TraCCC

"Trafficking (of humans) helps perpetuate systemic government corruption. It helps fund the expansion of other organized crime activities as traffickers are often also engaged in trafficking arms and drugs. The quick and continuous profits made from trafficking also permit the criminal organizations to expand into other areas of illicit activity."
- Dr. Louise I. Shelley, Testimony before the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (the Helsinki Commission), June 28, 1999.

Trafficking in persons is a transnational crime with global implications. In order to combat trafficking and bring its perpetrators to justice, all nations must recognize that trafficking is a serious criminal offense. Politicians and law enforcement officials in all countries must give priority to the investigation and prosecution of trafficking in persons offenses, assign appropriate punishment to those found guilty, and protecting the victims of such offenses. All transit, receiving, and supply countries must cooperate in the prevention, investigation, and prosecution of human trafficking phenomena and offenses. Because the United States is a key destination country for trafficked victims, it has a special role to play in combating the problem and setting an example for other countries to follow.

Trafficking affects virtually every country in the world. The largest numbers of victims come from Asia, with over 225,000 victims each year from Southeast Asia and over 150,000 from South Asia. The former Soviet Union is now believed to be the largest new source of trafficking for prostitution and the sex industry, with over 100,000 women and children trafficked each year from that region. An additional 75,000 or more are trafficked from Eastern Europe. Over 100,000 victims come from Latin America and the Caribbean, and over 50,000 are from Africa. Most of the victims are sent to Asia, the Middle East, Western Europe and North America. The U.S. Department of State has estimated that at any given time, there are hundreds of thousands of people in the trafficking pipeline, being warehoused by traffickers, waiting for new routes to open up or documents to become available -- and their primary targets include the United States, the European Union, and Canada.

In October 2000, the U.S. government voted into law "The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000." The purpose of the statute is to combat trafficking in persons and assist its victims. The strategy for addressing trafficking is governed by three principles: first, prevention of trafficking; second, protection and support for victims; and third, prosecution of the traffickers.

TraCCC's focus on trafficking in persons remains geared toward quantifying the political, social and economic costs of trafficking and examining how this activity is related to transnational organized crime groups. TraCCC and its overseas centers have performed numerous studies and prepared training materials and course curricula on the criminal phenomena of human trafficking and alien smuggling.

Our goal is to translate both our research and the works in the broader academic universe into praxis for policymakers and practitioners globally. TraCCC continues active collaboration with law enforcement, prosecutors, investigators, and legislators in the US and overseas, many of whom have participated in TraCCC's seminars.

TraCCC has designed and conducted seminars for prosecutors and investigators from many countries of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe and published training handbooks in English, Russian, Moldovan and Georgian languages. Our training curricula are based on research by carefully selected analysts from Europe and Eurasia, including criminologists, demographers, sociologists, and criminal law experts and practitioners. Topics covered in the training materials include the role of organized crime, document fraud, child trafficking and exploitation, victim assistance, anti-trafficking legislation, prosecutorial approaches, investigative techniques and money laundering as it relates to this crime.

Topical Overview