There is a continuous need to research the psychological effects of sex trafficking on victims and survivors around the world. In 2000, the United States became the primary leader in combating issues of human trafficking, including sex trafficking, by passing the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) . This anti-trafficking legislation authorized the establishment of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP) in the U.S. Department of State (TIP, 2015). The TIP Annual Report is based on the efforts of complying countries that participate in new legislation and support anti-trafficking efforts. Despite this compliance, many have criticized the reliability of statistics disclosed by each individual country, and some have argued that “Human trafficking remains a hidden crime” (CdeBaca & Sigmon, 2014).

In 2000, the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, was established to supplement the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (TIP, 2015). As of 2013, a total of 186 countries accepted the terms to prevent and combat trafficking in persons by paying particular attention to women and children, protecting and assisting the victims of trafficking with complete respect for their human rights, and promoting cooperation among States in order to meet anti-trafficking objectives (TIP, 2014; UNODC, 2012). Each country was evaluated and classified into one of the following tiers: (a) tier 1, which includes countries whose governments fully comply with the TVPA minimum standards; (b) tier 2, which included countries whose governments did not fully comply with minimum standards but were making significant efforts to move in the direction of completing the minimum standards; (c) the tier 2 watch list, which included countries that did not fully comply with the TVPA minimum standards but were making efforts toward compliance in attaining “absolute number of victims and commitment by the country to take additional future steps over the next year” but have proven “a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts”; or (d) tier 3, which included countries whose governments did not fully comply with the minimum standards and were not making a significant attempt to do so (TIP, 2014; TIP, 2015).

It was noted that 80% of 27 million trafficked victims were being trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation (Department of State, 2007). According to a report published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2012), 76% of trafficked individuals were women and girls. In a review of the TIP Report of 2014, which was based on data collected in 2013, each country had their own way of identifying victims, and some countries were more consistent than others in their efforts. Services that were available to victims within each country were explored and ranged from temporary visa status, legal assistance, shelters, mental health counseling, medical treatment, food allowances, and living arrangements. The prevalence regarding how many sex trafficking victims have taken part in these government efforts were compared across countries (TIP, 2014). Of the 28,263 sex trafficking victims that were identified across 186 countries, about 52% received government services, 57% received medical services, and 55% of the individuals were allocated a translator in their host country in 2013 (TIP, 2014; Mahler, Gaviria, Sarachaga-Barato, & Walker, 2015).

The U.S. Department of State publishes the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Annual Report which documents how foreign governments address human trafficking. Each country has their own written narrative that includes an explanation of the country’s presenting human trafficking problem, recommendations, prosecution measures, protection, and prevention. Of the total 196 countries around the world, the TIP Report of 2015 included narratives from 188 countries. This means that about 96% of countries were represented in the US Department of State’s TIP Report of 2015. The following charts were compiled from the TIP Report of 2015, representing information from 2014, and were organized by continents. The available data (Chart C) were compiled from these country narratives to determine what services are provided in each continent for both human and sex trafficking victims. The country narratives mentioned that trafficking victims could be provided with several services, including housing (i.e., long term, not shelters), medical, mental health, immigration, translator, vocational/employment, education, financial, reintegration, child care, referrals to providers, witness protection, and exemption from legal status.

Chart A represents the total number and total percentage of countries within each continent that were classified as tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3.

Chart A

Continent

Total number of countries

Number of tier 1 countries (% total)

Number of tier 2 countries (% total)

Number of tier 3 countries (% total)

Asia

50

4 (8%)

38 (76%)

8 (16%)

Africa

55

10 (18%)

44 (80%)

1 (2%)

South America

16

1 (6%)

14 (88%)

1 (6%)

Europe

45

22 (49%)

21 (47%)

2 (4%)

North America

20

3 (15%)

16 (80%)

1 (5%)

Australia

10

2 (20%)

7 (70%)

1 (10%)

Chart B represents the total number and total percentage of countries within each continent that did not include information in each of the identified categories.

Chart B (missing data)

Continent

Total number of countries

Total number of victims identified (labor and sex trafficking)

Total victims who received services (labor and sex trafficking)

Total sex trafficking victims identified

Total sex trafficking victims who received services

Asia

50

25 (50%)

30 (60%)

31 (62%)

32 (64%)

Africa

55

15 (27%)

35 (64%)

47 (85%)

54 (98%)

South America

16

3 (19%)

9 (56%)

7 (44%)

11 (69%)

Europe

45

5 (11%)

9 (20%)

21 (47%)

38 (84%)

North America

20

2 (10%)

9 (45%)

13 (65%)

19 (95%)

Oceania (Australia)

10

7 (70%)

9 (90%)

9 (90%)

10 (90%)

Chart C represents the total number and total percentage of countries within each continent that were included in the data we compiled.

Chart C (data available)

Continent

Total countries

Total number of victims identified (labor and sex trafficking)

Total serviced victims (labor and sex trafficking)

Sex trafficking victims identified

Sex trafficking serviced victims

Asia

50

25 (50%)

20 (40%)

19 (38%)

18 (36%)

Africa

55

40 (80%)

20 (36%)

8 (15%)

1 (2%)

South America

16

13 (81%)

7 (44%)

9 (56%)

5 (31%)

Europe

45

40 (89%)

36 (80%)

24 (53%)

7 (16%)

North America

20

18 (90%)

11 (55%)

7 (35%)

1 (5%)

Oceania (Australia)

10

3 (30%)

1 (10%)

1 (10%)

0 (0%)

It is important to note that only when a country narrative mentioned that one or more services were provided to any trafficking victim, that country was allocated one point for providing a particular service. However, if the country narrative did not mention that a particular service was provided to victims, the country was not awarded one point for providing a particular service. This does not necessarily mean that the country does not provide this service to victims; rather, it could mean that this information was simply not included in the narrative for the TIP Report of 2015. It also is important to note that each country’s data were organized into the continents: Asia, Africa, South America, North America, Europe, and Australia (Oceanic). Antarctica is not included in the list of continents because there are no recognized countries on the land mass. Additionally, some countries were transcontinental, meaning that their regions spanned across more than one continent. If this was the case, then that country was counted once for each continent it spanned across. These countries were, namely, Azerbaijan (Europe and Asia), Egypt (Africa and Asia), Spain (Europe and Africa), Kazakhstan (Europe and Asia), Russia (Europe and Asia), Turkey (Europe and Asia), and Georgia (Europe and Asia).

Continent

Total number of victims identified (labor and sex trafficking)

Total victims who received services (labor and sex trafficking)

Sex trafficking victims identified

Sex trafficking victims who received serviced

Asia

11,623

4,808

1628

330

Africa

5,458

1,526

870

2

South America

4,709

455

450

237

Europe

9,296

4,899

3,014

732

North America

5,795

3,144

374

20

Oceania (Australia)

71

18

25

0

Total

36,952

14,850

6,361

1,321

Continent

Housing (long term; not shelter services)

Mental health services

Legal services

Immigration services

Translator

Asia

7

29

26

18

5

Africa

5

32

16

15

0

South America

2

10

9

8

0

Europe

14

33

30

27

2

North America

2

11

7

11

1

Oceania (Australia)

3

4

5

6

1

Total

33

119

93

85

9

Continent

Transportation assistance

Vocational services

Medical services

Educational services

Financial assistance

Asia

3

14

27

8

9

Africa

2

7

29

11

7

South America

0

3

10

1

4

Europe

2

16

33

9

14

North America

3

6

12

4

1

Oceania (Australia)

2

2

5

0

2

Total

12

48

116

33

37

Continent

Reintegration services

Child services

Referrals to providers

Witness protection

Exemption from legal problems

Asia

6

8

17

7

13

Africa

11

16

4

5

12

South America

4

4

6

3

8

Europe

8

16

9

15

20

North America

3

6

2

2

8

Oceania (Australia)

0

0

1

2

2

Total

32

50

39

34

63

Unfortunately, a significant number of individual countries compiled labor trafficking and sex trafficking together instead of discretely listing the data. It is, therefore, recommended that one global sex trafficking definition be created for the purposes of identifying victims/survivors and to gather reliable, consistent, and accurate data. It would be essential for countries to develop an internationally recognized reporting database to document identified labor vs. sex-trafficked victims/survivors and the services provided to trafficked persons, as well as, establish structured policies that include a thorough follow-up system to enforce accountability and transparency with countries’ victim service efforts. The following recommendations are being proposed, given the current research that is available, in order to increase sex trafficking prevention efforts worldwide:

  • Construct an international legal standard and/or policy to protect trafficked victims from being deported or charged with a crime as a result of being trafficked.

  • Train law enforcement to identify sex trafficking victims to prevent unnecessary imprisonment and/or deportation.

  • Establish more government-run shelters, and allocate more funding to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to maintain current services being offered and improve conditions.

  • Foster long-term care for trafficked victims and reintegration.