US Trafficking in Persons Report 2021

The US Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report is published every year and provides information on the changing trends in human trafficking throughout the world, including specific analysis on each country.

Released on July 1, 2021, the US TIP report draws attention to the changing human trafficking trends amid the Covid-19 pandemic. It comes as no surprise that the economic and social distress generated by the pandemic and related mitigation efforts have exacerbated risks for vulnerable and marginalized populations, including victims of human trafficking and especially women and children. With competing priorities and reduced capacity amidst other challenges, governments, donors, and civil society organizations have faced practical and ethical dilemmas reconciling pandemic mitigation strategies with the implementation of anti-trafficking activities.

Throughout this period, there has been an increase in forms of online exploitation as traffickers, like most other people, made the shift to online. Online recruitment and grooming increased as children spent more time online for virtual learning due to school closures often with little parental supervision. Reports from several countries demonstrated drastic increases in online commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking, including online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC), and demand for and distribution of child sexual exploitation material (CSEM), including content that involved human trafficking victims.

Drawing on lessons learned from the pandemic response thus far, the US TIP report highlights four main considerations that aim to mitigate impacts of crises and guide the path forward for the anti-trafficking community:

1. The value of collaboration between anti-trafficking actors.
2. The need to incorporate anti-trafficking efforts into existing responses in other contexts, such as in humanitarian settings.
3. The importance of proactive response and crisis mitigation planning to anti-trafficking activities.
4. The application of equity-based approaches.