve seen this recently, for example, in Bosnia, Liberia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Unfortunately, as Secretary Rice has noted, “traffickers prey on the most vulnerable and turn a commercial profit at the expense of innocent human lives.”

Humanitarian and peacekeeper/military personnel are entrusted to provide assistance and protection to the local population. There have been too many instances where some of these personnel end up exploiting young women and children as young as 5 years old–offering food, money and promises of education in exchange for sexual favors. This is an abuse of power. Instead of reducing human suffering, they have extended it.

The Efforts of the UN and Other Organizations Engaged in Peace Operations
Over the last few years, the UN has been grappling with this type of exploitation. Currently it is instituting system-wide reforms including a zero-tolerance policy. They have begun trainings for peacekeepers and are sending home offending personnel. But enforcement and accountability ultimately rest with countries providing personnel to humanitarian and peacekeeping operations. The UN needs to do more to press troop contributing countries to ensure that they train their personnel on the front end, and discipline them if they engage in or enable human trafficking.

The U.S. Government has taken a strong stand against human trafficking within the UN, NATO and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). For example, in early 2005, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell, and his Japanese counterpart, representing the two largest donor countries to the UN, sent a joint letter to the UN Secretary General expressing concern about continued sexual misconduct by peacekeepers in light of the UN’s zero-tolerance policy. We continue to press the UN for reforms and accountability of personnel. In 2004, we co-led an effort with Norway to get a NATO Policy on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings adopted by member states. In 2005, the OSCE adopted a US-initiated resolution entitled “Ensuring the Highest Standards of Conduct and Accountability of Persons serving on International Forces and Missions.

U.S. Prevention Efforts with Military and Civilian Personnel
We acknowledge that, unfortunately, some of our own personnel and contractor staff have also contributed to the problem of trafficking in persons both for sexual and labor exploitation, and we have developed new laws and regulations to address this. For example, as Colonel Hansen described, in 2004, DOD adopted an aggressive anti-trafficking approach that includes zero-tolerance on prostitution and human trafficking. In addition, in 2005, President Bush signed an executive order to amend the Manual for Courts Martial that makes patronizing a prostitute a chargeable offense under the military justice system. DOD contracts now include anti-trafficking language laying out the responsibilities of contractors. The Department of State is also working closely with its contractors to educate civilian police about human trafficking and the U.S. Government’s strong stance on this matter. The 2005 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act extends extraterritorial jurisdiction over persons employed by or accompanying the Federal Government overseas for certain trafficking crimes.

Contractor Role in Fighting Human Trafficking
U.S. contractors have an important role in our fight against human trafficking. Three ways you can help:

1. Don’t create demand for victims of sex trafficking and slave labor;

2. Educate foreign counterparts (this applies primarily to police officers and prosecutors); and

3. Establish procedures for reporting possible human trafficking situations and addressing violations.

Taking each of these in order, here are a few suggestions:

1. Ways to help curb demand:

• Provide training to employees and sub-contractors about trafficking, including how prostitution contributes to the phenomenon of trafficking, and related U.S. policies and laws;
• Have employees and sub-contractors sign an agreement that they understand the requirements and the ramifications for violations;
• Provide adequate housing and legitimate recreation facilities.

2. Educate foreign counterparts (in coordination with foreign governments) about trafficking and how to recognize and treat potential victims.

• Utilize U.S. Government materials such as our “Fact Sheet on Human Trafficking” and our Annual Trafficking in Persons Report for detailed information on trafficking.
• Hold workshops and seminars on how to recognize trafficking victims.
• Work with the U.S. Departments of State and Justice to organize international visitor programs and trainings for foreign national police, prosecutors, and judges.

3. Establish monitoring and reporting procedures that allow employees to report a possible trafficking scenario or violation.

• Contractors should identify off-limits areas (bars, nightclubs, brothel areas) and inform employees.
• Employees should not try to take matters into their own hands by trying to rescue or shelter a trafficked victim.
• Contractors working in the field should find out what non-governmental or international organizations are in place that can provide shelter and assistance to trafficked victims. International organizations such as the International Organization for Migration, UNICEF and Save the Children have anti-trafficking programs in major post-conflict areas. The U.S. embassy or non-governmental organizations generally should know who in the local government is reliable to assist in a victim rescue. Confidentiality and protection of a whistleblower is essential to encouraging reporting of any violations.

Participants need to be aware that the Trafficking Victims Protection Act requires that the U.S. Government shall include a provision that authorizes a Federal department or agency to terminate any grant, contract or cooperative agreement (regardless of whether or not it is related to human trafficking) if the recipients or their sub-recipients 1) engage in severe forms of trafficking in persons or have procured a commercial sex act during the time of the U.S. Government-funded activity, or 2) use forced labor in carrying out U.S. Government-funded activities.

The FAR Council and relevant agencies such as the Office of Management and Budget are in the process of establishing uniform government procedures for the inclusion of such a provision.

U.S. Government’s Response to Stop Trafficking in Persons
In response to this growing awareness of the phenomenon of human trafficking, a broad-based coalition of women’s rights organizations, faith-based organizations, children’s groups, labor unions, and others came together to help Congress draft and pass our Trafficking Victims Protection Act.

The law does a number of things. I only want to mention four briefly because we are going to hear in more detail from the Department of Justice about the use of our new law to prosecute human traffickers. Why is the Trafficking Victims Protection Act so important?

First, it broadens the definition of trafficking to include recruiter, transporter, buyer, seller, harborer, brothel owner, manager, and guards. This is important because it gets to the whole pipeline of activity in trafficking.

Second it increases penalties from 20 years to life imprisonment. This is important because it sends a message to traffickers that we take human trafficking as seriously as drug trafficking–and that the penalties will be commensurate with the crime.

Third, it has a victim-centered approach, including a “T visa” for victims of severe forms of trafficking–which allows the victim to stay in the U.S. temporarily for up to 4 years and apply for permanent residency status, and allows access to benefits, including food, clothing, and shelter, medical, legal, and other forms of assistance, and finally, education and employment assistance.

Fourth, the law also mandated the creation of a President's Interagency Task Force on Trafficking in Persons. This cabinet level task force is chaired by the Secretary of State, and includes the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Director of National Intelligence, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Defense, the U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator, and other officials as designated by the President. This Cabinet-level Task Force is important because it creates political will at the highest levels, which streams down into each agency.

Implementation of the Law

In the last 5 years, since the law passed, the U.S. Government, through all its agencies, has worked hard to implement the law, for example:

• The U.S. Department of Justice formed 42 state and local task forces that link federal officials, local law enforcement, and NGO service providers to create pro-active law enforcement programs at the grass roots level to identify and rescue victims, arrest, prosecute, and convict traffickers. www.usdoj.gov/whatwedo/whatwedo_ctip.html
• The U.S. Department of Health, and Human Services created a new education and awareness campaign entitled, “Look Beneath the Surface.” This campaign, aimed both at the general public, but also at immigrant communities in cities and rural areas helps identify, rescue, rehabilitate, and restore trafficking victims. www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking/
• The U.S. Department of Labor has created a program to address worst forms of child labor in countries around the world. This program supports organizations working to combat child labor and child sex trafficking in over forty countries. DOL’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has a program to help investigators identify potential trafficking victims in its regular investigations. www.dol.gov/esa/whd/ and www.dol.gov/ILAB/
• The Department of Homeland Security has created a special unit at its Center in Vermont to issue T visas to foreign survivors of severe forms of trafficking identified in the U.S. DHS also investigates severe forms of trafficking in the U.S. and child sex tourism cases in countries abroad and seeks the return of alleged child predators for prosecution in the U.S. www.ice.gov/
• DOJ and DHS have Victim-Witness Coordinators responsible for working with victims discovered in the U.S. throughout the investigation and prosecution of alleged traffickers.
• The Department of Defense has instituted a new TIP training program for all military personnel to prevent trafficking in persons. They have also instituted a “zero tolerance policy” on human trafficking. In addition, DOD amended its military justice system in an effort to prevent U.S. military personnel from fueling sex trafficking and published a regulation requiring TIP prevention provisions for all DOD contracts. www.dodig.mil/Inspections/IPO/combatinghuman.htm
• The Department of State has established the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP Office) to lead the diplomatic effort to address trafficking in persons around the world. It does this through high-level meetings with Ambassadors and other senior policy officials, through international programs, and through public awareness campaigns here and abroad. The TIP Office also produces an annual Trafficking in Persons Report. The TIP Report, as it is known, assesses and rates government progress of most countries around the world in addressing human trafficking. This TIP Report is a foreign policy tool, utilized to help increase dialogue with other countries and to provide an impetus for serious action. www.state.gov/g/tip

Trafficking as a Transnational Crime
In the last decades, marred by wars, ethnic cleansings, and the forced displacement of millions of people around the world, many have suffered tremendously. The horror of trafficking in human beings is one of the problems that has flourished in regions where there is economic, political, or social instability.

Taking advantage of the chaos, poverty, and vulnerability of people, traffickers have set up and solidified sophisticated regional and global trafficking networks that include recruiters, transporters, harborers, buyers, sellers, and others. These networks operate across national, ethnic, language, and geographic barriers. With estimates in the millions of people being moved across borders, the transnational crime of trafficking has created significant challenges for countries of origin, transit, and destination. Those working to help victims see on a daily basis the lives shattered by the terrible exploitation of innocent people. Countless men, women, and children are subjected to abuse we cannot begin to imagine. People seeking better lives are tricked, forced, and coerced into slavery and slavery-like situations. The stories of young women and children trafficked into sexual slavery are especially horrifying.

Because trafficking is a transnational problem, it requires a transnational solution. Organized crime doesn’t stop at the borders–neither can our law enforcement efforts. We need to find answers to an especially thorny set of questions:

• How can we build bridges between our countries and our regions to combat trafficking in persons?
• How can we insure that a victim rescued in one country is safely returned and reintegrated in another?
• If a child cannot go home, how can we insure her safe settlement in the new, or possibly a third, country?
• How can we forge closer ties among law enforcement agencies, service providers, civic and religious leaders and lawmakers to ensure that we are maximizing efforts?
• In short, how can we cooperate and collaborate to stop trafficking?

The United States has developed a framework of three P’s: prevention, prosecution, and protection (and assistance) to help combat trafficking in persons. For prosecution, we have made reducing corruption and enhancing transparency a top foreign policy priority because we believe both are central to stable democracies, sustainable development, and national security. We have also passed new legislation making document fraud intended to further trafficking in persons a crime. We are also working with countries to encourage them to draft and pass their own laws prohibiting trafficking in persons, corruption, money laundering, document tampering, and other related crimes. We do this because we believe that a counter-crime approach that connects trafficking to corruption, border patrol, document forgery, money-laundering, terrorism, and other transnational criminal activities is essential.

For protection, we encourage victim-centered programs that include rescue of victims, witness protection, shelters, and a comprehensive set of services for trafficking victims, as well as repatriation, resettlement, and reintegration programs where necessary. The victim-centered approach to trafficking does not prosecute the victims of sex trafficking for prostitution, for example. Rather it offers them a place of safety while addressing their physical, psychological and vocational needs. These assistance programs are basic humanitarian responses to a global problem.

But perhaps most important of the three Ps are the prevention programs. Prevention is primary. Why? Because once a human being has been trafficked, the devastation is so great that rehabilitation is a lengthy effort with highly uncertain prospects for success. While we have victims we will support assistance programs, but in almost every country we are encouraging education and awareness campaigns to reach vulnerable communities and individuals. We are also interested in addressing issues of property and inheritance rights for women and suggesting legal as well as social reforms to combat practices and attitudes that discriminate against women and girls. These prevention programs are critical. After all, which would you rather have: a hospital at the bottom of the cliff or a fence at the top? Prevention programs are the fence at the top.

While we have come a long way, we still have much to do. Winston Churchill once said “Give us the Tools and we will finish the Job.” This training, which I hope will be the first of many that contractors undertake, will give your people the information–the tools–they need to conduct themselves properly in the field, as well as to help combat trafficking in persons. The United States Government looks forward to working with you to insure excellence in peacekeeping operations, including abolishing human trafficking and related transnational criminal activities. If we share a common goal and a common determination, together we can finish the job.