WUNRN
USA - REQUEST FOR INFORMATION FOR
2014 TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT
Submissions must be received by the Office to Monitor and
Combat Trafficking in Persons by 5:00 p.m. on January 30, 2014.
Dear friends and
partners in the fight against modern slavery,
Through your work on the front lines to combat trafficking, you see firsthand the way governments around the world are working to confront this challenge. You know which practices are succeeding, and where efforts are falling short. And whether you’re contributing to this struggle halfway around the world or right here in the United States, as always, your observations will be critical to the Department of State as we draft the 2014 Trafficking in Persons Report. I therefore urge organizations, as well as survivors of human trafficking, survivor networks, and survivor-led organizations, to help strengthen the 2014 Report by responding to this call for information.
The relevant details, including the
deadline, can be found below and the full solicitation can be viewed here.
I also invite you to submit public awareness campaign materials, such as trafficking-related photos, billboards, posters, or murals, from the last year. These may be featured (with credit) in the 2014 Report. Please submit these in high resolution (1 MB or more) digital image files. We are particularly interested in hearing from you about the important role trafficking survivors play in our struggle against this crime: what lessons can be learned, what guidance can be incorporated into anti-trafficking efforts, and the challenges faced when moving beyond the victimization of human trafficking. We welcome stories about individuals who have experienced the transition from victim to survivor and their associated interactions with the criminal justice, juvenile justice, family court, child welfare, and immigration systems. In addition, submissions may also include interactions with social, legal, medical, and mental health providers who provide essential assistance in overcoming the adversity associated with victimization.
In the
months ahead, I’m confident that once again your important work will underpin a
thorough and honest Trafficking in Persons Report. Thank you for your
partnership.
Ambassador Luis CdeBaca
Background: The TIP Report is the most comprehensive worldwide report on foreign governments’ efforts to combat trafficking in persons. It represents an updated, global look at the nature and scope of trafficking in persons and the broad range of government actions to confront and eliminate it. The U.S. Government uses the TIP Report to engage in diplomacy to encourage partnership in creating and implementing laws and policies to combat trafficking and to target resources on prevention, protection, and prosecution programs. Worldwide, the report is used by international organizations, foreign governments, and nongovernmental organizations alike as a tool to examine where resources are most needed. Freeing victims, preventing trafficking, and bringing traffickers to justice are the ultimate goals of the report and of the U.S. Government’s anti-human trafficking policy.
The Department prepares the TIP Report using
information from across the U.S. government, U.S. embassies, foreign government
officials, nongovernmental and international organizations, published reports,
and research trips to every region. The TIP Report focuses on
concrete actions that governments take to fight trafficking in persons,
including prosecutions, convictions, and prison sentences for traffickers, as
well as victim protection measures and prevention efforts. Each TIP Report
narrative also includes a section on recommendations. These
recommendations are then used to assist in measuring progress from one year to
the next and in determining whether governments comply with the minimum
standards to eliminate trafficking in persons or are making significant efforts
to do so.
Scope: The Department
of State requests information on the degree to which the United States and
foreign governments complied in the year 2013 with the minimum standards for
the elimination of trafficking in persons (“minimum standards”) that are
prescribed by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, as amended
(“TVPA”). This information will assist in the preparation of the 2014
Trafficking in Persons Report that the Department will submit to
appropriate committees in the U.S. Congress on countries’ level of compliance
with the minimum standards. Submissions should include, but need not be
limited to, answering the questions in the Information Sought section
below. Only those questions for which the submitter has direct professional
experience should be answered and that experience should be noted. For any
critique or deficiency described, please provide a recommendation to remedy it.
Note the country or countries that are the focus of the submission.
Submissions may include written narratives that answer the questions presented below, research, studies, statistics, fieldwork, training materials, evaluations, assessments, and other relevant evidence of local, state, and federal government efforts. To the extent possible, precise dates should be included. Respondents need not answer every question posed below; any responses that can be provided are greatly appreciated.
Where applicable, written narratives providing factual information should provide citations to sources and copies of the source material should be provided. If possible, send electronic copies of the entire submission, including source material. If primary sources are utilized, such as research studies, interviews, direct observations, or other sources of quantitative or qualitative data, details on the research or data-gathering methodology should be provided. The Department does not include in the TIP Report, and is therefore not seeking, information on prostitution, human smuggling, visa fraud, or child abuse, unless such conduct occurs in the context of human trafficking.
Dates:
Submissions must be received by the Office to Monitor and Combat
Trafficking in Persons by 5 p.m. on January 30, 2014.
Written submissions and supporting documentation may be submitted to the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons by the following methods:
Confidentiality: Please provide the name, phone
number, and email address of a single point of contact for any submission. It
is Department practice not to identify in the TIP Report information
concerning sources in order to safeguard those sources. Please note, however,
that any information submitted to the Department may be releasable pursuant to
the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act or other applicable law. When
applicable, portions of submissions relevant to efforts by other U.S.
government agencies may be shared with those agencies.
III. Information Sought Relevant to the
Minimum Standards
1. How have trafficking methods changed in the past 12
months? For example, are there victims from new countries of origin? Is
internal trafficking or child trafficking increasing? Has sex trafficking
changed from brothels to private apartments? Is labor trafficking now occurring
in additional types of industries or agricultural operations? Is forced begging
a problem?
2. In what ways has the government's efforts to combat
trafficking in persons changed in the past year? What new laws, regulations,
policies, and implementation strategies exist (e.g., substantive criminal laws
and procedures, mechanisms for civil remedies, and victim-witness security,
generally, and in relation to court proceedings)?
3. Please provide observations regarding the
implementation of existing laws and procedures.
4. Is the government equally vigorous in pursuing labor
trafficking and sex trafficking?
5. Are the anti-trafficking laws and sentences strict
enough to reflect the nature of the crime? Are sex trafficking sentences
commensurate with rape sentences?
6. Do government officials understand the nature of
trafficking? If not, please provide examples of misconceptions or
misunderstandings.
7. Do judges appear appropriately knowledgeable and
sensitized to trafficking cases? What sentences have courts imposed upon
traffickers? How common are suspended sentences and prison time of less than
one year for convicted traffickers?
8. Please provide observations regarding the efforts of
police and prosecutors to pursue trafficking cases.
9. Are government officials (including law enforcement,
diplomats, and soldiers/peacekeepers) complicit in human trafficking by, for
example, profiting from, taking bribes, or receiving sexual services for
allowing it to continue? Are government officials operating trafficking rings
or activities? If so, have these government officials been subject to an
investigation and/or prosecution? What punishments have been imposed?
10. Has the government vigorously investigated, prosecuted,
convicted, and sentenced nationals of the country deployed abroad as part of a
diplomatic, peacekeeping, or other similar mission who engage in or facilitate
trafficking?
11. Has the government investigated, prosecuted,
convicted, and sentenced organized crime groups that are involved in
trafficking?
12. Is the country a source of sex tourists and, if so,
what are their destination countries? Is the country a destination for sex
tourists and, if so, what are their source countries?
13. Please provide observations regarding government
efforts to address the issue of unlawful child soldiering.
14. Does the government make a coordinated, proactive
effort to identify victims? Is there any screening conducted before deportation
to determine whether individuals were trafficked?
15. What victim services are provided (legal, medical,
food, shelter, interpretation, mental health care, health care, employment,
training, etc.)? Who provides these services? If nongovernment organizations
provide the services, does the government support their work either financially
or otherwise?
16. How could victim services be improved?
17. Are services provided equally and adequately to
victims of labor and sex trafficking? Men, women, and children? Citizen and
noncitizen? Members of the LGBT community?
18. Do service providers and law enforcement work
together cooperatively, for instance, to share information about trafficking
trends or to plan for services after a raid? What is the level of cooperation,
communication, and trust between service providers and law enforcement?
19. May victims file civil suits or seek legal action
against their trafficker? Do victims avail themselves of those remedies?
20. Does the government repatriate victims who wish to
return home? Does the government assist with third country resettlement? Does
the government engage in any analysis of whether victims may face retribution
or hardship upon repatriation to their country of origin? Are victims awaiting
repatriation or third country resettlement offered services? Are victims indeed
repatriated or are they deported?
21. Does the government inappropriately detain or
imprison identified trafficking victims?
22. Does the government punish trafficking victims for
forgery of documents, illegal immigration, unauthorized employment, or
participation in illegal activities directed by the trafficker?
23. What efforts has the government made to prevent human
trafficking?
24. Has the government entered into effective bilateral,
multilateral, or regional information-sharing and cooperation arrangements that
have resulted in concrete and measureable outcomes?
25. Does the country have effective policies or laws
regulating foreign labor recruiters?
26. Does the government undertake activities that could
prevent or reduce vulnerability to trafficking, such as registering births of
indigenous populations?
27. Does the government provide financial support to NGOs
working to promote public awareness or does the government implement such
campaigns itself? Have public awareness campaigns proven to be effective?
28. Please provide additional recommendations to improve
the government's anti-trafficking efforts.
29. Please highlight effective strategies and practices
that other governments could consider adopting.