By Nicole Gaouette
June 14 (Bloomberg) -- The trafficking of men, women and children for labor and commercial sex is a “serious” problem in the U.S., according to the State Department.
The department’s 10th annual report grades 175 nations on their efforts to fight this modern form of slavery. The U.S. is listed for the first time, placed among those countries that are doing best to comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, the American law against human trade.
Still, the report said the U.S. is a source as well as a transit and destination country for people forced into labor, debt bondage and prostitution. The work is predominantly in manufacturing, janitorial services, agriculture, hotel services, construction, nail salons, elder care, strip-club dancing and domestic servitude, the U.S. said.
“Behind these statistics on the pages are the struggles of real human beings, the tears of families who may never see their children, the despair and indignity of those suffering under the worst forms of exploitation,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at a State Department event to mark the release of the report today in Washington.
The International Labor Organization estimated there were 12.3 million victims of forced labor, sex trafficking, debt bondage and recruitment of child soldiers worldwide in 2009. In the same year, there were 4,166 successful prosecutions for trafficking, the State Department report said.
Bottom Tier
The U.S. report lists three tiers of nations. Among those in the bottom section -- nations that don’t comply with the law and make no effort to do so -- are Zimbabwe, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Mauritania and Sudan.
Japan, Israel and Oman are listed in the middle tier -- nations that don’t fully meet the law’s minimum standards yet are making “significant” efforts to do so. Oil-rich Qatar is listed in between the middle and lowest tier on a watch list of countries that don’t meet minimum standards and whose progress is less certain.
Trafficking can’t be blamed solely on international organized crime, Clinton said.
“It is everyone’s responsibility,” she said, citing “businesses that knowingly profit or exhibit reckless disregard about their supply chains” and “governments that turn a blind eye or do not devote serious resources to addressing the problem.”
“All of us have to speak out and act forcefully,” Clinton said.
Enforcement Urged
The trafficking report calls for better law enforcement, improved laws and more prosecutions for trafficking. The report changes each year, and countries can move from tier one, where the U.S. and others are, to the bottom tier, occupied by Saudi Arabia and other offenders.
This year, 22 countries were upgraded, including Djibouti, which moved from the second tier to the first, while 19 lost ground, such as the Dominican Republic, which slipped from tier two to tier three.
Sixty-two countries on the list have never prosecuted trafficking, according to the report.
“Most countries that deny the existence of victims of modern slavery within their borders are not looking, trying or living up to the mandates” of a United Nations protocol mandate against trafficking, the report said.
Activists Honored
Clinton handed awards to activists working against trafficking in Hungary, Jordan, Mauritania, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, Brazil and the U.S. to celebrate their achievements. She praised their “ resolute and genuine stance on fighting this issue.”
The American recipient, Laura Germino, coordinates the Anti-Slavery Campaign for the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a Florida community organization of more than 4,000 migrant workers.
In remarks to the crowd, Germino said that “we are fighting for tier zero.” Seated behind Germino on the stage, Clinton broke in with one word that prompted cheers and applause.
“Yes,” the secretary said.
--Editors: Mark Schoifet, Bill Schmick
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