Summary
Human trafficking is a worldwide form of exploitation in which men, women, and children are bought, sold, and held against their will in involuntary servitude. In addition to the tremendous personal damage suffered by individual trafficking victims, this global crime has broad societal repercussions, such as fueling criminal networks and imposing public health costs. In 2000, Congress enacted the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) to combat trafficking and reauthorized this act twice. This report reviews U.S. international antitrafficking efforts by examining (1) estimates of the extent of global trafficking, (2) the U.S. government's strategy for combating the problem abroad, and (3) the Department of State's process for evaluating foreign governments' antitrafficking efforts.
The U.S. government estimates that 600,000 to 800,000 persons are trafficked across international borders annually. However, such estimates of global human trafficking are questionable. The accuracy of the estimates is in doubt because of methodological weaknesses, gaps in data, and numerical discrepancies. For example, the U.S. government's estimate was developed by one person who did not document all his work, so the estimate may not be replicable, casting doubt on its reliability. Moreover, country data are not available, reliable, or comparable. There is also a considerable discrepancy between the numbers of observed and estimated victims of human trafficking. The U.S. government has not yet established an effective mechanism for estimating the number of victims or for conducting ongoing analysis of trafficking related data that resides within government entities. While federal agencies have undertaken antitrafficking activities, the U.S. government has not developed a coordinated strategy for combating trafficking abroad or developed a way to gauge results and target its overall assistance. The U.S. government has established coordination mechanisms, but they do not include a systematic way for agencies to clearly delineate roles and responsibilities in relation to each other, identify needs, or leverage activities to achieve greater results. Further, the U.S. government has not established performance measures or conducted evaluations to gauge the overall impact of antitrafficking programs abroad, thus preventing the U.S. government from determining the effectiveness of its efforts or adjusting its assistance to better meet needs. The Department of State assesses foreign governments' compliance with minimum standards to eliminate trafficking in persons; but the explanations for ranking decisions in its annual Trafficking in Persons Report are incomplete, and the report is not used consistently to develop antitrafficking programs. It has increased global awareness, encouraged government action, and raised the risk of sanctions against governments who did not make significant efforts to comply with the standards. However, State does not comprehensively describe compliance with the standards, lessening the report's credibility and usefulness as a diplomatic tool. Further, incomplete country narratives reduce the report's utility as a guide to help focus U.S. government resources on antitrafficking programming priorities.
Recommendations
Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change
from "In process" to "Implemented" or "Not implemented" based on our follow up work.
Director:
Team:
Phone:
Thomas Melito
Government Accountability Office: International Affairs and Trade
(202) 512-9601
Recommendations for Executive Action
Recommendation: To improve efforts to combat trafficking in persons abroad, the Secretary of State, in her capacity as Chair of the Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking, should consider working closely with relevant agencies as they implement U.S. law calling for research into the creation of an effective mechanism to develop a global estimate of trafficking. This could include assigning a trafficking data and research unit to serve as an interagency focal point charged with developing an overall research strategy, collecting and analyzing data, and directing research.
Agency Affected: Department of State
Status: In process
Comments: In its October 13, 2006 letter, State said that it supports a Congressional appropriation for more research into the extent of the worldwide trafficking problem, provided that the primary focus is on actionable research into the comparative severity of trafficking among regions and countries and the comparative effectiveness of different anti-trafficking programs.
Recommendation: To improve efforts to combat trafficking in persons abroad, the Secretary of State, in her capacity as Chair of the Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking, should consider, in conjunction with relevant agencies, developing and implementing a strategic approach that would delineate agency roles and responsibilities in relation to each other, strengthen mechanisms for integrating activities, and determine priorities, measurable goals, time frames, performance measures, and a methodology to gauge results.
Agency Affected: Department of State
Status: In process
Comments: In its October 13, 2006 letter, State said that the 2 new full-time positions created by Congress to staff the work of the President's Interagency Task Force and the Senior Policy Operating Group were filled within the last year. This will significantly increase the ability of the task force and the operating group to coordinate the work of the various departments and agencies. State said it is also considering how to strengthen links between U.S. Government funding for anti-TIP programs and the deficiencies that are identified in the country narratives in the Secretary's annual Trafficking in Persons Report. On coordination abroad State said it will strive especially to work with the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security to increase effectiveness.
Recommendation: To improve efforts to combat trafficking in persons abroad and to improve the credibility of State's annual report on trafficking in persons, the Secretary of State, in her capacity as Chair of the Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking, should ensure that the report clearly documents the rationale and support for tier rankings and improve the report's usefulness for programming by making the narratives more comprehensive.
Agency Affected: Department of State
Status: In process
Comments: In its October 13, 2006 letter, State said that it fully concurs on the importance of GAO's recommendation regarding the need to define some of the annual Trafficking In Persons Report legislative criteria more precisely. State also acknowledged that the annual report can be improved in terms of justifying tier rankings. State said it can do better in 2 areas of the law, as noted by GAO: assessing a country's fulfillment (or lack thereof) of the 2nd and 3rd minimum standards concerning penalties applicable to crimes of trafficking and the 4th minimum standard's core criterion regarding victim protections. The Department is currently defining these standards to be implemented and articulated in the upcoming report.
