Breaking the Cycle

Three ways USAID is countering trafficking in persons

The USAID Safe Migration Activity marked World Day Against Human Trafficking on July 30, 2021, with a photo zone event at Central Park in Tashkent, in which it and its partners placed cutouts of animated heroes informing passersby about human trafficking. / Gennadiy Nesterenko

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 are the fastest growing group of victims especially in labor trafficking, and 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.

There is limited evidence on how to effectively investigate and prosecute traffickers, prevent trafficking in the first place, or help victims recover.

Much work lies ahead to establish evidence for the most effective Countering Trafficking in Persons (C-TIP) practices, and building practices that have shown success is a valuable step in improving our understanding of how to approach this persistent challenge.

Read three promising approaches that help actualize the USAID Policy on C-TIP.

Educator Jean Djabo Biaou keeps record of children rescued from child trafficking who arrive at the USAID and UNICEF-funded transit and reinsertion center Le Bon Samaritain in Natitingou. / Anita Khemka, USAID/Benin

Local Partnerships Power Survivors

Local civil society organizations — including community based organizations, non-governmental organizations, faith-based organizations, and social movement organizations and networks — have the power to make C-TIP programs effective in addressing trafficking in persons given their local knowledge, understanding of context, and connections in the community.

These organizations work in a variety of areas related to trafficking in persons, such as migration, labor rights, child protection, and women’s empowerment.

They play a critical role in raising awareness of trafficking in persons within the community, which can help prevent more people from becoming victims in the first place. In particular, coordinated community-based efforts have been highly effective in addressing vulnerabilities that would make people more likely to become victims of trafficking in persons, preventing the trafficking before it occurs. USAID also helps these local groups build their own expertise in fighting trafficking and integrate anti-trafficking efforts into their existing work.

In Nepal, local organizations have set up transit homes near border checkpoints, successfully intercepted and assisted victims and potential victims of trafficking in persons, and provided skills training to assist with their reintegration into society.

In addition, working with community-based organizations and local civil society can help to ensure that USAID’s activities work as they should. A community-based, victim-centered, and trauma-informed approach helps survivors feel safe, supported, and confident in their reintegration on the road to recovery.

Traffickers have targeted Ukrainians for decades, but Russia’s brutal war has made millions of Ukrainians more vulnerable to trafficking. USAID, in partnership with IOM Ukraine, decorated carriages on the Kyiv metro with campaign materials to highlight the signs and risks of human trafficking, as well as resources to turn to for help. Launched on World Day Against Trafficking in Persons Day, this campaign reached over 450,000 Ukrainians, and the IOM-supported counter-trafficking hotline saw a 24% increase in calls after its launch. / Roman Shalamov

Awareness Matters in the Fight Against Trafficking

Public awareness is a key weapon in the fight against trafficking. However, it’s not just about educating the public. It’s about empowering everyone to play a role in preventing trafficking and helping victims.

Here’s how awareness fuels all four pillars of the U.S. government’s C-TIP strategy:

• Prevention: Information on education and encouraging alternative livelihoods can improve understanding of how to recognize fake employment schemes and knowledge of resources for support.
• Protection: By knowing the signs of trafficking, communities can help identify victims who need support and engage a wide swath of the public in efforts to combat trafficking.
• Prosecution: Public pressure and awareness can help law enforcement fill a gap in detection and identification of trafficking victims and prioritize trafficking cases and bring perpetrators to justice.
• Partnership: When everyone is aware of the issue, we can work together more effectively to stop trafficking.

In order to reach vulnerable people, public awareness campaigns must be properly targeted — this can include through a variety of community locations and services, such as health clinics, schools, and government offices. Where literacy is low, posters and signs can help to convey information. An outcome evaluation in Tanzania found that a television program was effective in reducing truancy, generating positive attitudes toward gender equality, and expanding women’s empowerment — all indicators that can lead to trafficking.

In other instances, social media has been used to spread awareness.

One study in Nepal found that one key to successful awareness-raising campaigns was tailoring messaging and format to the intended audience. For example, messaging targeted toward women had to account for the fact that women have less access to print media than men.

In Laos in 2021, USAID partnered with the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism, convening stakeholders in the tourism sectors including travel agencies, restaurants, karaoke bars, and businesses to discuss roles they can play to counter trafficking in persons. / USAID/Laos

Collaboration Stops Trafficking

Trafficking in persons doesn’t respect borders — it can happen anywhere, and it takes everyone working together to stop it. That’s why collaboration between different agencies and countries is a major theme of the U.S. government’s approach to combating trafficking in persons.

Additionally, the 2023 Trafficking in Persons report highlights partnerships for their critical role in combating trafficking in persons. Within countries, this can include coordination between law enforcement, social service providers, public health professionals, and faith leaders.

The engagement and cooperation across these actors is critical to identifying people who have been trafficked and helping them reintegrate them into society. While prosecution and punishment of offenders is often most emphasized, centering victims requires a robust system of identification and a strong safety net to ensure their successful reintegration and protect them from further victimization. This may require helping countries implement policies to improve existing measures of enforcement mechanisms.

Such was the case in Liberia. The U.S. Embassy coordinated with the Ministry of Labor and its National Human Trafficking Task Force to help achieve incredible results. They repatriated 100 trafficked young women from Oman, which led to the prosecution and conviction of a government official and others engaged in trafficking in persons. And the Task Force built safe homes and provided services for the repatriated women.

This is just one example of the power of collaboration. By working together, we can dismantle trafficking networks, support survivors, and create a safer world for everyone.

About the Author

Jessica Benton Cooney is the Senior Communications and Outreach Specialist in USAID’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance. The Countering Trafficking in Persons Team also contributed to this blog.