Africa: State Dept Releases Human Trafficking Report

17 June 2004
allAfrica.com
By Katie Broendel and Gala Goodwin

Washington, DC — "We can't fully embrace our dignity unless we champion the dignity of others," U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said during the release of the U.S. State Department's annual report on human trafficking in Washington, D.C. Monday.

Powell said 600,000 to 800,000 people are bought and sold, or forced across the world's borders each year.

Trafficking is on President George W. Bush's agenda, Powell said and the U.S. government will increase funding by $50 million in addition to the $70 million already available.

"Women and girls as young as six years old" are the vast majority of trafficking victims, Powell said, and most of them find themselves in sexual servitude.

However, "we are making progress against this evil," Powell said. "Real people have been helped."

Human trafficking is linked to other international problems, such as drug trafficking and HIV/Aids, he said. It is a major source of revenue for organized crime and "plagues every country in the world, including the United States."

"Trafficking is a global security threat," Powell said. "All nations must double their efforts."

The state department established a new "Tier 2 Watchlist" category this year to describe countries that have met the minimum standards, but are falling behind in their efforts to combat human trafficking, said John Miller, the Secretary of State's senior advisor on trafficking in persons.

Information on slavery is very inexact, Miller said, but estimated that 80 percent of trafficking victims are female, and half of those are children.

Miller said there is no hard evidence that trafficking is linked to terrorism, increased HIV/Aids rates or child prostitution in Africa, but that trafficking victims are more likely to be exposed to HIV infection.

"Victims frequently fall victim to HIV/Aids," Miller said. "There is a link."

Miller said the international community should integrate their HIV/Aids and anti-trafficking programs to better coordinate their efforts.

"Twenty-first century slavery is a story of evil, but also a story of hope," Miller said.

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