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Attorney General's Annual Report to Congress and Assessment of U.S. Government Activities to Combat Trafficking in Persons Fiscal Year 2008 

Full report (PDF 2.81MB)

Sadly, there are thousands who are trapped in various forms of enslavement, here in our country….It is a debasement of our common humanity. 

~ President Barack Obama

Trafficking in persons (TIP), or human trafficking, is a widespread form of modern-day slavery. Traffickers often prey on individuals who are poor, frequently unemployed, or underemployed, and who may lack access to social safety nets. Victims are often lured by traffickers with false promises of good jobs and better lives, and then forced to work under brutal and inhumane conditions. Due to the lengths to which perpetrators go to keep their crimes hidden, it is difficult to accurately estimate the extent of victimization. Nonetheless, the United States has led the world in the fight against this terrible crime both at home and overseas.

The centerpiece of U.S. Government efforts to eliminate human trafficking is the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA), Pub. L. 106-386. The TVPA defines trafficking in persons as “sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age” or “the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.” 22 U.S.C. § 7102(8). This definition applies to both U.S. citizens and foreign nationals.

The TVPA enhanced three aspects of federal government activity to combat TIP: protection, prosecution, and prevention. The TVPA, which was designed to address the needs of foreign victims of trafficking, provided for a range of new protections and assistance for victims of trafficking; it expanded the crimes and enhanced the penalties available to federal investigators and prosecutors pursuing traffickers; and it expanded the U.S. Government’s international activities to prevent victims from being trafficked.

This report, the sixth submitted to Congress since 2004, details U.S. Government activities to combat TIP during Fiscal Year 2008 (FY 2008). In addition to reporting this information, the report includes an assessment of U.S. government activities based on improvements since the last annual report and recommendations for further improvement.

The U.S. Government is committed to combating human trafficking with all the resources available to it. This fight is one of our highest priorities for ensuring justice in the United States and around the world.