A Look at How We Can Counter Trafficking in Persons Together

The State Department estimates that at any given moment, a staggering 27.6 million people are victims of human trafficking. These victims come from all walks of life – all ages, genders, and nationalities. Yet, only a fraction of these people are identified and connected to resources needed to recover from this crime. A UNODC study found that women and girls make up 79% of trafficking victims, with 78% subject to sexual exploitation. However, boys, the fastest growing group of victims especially in labor trafficking, are often overlooked entirely.

While laws against trafficking in persons are more common in the past 20 years and prosecutions for these offenses have increased, it remains a challenging issue. According to 3ie's Human Rights Evidence Gap Map, there's limited evidence on how to effectively investigate and prosecute traffickers, prevent trafficking in the first place, or help victims recover. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act, passed in 2000 and reauthorized in 2018, sets clear priorities for the U.S. to fight trafficking. This includes making sure U.S. government funding doesn't support trafficking, training officials like airport staff to identify victims, and developing strategies to prevent trafficking altogether.

Much work remains to be done to establish evidence for the most effective Countering Trafficking in Persons (C-TIP) practices, and building knowledge and practice of activities that have shown success is a valuable step in improving our understanding of how to approach this persistent challenge. In this Month’s Learning Digest we explore three promising approaches that help actualize the USAID’ Policy on C-TIP:

• The Power of Local Partnerships
• Why Awareness Matters in the Fight Against Trafficking
• From Silos to Synergy: How Collaboration Stops Trafficking