2022 TIP Report

In releasing the 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said:

“The scale of this problem is vast.  There are nearly 25 million people currently victims of trafficking….trafficking destabilizes societies, it undermines economies, it harms workers, it enriches those who exploit them, it undercuts legitimate business, and most fundamentally, because it is so profoundly wrong.

Trafficking in persons violates the rights of all people to be free: free to do what you want, be who you want, make the life that you wish.”

The report examines the performance of 188 countries and territories rrding their efforts to prevent trafficking, protect victims and prosecute traffickers. It is meant to be a tool to assist governments regarding best practice and areas in need of improvement.

Topics of special interest in the 2022 TIP Report include:

• Forced Labor: The Hidden Cost of China’s Belt and Road Initiative
• Forced Labor and the Clean Energy Transition: Finding A Responsible Way Forward
• The Climate Crisis: Exacerbating Vulnerabilities and the Looming Increase of Exploitation
• Promising Practices in Data Collection, Management, and Dissemination
• Linking Efforts to Combat Corruption and Trafficking in Persons

Commenting on Australia’s efforts to combat human trafficking the report affirmed Australia’s action:

“convicting more traffickers, ordering two convicted traffickers to pay restitution to a victim, increasing funding to NGOs for community prevention programs, and developing a monitoring and evaluation plan to track implementation of its 2020-2025 national action plan (NAP).”

While Australia meets the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking the report recommended that the government should do more to screen vulnerable group such as domestic workers, international students and migrant workers to avoid detention or deportation of unidentified victims (see page 95).

Download of copy of the 2022 TIP Report here.