On March 9, the House International Relations Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations held a hearing on the trafficking in persons. The next day, the subcommittee approved a bill (H.R. 972) to reauthorize the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (P.L. 106-386) (see related story).
Chair Christopher Smith (R-NJ) explained that the United States government “now estimates that 600,000 to 800,000 women, children and men are bought and sold across international borders each year and exploited through forced labor or commercial sex exploitation, and potentially millions more are trafficked internally within the borders of countries. Eighty percent of the victims are women and girls. An estimated 14,500 to 17,500 foreign citizens are trafficked into the United States each year.”
Ambassador John Miller, director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons at the State Department, highlighted U.S. efforts to combat trafficking. He said that in June, his office would issue the 2005 Trafficking in Persons Report, explaining that the annual report “has become an invaluable diplomatic tool for prompting and lauding progress abroad. We have seen a surge in government activity around the world: the passage of new anti-trafficking laws, almost 3,000 convictions of traffickers last year, national public service announcements and much more.” He also noted that his office would continue to coordinate U.S. financial assistance for anti-trafficking programs around the world. With regard to child trafficking, Ambassador Miller explained that he made a number of recommendations to tsunami-affected regions, including the placement of women and children in non-isolated areas of shelters and refugee camps. He also urged nongovernmental organizations to educate relief workers about trafficking and outline a “zero tolerance” policy for their employees. In addition, Ambassador Miller said that federal funds would be provided for a public awareness campaign against child sex tourism in Costa Rica, Cambodia, Thailand, and the United States.
Executive Director of Shared Hope International, Linda Smith, said that the bill to reauthorize the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) “addresses many of the gaps that exist in the global fight against trafficking in persons. It deals with some issues we’d rather not acknowledge as a country exploitation of child prostitutes by U.S. government personnel, U.S. government contractors and international peacekeepers but it provides tools for ensuring that this exploitation is no longer tolerated. It also acknowledges, as did the original TVPA, that trafficking in persons is not something that happens only in other countries but is still a problem in our own country.” Specifically, Ms. Smith expressed her support for a pilot project to provide long-term assistance for trafficking victims. She also lauded provisions aimed at protecting women and children in humanitarian crises, stating, “What is needed are short-term strategies for protecting vulnerable children and long-term strategies for assuring that women benefit from the reconstruction efforts and are able to gain meaningful employment. If women can find jobs and the ability to support their families, they will be less likely to fall prey to traffickers.”
The Barnes Findley Foundation President Shirley Barnes addressed the trafficking of women and children in Africa, which “has in general, received less attention and as a result less corresponding development of programs to combat the activity and assist the victims.” Explaining that trafficking in children is a greater concern in Africa, she stated, “The number of African countries reporting trafficking in children is two times the number reporting trafficking in women. And just to give you an example of the ‘globalization’ of trafficking of African women and children: Young South African women are lured into prostitution and shipped as far away as Macau, according to a report from the International Organization on Migration (IOM).” Ms. Barnes offered a number of recommendations for the subcommittee to consider, such as assisting African countries to develop and enforce anti-trafficking and child labor laws; supporting programs to rehabilitate trafficking victims, including educational training and job development; and establishing an institute or research center in the United States to develop reliable data on the incidence of trafficking among African women and children.
Sarah Mendelson, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, focused her comments on the allegations of sexual misconduct by world peacekeepers. Explaining that the Department of Defense (DoD), the United Nations, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization had all implemented zero tolerance policies for their employees, she stated, “I have confidence these organizations are capable of change and of implementing these new policies in a robust manner if they are given adequate resources and if they have committed leadership…Currently however, attitudes and organizational cultures appear themselves to be obstacles and to drive the current low level of resources. Central to adequate responses will likely be the recognition by senior personnel inside these organizations that human rights abuses and organized crime are among the fundamental security threats to peacekeeping missions. In other words, addressing human trafficking in peacekeeping missions and making sure that peacekeepers are not involved in criminal activity is not ‘mission creep’ but part of the core mission of establishing the rule of law.”
Ms. Mendelson pointed out that Congress had requested that the DoD address human trafficking, but did not earmark any funds for the purpose. She also encouraged Congress to support the establishment of an anti-trafficking office within the DoD: “At a minimum, the tasks of such an office would be to oversee education and training, including the research and design of awareness campaigns specifically for U.S. personnel deployed overseas; develop training for all military and contract personnel; and oversee training of CID [Criminal Investigative Division] and IG [Inspector General] inspectors in how to investigate systematically and thoroughly all cases involving U.S. personnel. In post-conflict reconstruction and in peace support operations, the office would liaise with military planners. The office would work also with the General Counsel’s office to make sure all legal instruments accessible to the DoD reflect anti-trafficking policies, including the Uniform Code of Military Justice and defense contracts.”
