20th Annual Trafficking in Persons Report issued — comments by Ivanka and Pompeo

For 20 years now, the U.S. Department of State has been compiling the Trafficking in Persons Report. The report details the level of commitment to fighting trafficking of each country around the world. From level one (best) to level three (worst), it’s easy to see what countries take the problem seriously and which ones don’t.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had the following to share:

Last year, President Trump restricted certain types of assistance to the governments of 15 countries that were ranked Tier 3 — the lowest possible designation — in the 2019 TIP Report.
In January of this year, the President hosted a White House Summit on Human Trafficking. He signed an executive order to combat human trafficking, online child exploitation here in the United States.
This administration has ensured that nearly half a billion dollars is dedicated to the global fight against both sex and labor trafficking.

Special Advisor to the President, Ivanka Trump added:

The U.S. Government is — efforts across the board to stop to this heinous crime is done in partnership of course with Congress, and it’s great today to have Representative Chris Smith join us, one of the earliest advocates in Congress to really combat this horrendous evil. So thank you for being here today.
This year marks a milestone in our fight against trafficking in persons.
Twenty years ago, the landmark Trafficking Victim Protection Act was signed into law, establishing the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons within the U.S. Department of State.
This past January, the White House convened a historic summit, as Secretary Pompeo mentioned, on human trafficking, honoring this 20th anniversary.

Upon completion of their comments, Ambassador Richmond from the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, passed out the 2020 TIP Hero awards (virtually) to ten people who have made significant strides to prevent or rescue people from trafficking. Many were former trafficking victims themselves.

One of the recipients was Sophie Otiende from Kenya. Here’s her story:

You can watch the full TIP Report presentation here.

The entire report is 546 pages long, but it is a remarkable accumulation of information about the particular problems faced around the world. The report can be downloaded here.