Last week, I attempted to summarize the US State Department’s thoughts on becoming a “decade of delivery,” as stated in their release of the 2011 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report. However, I stopped after their first two points of focus: prevention and prosecution. Without any delay, I will jump right back into the analysis, summarizing protection and partnerships.

After prevention and prosecution, protection is the third “P” of the TVPA. A large emphasis is placed by the State Department on the mandatory existence of effective protection for victims. Protection focuses on the road to recovery for those who have been victims of sex or labor trafficking. The report breaks down protection into four major parts. First, victim identification is crucial. Understanding the nature of coercion and the enslavement process is key to public and private actors being able to label victims as such. The report notes the need for governments to “…provide incentives to police and other law enforcement to look purposefully for human trafficking and proactively investigate trafficking indicators.” Health care professionals, teachers, labor inspectors, and a host of other people are all on the front line of stopping the issue, often times without realizing it—everyone has the potential to expose human trafficking and play a role in stopping it.

The second aspect of protection is comprehensive services—the need to provide victims with adequate opportunities to be fully restored to health, pursue a job, and integrate themselves into society as free individuals. Immigration and sheltering programs are the third component of protection, providing stable living conditions in which the restored victims can adequately recover and press on to the future. The fourth component is protection of all classes of workers. This directly targets the need for legislation that will protect the rights and services of all workers, specifically those working domestic and agricultural jobs.

After analyzing prevention, prosecution, and protection, the TIP Report adds one more “P” to the list of necessary components to eradicate human trafficking: partnership. The initial stance taken by the State Department in the report is that the strongest and most effective partnerships are within government agencies. Due to the fact that a vast range of public sector jobs come into contact with and have such potential to stop human trafficking, there is power in an inter-government united effort. The report mentions the fact that NGO-government relations are often times way more detached than people would like to see. Lack of trust, lack of honesty, lack of faith in the fact that the other will fulfill its roles are all several big-picture issues with the relationships between NGO and government agencies.

However, the report notes that there are indeed positive aspects to linking up the efforts of the government and NGO’s, and ultimately these healthy relationships need to be fostered.

NGO’s often specialize in providing the resources that victims need to recover, as well as other services to help locate, rescue, and restore victims. NGO’s are a great source of referrals because many times a victim will trust a non-government group before approaching the government, according to the TIP Report. Without the support of the government, NGO’s could take this firsthand contact and create a clandestine world of rescue, leaving out government. Hopefully, says the State Department, the two can work together—“ Ideally, NGOs and law enforcement will foster mutually trusting relationships in which referrals are made both ways.” Feedback and information are the two other major benefits of this relationship. NGO’s are more likely to invest their time and energy at the grassroots level of the issue, “in the field,” and they can see both the reality of the victims’ stories as well as the fruit of government legislation and other plans of action. Therefore, this relationship is crucial.

A massive, united effort across the board (governments, NGO’s, private sector, the general public, etc) is extremely important, and the TIP Report explains that steps are being taken to ensure that these plans are executed. There is a look inside the attitude and efforts of the State Department as the issue of human trafficking is being tackled at this very second.

Next week, I’ll look at how the TIP Report describes and explains the actions that the US is taking to engage the country with the issue and wipe it away from this earth.

P.S. – The report did have some encouraging words in the way of raising awareness through today’s social media outlets. “Just as modern slavery crosses borders through migrant populations and globalized supply chains, new media can provide international tools for raising awareness, sharing best practices, and demanding government action.”

Keep talking my friends!

About the author, Hunter Chapman

Hunter Chapman is a fourth-year student at the University of Georgia who's passion to contribute firsthand to the fight against the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) led him to a summer internship at Meet Justice. He is an International Affairs major and a Communications minor with a heart to see a culture change and rise up against injustice. Hunter continues to volunteer his time writing and posting information online for Meet Justice from UGA.