Some of what I read on this special section of the CNN website is shocking. I had no idea human slavery is still so widespread.
http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/
http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/
How seriously governments around the world are working to combat human trafficking comes into sharp focus Monday when the U.S. State Department issues its 2011 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report.
Published annually since 2001, the TIP Report counts known cases of human trafficking in more than 175 countries, whether for commercial sex, bonded labor, child labor, involuntary domestic servitude or child soldiers.
It also takes note of new legislation enacted, how many prosecutions were initiated and how many traffickers were convicted.
The State Department describes the TIP Report as a "diplomatic tool" that can be used to engage with other countries on the issue of human trafficking.
It is assembled with the help of embassies, non-governmental organizations, aid groups and individuals who have submitted data or their own personal accounts.
As a result, the report has become the world's most comprehensive survey of modern day slavery. It also explores which strategies are succeeding or failing in the fight against human trafficking.
"The TIP Report, for us, is an invaluable source of information," says Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's special representative and coordinator for combating trafficking in human beings.
She added: "In Europe we had a huge phenomenon of trafficking for sexual exploitation but now what is growing is trafficking for labor exploitation and child trafficking."
The global trade in human beings is changing, growing more sophisticated as a criminal enterprise that can boast more profits and fewer risks than the illegal drug trade.
The TIP Report accounts for that changing situation by placing countries into different tiers, which can point to progress made against human trafficking or the lack of effort. For friends and foes of Washington, it's a time of reckoning.
Published annually since 2001, the TIP Report counts known cases of human trafficking in more than 175 countries, whether for commercial sex, bonded labor, child labor, involuntary domestic servitude or child soldiers.
It also takes note of new legislation enacted, how many prosecutions were initiated and how many traffickers were convicted.
The State Department describes the TIP Report as a "diplomatic tool" that can be used to engage with other countries on the issue of human trafficking.
It is assembled with the help of embassies, non-governmental organizations, aid groups and individuals who have submitted data or their own personal accounts.
As a result, the report has become the world's most comprehensive survey of modern day slavery. It also explores which strategies are succeeding or failing in the fight against human trafficking.
"The TIP Report, for us, is an invaluable source of information," says Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's special representative and coordinator for combating trafficking in human beings.
She added: "In Europe we had a huge phenomenon of trafficking for sexual exploitation but now what is growing is trafficking for labor exploitation and child trafficking."
The global trade in human beings is changing, growing more sophisticated as a criminal enterprise that can boast more profits and fewer risks than the illegal drug trade.
The TIP Report accounts for that changing situation by placing countries into different tiers, which can point to progress made against human trafficking or the lack of effort. For friends and foes of Washington, it's a time of reckoning.
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