The U. S. State Depart­ment says that the global finan­cial cri­sis has made more peo­ple vul­ner­a­ble to human traf­fick­ing. More peo­ple are forced into labor or sex out of desperation.

From this Reuters story, writer Deb­o­rah Charles attended a press con­fer­ence that the State Depart­ment had to reveal their report on human trafficking.

In its annual “Traf­fick­ing in Per­sons” report, which tracks “mod­ern slav­ery” like forced labor and the sex trade, the State Depart­ment said grow­ing poverty around the world has sparked an increase in both sup­ply and demand for human traf­fick­ing.

“In a time of eco­nomic cri­sis, vic­tims are more vul­ner­a­ble, affected com­mu­ni­ties are more vul­ner­a­ble,” Luis de Baca said as he pre­sented the report.

“Per­sons who are under eco­nomic stress are more likely to fall prey to the wiles of the traf­fick­ers who often get their vic­tims through promises of a bet­ter life, promises of bet­ter earn­ings,” he said.

De Baca said human traf­fick­ing can be val­ued at about $50 bil­lion a year. That includes about $31 bil­lion profit earned by the traf­fick­ers plus about $20 bil­lion in oppor­tu­nity cost from lost labor of the peo­ple who are put into bondage.
…

The State Depart­ment expanded a black­list of gov­ern­ments it believes are not doing enough to stop human traf­fick­ing to 17, out of 175 coun­tries it mon­i­tors in the annual report.

Chad, Malaysia, Niger, Mau­ri­ta­nia and Zim­babwe were included among the worst offend­ers — putting them at risk of los­ing some U.S. aid.

Cuba, Myan­mar and North Korea have received the low­est rank­ing in each year they have been included in the report started nine years ago.

The low­est rank­ing means the United States could with­hold aid that is not human­i­tar­ian or trade-related.

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