International Relations Paper

Fall
Why are Some Countries

Complying With Minimum
International Regulations To
Combat Global Human Sex
Trafficking and Others are Not?
Quinn Duty
International Relations Research Paper
08
Global Sex Trafficking and Laws

Introduction
Why are some countries not meeting global sex trafficking
standards of illegality? Global sex and human trafficking targets mostly
women and children. According to the Global Report from the United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 79% of human trafficking is for
sexual exploitation. 1Women and girls make up approximately 98% of
victims forced into sexual servitude. At least 20.9 million victims are
bought and sold worldwide into sexual labor and other forms of forced
labor.2 With so many people being victimized each year by this
inhumane crime, it is appalling that places such as Russia, Cuba,
Algeria and Venezuela are not fully complying with the minimum
standards of making this activity illegal. The countries in question have
not made any significant efforts to comply either.
Their failure to
comply with these standards, or progress at all towards doing so, not
only makes traveling stressful and travelers anxious, but also
encourages this activity within these areas.
There are many different
1 "UnitedNationsOfficeonDrugsandCrime."GlobalReportonTraffickinginPersons.
https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/humantrafficking/globalreportontraffickingin
persons.html.
2 "GlobalSexTraffickingFactSheet."GlobalSexTraffickingFactSheet.
http://www.equalitynow.org/node/1010.
3 Galatsidas,Achilleas,MarkAnderson,andAnnieKelly."WhichCountriesHavethe
WorstRecordforHumanTrafficking?Interactive."TheGuardian.
http://www.theguardian
4 "GlobalSexTraffickingFactSheet."GlobalSexTraffickingFactSheet.
3
urban cities across the globe containing major airports and roadways,
which makes trafficking activity easier to conduct for those in charge of
the trafficking operations. For example, Charlotte, North Carolina could
is considered a major trafficking and transportation hub with its close
proximity of I-95 and Charlottes International Airport. These various
means of quick transportation make human trafficking more accessible
to transport victims across the country and even across the world
quickly. Charlotte being a more urban city, with many nightclubs and
universities in the surrounding area, is a very populated place with a
major concentration of young women. There are two questions to
address; one being why do these major political countries not comply
with such standards of the minimum requirements to combat human
trafficking, and two, if they did comply could it potentially decrease the
number of victims affected by global sex trafficking.
Context
Human trafficking is defined as a modern form of slavery which
involves the controlling of a person through force, fraud or coercion to
exploit a victim for forced labor, sexual exploitation or both.5 One of
the first types of human trafficking was that of slavery into the
Americas where many African Americans were forced or coerced into
slavery and transported to America against their will. While slavery is
against human rights and many countries have criminalized this
5 "WhatIsHumanTrafficking?"StateofCalifornia.https://oag.ca.gov/human
trafficking/whatis.
4
activity, there are still many problems today. Out of the 20.9 million of
those affected 68% are trapped into forced labor, which can include
performing sexual tasks, or even prostitution, 26% of victims are
children and 55% consists of women and girls.
With so many victims
globally there are challenges when trying to stop these trafficking

enterprises. UNICEF has estimated that approximately 1.2 million
children are trafficked annually. With this illegal enterprise being evergrowing and very privatized it is hard to accumulate consistently
accurate statistics on the issue of human trafficking. To date, known
profits have reached 32 billion dollars by global human trafficking. 7
There are also 29 countries that have yet to join the Palermo Protocol
to fight human trafficking.8 While human trafficking has not been
eliminated completely and still continues to target primarily women
and children, convictions are still surprisingly low. The most recent
statistics available for this are those of 2012 provided by UNICEF. In
2012 there were only 4, 746 trafficking convictions worldwide.9
According to Belser, human trafficking is the second largest source of
6 "TheFacts."Polaris.2015.https://polarisproject.org/facts.
7 "Infographic:AGlobalLookatHumanTrafficking."UNICEFUSA.
https://www.unicefusa.org/stories/infographicglobalhumantraffickingstatistics.
5
illegal income worldwide only to be outdone by illegal drug
trafficking.10
One of the most prominent sources of the definition, prevention
and punishment of human trafficking is the United Nations Convention
of against Transnational Organized Crime which has two protocols: The
United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in
Persons, Especially Women and Children and The United Nations
Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air. The
first protocol states that an international approach is needed in the
countries of origin, transit and destination that includes measures to
prevent such trafficking, punish the traffickers and protect the victims
including protecting their internationally recognized human rights.11 A
supplemental protocol to the United Nations protocol is that of the
2000 Palermo Protocol which aims to prevent, suppress and punish
trafficking in persons especially women and children.
12
The second
protocol differs slightly in the means and goals of the operation, stating
a comprehensive international approach is needed including
cooperation, exchanging information and other appropriate measures
including socio-economic measures at the national, regional, and
10 "STOP THE TRAFFIK - The Scale of Human Trafficking Worldwide." STOP THE
TRAFFIK. https://www.stopthetraffik.org/the-scale-of-human-traffiking.
11 "Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women
and Children." Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
http://www.osce.org/odihr/19223?download=true.
12 "ProtocoltoPrevent,SuppressandPunishTraffickinginPersons."Protocolto
Prevent,SuppressandPunishTraffickinginPersons.
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/ProtocolTraffickingInPersons
6
international levels.13 While many Member States have began to
seriously implement this second protocol, doubling in number over the
past few years from 54 Member States to 125, there are still many
countries lacking the legal tools and the political will necessary to
combat the problem as a whole.14 One of the most problematic issues
of eliminating trafficking is compliance with International Law.
15
With
the use of working groups and special rapporteurs to monitor and

report the compliance or non-compliance of treaties set in place by
United Nations, it is a wonder many places are still ranked by the US
State Department as non-compliance with such standards and treaties.
The Trafficking Protocol, however, is more than a simple treaty, it was
specifically created for enforcement which gives it more influence
overall than an aspirational agreement. This protocol states that
parties must take action to penalize trafficking, protect the victims of
trafficking, and grant victims temporary or permanent residence in the
countries of destination.
16
Many other countries have taken major
initiatives towards ending human trafficking, such as the 2005

13 "ProtocolAgainsttheSmugglingofMigrantsbyLand,SeaandAir."UnitedNations
OfficeonDrugsandCrime.
https://www.unodc.org/documents/southeastasiaandpacific/2011/04/som
indonesia/convention_smug_eng.pdf.
14 "UnitedNationsOfficeonDrugsandCrime."GlobalReportonTraffickingin
Persons.https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/humantrafficking/globalreporton
traffickinginpersons.html.
15 LindseyKing."HumanRightsandHumanTrafficking."TopicalResearchDigest.
http://www.du.edu/korbel/hrhw/researchdigest/trafficking/InternationalLaw.pdf.
7
Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking (COMMIT) .
The Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking is a
sub-regional group composed of China, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia
Myanmar, and Vietnam. Anti-trafficking laws are hesitant to prosecute
those in charge of trafficking due to possible repercussions as well as
the time and money it takes to build sufficient cases on such people.
17
According to the US Department of State, countries can be

categorized into four different groups based on their progress and their
compliance with the minimum international standards to combat
human trafficking. Tier 1 consists of countries that have a fully
complying government with the Trafficking Victims Protection Acts
minimum standards. Tier 2 includes that do not fully comply with the
minimum standards but are currently making significant efforts to
ensure their compliance with the TVPA minimum standards. The Tier 2
Watch List includes countries who do not fully comply with the
minimum standards but are making efforts to be in compliance ad that
also have significant numbers of victims of an increasing number of
victims as well as the failure to provide evidence of efforts to be in
compliance and the countrys compliance efforts were based on
promises made for the following year.
18
These minimum standards
listed out by The Trafficking Victims Protection Act are as follows: The
18 "HumanTraffickingTierPlacement."HumanTraffickingTierPlacement.
http://www.knowyourcountry.com/humantraffic.html.
8
government should prohibit severe forms of trafficking and punish such
acts of human trafficking; for knowing the commission of any act of sex
trafficking involving force, fraud, coercion, or if the victim is a child and
cannot give consent or if the trafficking includes kidnapping or rape or
any which causes death the government should prescribe punishment
commensurate with that for grave crimes such as forcible sexual
assault; the government of the country should prescribe punishment
that is sufficiently stringent to deter and that adequately reflects the
heinous nature of the offense; and the government of the country
should make serious and sustained efforts to eliminate severe forms of
trafficking in persons.
19
During the reporting period, Russia opened shelters for

trafficking victims and also submitted to the Russian Security Council
for approval of a national anti-trafficking in persons action plan but the
Russian Security Council never announced a decision on this request.20
While the Russian Government has signed the Program of Cooperation
between CIS Member States against Trafficking in Persons but to date
there still has been no steps forward to implement this program into
their society.21
19 "TraffickingVictimsProtectionAct:MinimumStandardsfortheEliminationof
TraffickinginPersons."U.S.DepartmentofState.
http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2011/164236.htm.
20 "Russia."U.S.DepartmentofState.
http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2014/226804.htm.
9
Tier 3 Russia is one of the five permanent members of the United
Nations Security Council. Why has it been acceptable for such an
important country to get away with not complying with the standards
of International Law against sex trafficking? Labor trafficking is the
most prominent problem of Russia as of the 2013 report from the U.S.
Department of State.22 Many workers from places such as Europe,
Central Asia and Asia have been subjected to forced labor in Russia;
this includes Vietnam and North Korea. These same nationalities of
people were subjected to forced prostitution in Russia as well. Russia
has been placed on the 2nd tier of the watch list for nine consecutive
years, meaning they did not meet the minimum requirements but were
making efforts to change, until 2012 where they fell to tier 3 for not
complying and making no efforts to do so in the future. The third tier
also includes: the absolute number of trafficking victims has increased
or is significantly increasing, there is a failure to provide evidence of
increasing efforts to comply with standards, and the determination to
complete promised steps of action from the previous year. While
brochures of awareness have been printed and an interagency
committee was established, the committee has yet to meet and
prosecution cases in Russia still remain low.
In Venezuela, many women and children are lured into sex
trafficking, from poor interior regions into urban and tourist regions
10
such as Caracas, Maracaibo, and Margarita Island.23 Officials from
Venezuela have reported victims from Colombia, Peru, Haiti, China, and
South Africa that were lured into human trafficking. Some Venezuelan
women are forced into prostitution and transported by boats to
Caribbean Islands. Unlike the Russian government, the Venezuelan
government is making efforts to comply with the minimum standards
in order to eliminate sex trafficking; however, they have not
documented their progress to comply with these standards according
to the US State Department which automatically drops them down to
tier 3 on the map.24 Their attempt to combat human trafficking was
through the efforts of an awareness campaign and a public service
announcement project.25
Although forced sexual servitude of men and women in Algeria is
not the highest of problems, illegal entry and coerced trafficking is still
a problem for victims and officials. Most often, sub-Saharan African
men and women crossing the border illegally trying to reach Europe
are the victims identified. It is suspected that the chairmen or
leaders of the villages in Africa are most likely responsible for forcing
some women and girls into prostitution and forced sexual labor.26
23 "Venezuela."U.S.DepartmentofState.
26 "Algeria."U.S.DepartmentofState.
11
Algeria does not comply with the minimum standards for sex and
human trafficking, and for an entire year they also did not distribute
any jail time to those responsible for human trafficking.27 Sex
trafficking victims were also commonly subject to arrest, detention,
and deportation. The Algerian government has not met any minimal
standards for the protection of trafficking victims.
28
Lit Review
One possible explanation for such rapid expansion of this
enterprise is the rise of technology, not only does it make buying and
selling victims much easier but you can cover your traces and destroy
evidence of sales and purchases if youre talented enough with the
software. In Russia theres a plethora of websites for the promotion of
forced brides and sexual servitude, which is facilitated mostly by
organized crime groups.29 With the problem of prosecuting those in
charge due to repercussions also comes the problem of identifying
those in charge. Perpetrators can range from diplomats and even
employees of multinational organizations. These organizations traffic
young women and transport them to similar companies in Asia which
specialize in the smuggling and trafficking of persons.30 A major
29 Lee,Maggy.HumanTrafficking.Cullompton,Devon,U.K.:Willan,2007.Pgs119
120
30 Lee,Maggy.HumanTrafficking.Cullompton,Devon,U.K.:Willan,2007.Pg120
12
problem for Russias government is the fact that many women hold
important roles as recruiters, madams and kingpins of major smuggling
operations. Another major problem for Russian officials is the
motivation behind the illegal activities. Lauren McCarthy in her paper states
that many before her that have researched human trafficking in association to Russia
almost always place corruption as a main reason at the top of the list for possible reasons
why. However in her paper she talks the entire Russian Criminal Justice System as a
whole and blames the enforcement and judiciary sectors of the government for not doing
as much as they could. The basic structure of their criminal justice system makes it
increasingly had to prosecute many crimes in Russia by setting up barriers making it hard
for any one person to take control of responsibility of a case to see that it is completed.
Also causing problems for law enforcement is that status of this crime seeing as it is
fairly new and they must learn new and different techniques to deal with witnesses that
are also victims of such crimes. Another possible problem discussed by McCarthy is
Institutional Inertia. While new laws are being created to deal with human trafficking,
officers may not be fully aware or prepared of new laws ad procedures and therefore
continue to abide by older laws and precedent even when dealing with new cases. 31 With
human trafficking cases, there must be intent to exploit the victim. Without the intention
of exploitation it cannot be fully considered as a human trafficking crime and to find
paper evidence of exploitation is almost impossible. In Russia there is only a 5-year
minimum sentence for those found guilty of human trafficking which makes it not
considered as a grave crime which would hold a heavier sentence including prison
31 McCarthy, Lauren A. "Beyond Corruption: An Assessment of Russian Law
Enforcement's Fight Against Human Trafficking." Poseidon01.ssrn.com.
http://poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?
13
time. 32 McCarthy brings up another valid point about the lack of help from victims.
Many victims are either too traumatized to give the police any real information, do not
trust the police or are sent back to their country of origin, which can hamper progress of
the prosecution of criminals. For the victims to remain legally in the country of the
investigation and to receive government health assistance there would need to be a
temporary system of residency for victims. Once they are deported back to their country
it is almost impossible to track them down again for investigation purposes. Law
enforcement may be using the laws on prostitution to pursue human trafficking cases
because they are more familiar and the evidence required does not involve victim
testimony.33 In a report from the European University Institute it lists several possible
factors for not only the rise of human trafficking in Russia but also the spread of it
through the 90s and today. These possible factors included weak law enforcement, lack
of appropriate legislation and an increased scale of illegal migration. 34 Traffickers are
not always in the game purely for personal monetary gains. Some
engage in this enterprise to fund terrorist groups and guerilla
movements. All of these roles together not only greatly influence the
business of human sex trafficking but can also make it increasingly
difficult for officials to not only identify those in charge of the
operations but to also charge them and prosecute them. While the
32 McCarthy,LaurenA."BeyondCorruption:AnAssessmentofRussianLaw
Enforcement'sFightAgainstHumanTrafficking."Poseidon01.ssrn.com.
33 McCarthy,LaurenA."BeyondCorruption:AnAssessmentofRussianLaw
Enforcement'sFightAgainstHumanTrafficking."Poseidon01.ssrn.com.
34 Mukomel,Vladimir.CombattingHumanTrafficking:TheRussianFederation.
Publicationno.13/30.CARIMEAST.
14
main focus of this piece was directed towards Russia specifically we
can see just from one example, how international this business is with
the constant busying, selling, smuggling and transportation of the
victims. With the governments job growing increasingly harder to catch
and prosecute these individuals in charge of the operations this could
be a possible explanation as to why Russia is a tier 3 country and why
the number of victims has either increased significantly or continues to
increase over time. With no real threat to the business, they need not
worry about punishment or slowing down their business. The
proliferation of Russian trafficked women can be attributed to the
failure of Russia to comply with the minimum standards and has made
no significant efforts to do so or cannot provide evidence of these
efforts.
Professor Sara Dillon states that expectations set by the State
Department are also not entirely accurate in the fact that passing
legislation is of great significance but it is most often the gap between
the passing of legislation and the enforcement from police that seems
to cause the most problems.35 Over the past several years,
discrepancies in the rating system for each tier, at least within the
State Department, has given some priority to the issue of sex
trafficking, sparking an international conversation of performance
35 Dillon,SaraA.WhatHumanRightsLawObscures:GlobalSexTraffickingandthe
DemandforChildren.SuffolkUniversityLawSchool.Poseidon01.ssrn.com.
15
worldwide.
36
While efforts are being made in different places, maybe
political differences and alliances have skewed the way certain places
are determined on the tier system such as the difference between
Venezuela and Japan. If this information given out by the State
Department is not entirely true then maybe other countries and their
positions on the tier system are not entirely true as well. This could
give possible explanation to why some countries have not made
significant efforts or have no evidence of such and still remain toward
the top of the tier system and while others have made efforts but still
remain at the bottom.
In Africa, there is very poor documentation of all of the human
trafficking victims, which can makes cases and prosecution hard for
police and government officials. Poverty and the low social and class
status of women contribute largely to the problem of sex trafficking
and make women easy targets in places such as Algeria, which can
make the disappearance of women very unnoticeable.37 Along with sex
trafficking for women and girls, child labor trafficking in Algeria is also
a major problem as well. Many African women are trafficked and
transported to Western Europe and the Middle East. With such
unreliable documentation of population overall and victims of sex and
36 Dillon,SaraA.WhatHumanRightsLawObscures:GlobalSexTraffickingandthe
37 H.R.Rep.No.RL30545at33(2003).
http://pards.org/crs_country/CRSReportTraffickingInWomenAndChildrenTheU.S.AndInt
ernationalResponse(March6,2003)Updated.pdf
16
human trafficking this causes difficulties for government officials to get
involved and make any real progress towards putting and end to
human sex trafficking.
Thesis
With a mixture of government corruption, lack of available yet
necessary legal tools and the prominent social titles of those in charge
of these illegal operations these things together can all contribute
equally to the difficulty of preventing global sex trafficking, prosecuting
those who played any part in the kidnapping, transporting, buying or
selling of the victims and protecting the victims and recognizing their
international human rights. In places such as Russia, military force is
very prevalent so there should be no excuse as to why police force to
catch these criminals in charge should be a problem, but when those in
charge of these illegal activities are prominent people in the political
scene and even in the economic scene it can be hard to punish or
prosecute these persons at all. Government corruption in Russia is a
major factor in the reason of why Russia is a tier 3 country and has
decided not to fully comply with the minimum international standards
set out by the US State Department to combat human trafficking
globally. Russias judicial system is said to be very corrupt as well as
public procurement, which leads to a lack of accountability and
responsibility in the public administration.38
38 "RussiaCountryProfile."Http://visionteam.dk.http://www.businessanti
corruption.com/countryprofiles/europecentralasia/russia/snapshot.aspx.
17
Algeria one the other hand is known to be one of the poorer
countries of the world so while government corruption could play a
major part here as well, the more fitting explanation for this country
would be the lack of necessary resources to combat the problem
properly. The documentation system for their police and government is
very unstable and unorganized which can cause problems finding the
criminals as well as prosecuting them in court. Poverty also contributes
to the lack of cooperation with the minimum international standards.
Many women and children in this part of the world are extremely poor,
if one of them goes missing there is no huge effort being put forth to
find such unimportant people. The unreliable documentation from
Algeria includes the overall population as well as the statistics on the
victims of human sex trafficking that have entered into their country as
well as those that have been taken from their country.39
Venezuela faces a mixture of the problems listed above, which is
why they remain a Tier 3 country. Professor Sara Dillon believes that
unclear requirements set forth by the US State Department plays a
small role in the fact that Venezuela continues to be a Tier 3. While is
lays out requirements of laws that should be passed and enacted, the
police force behind these laws creates a major gap of achieving goals.
While the requirements and rating for each country seem to differ
39 H.R.Rep.No.RL30545at33(2003).
http://pards.org/crs_country/CRSReportTraffickingInWomenAndChildrenTheU.S.AndInt
ernationalResponse(March6,2003)Updated.pdf
18
slightly based on alliances and the government in charge at the time
this could be seen as corruption within the US State Department. If
each country is not judged equally for their efforts of meeting the
minimum requirements then there is no doubt that each country would
rank differently and some countries with higher levels of human sex
trafficking could have a lower tier number than another country. Just
because a law is passed means a great deal when being ranked on the
tier system but there could be no police force behind the law to enforce
it which could do no significant efforts to combat human sex trafficking
but the country would still look as if they are making significant
measures to do so.
Research Design
One way to test these theories would be to compare three sets of data
for each country being: available resources such as police
enforcement, monetary funds, and paperwork organization; the level of
corruption for each country as well as the statistics for victims and
those in charge of the illegal operations. Once all of the data is
collected you can compare all three categories for all three countries to
see which has the highest level for each category. If each country
ranks highest in one of the three categories listed than that would
mean each theory would be seen as equally a problem for each
country. If these countries do not all match equally with one category,
say one country is highest in two or three of the categories then
19
maybe Professor Dillon had the right idea that it is indeed an unjust
rating system for the tier of each country on this global problem. Say
Russia checks the box for corruption but neither Algeria or Venezuela
also have corruption, then we cannot assume that corruption is the
problem or lack of resources but that maybe the system indeed is
unfair itself.
Another test to these theories could be most similar to Most
Different Systems Test, this looks at how very different situations or
factors can lead to the same outcome. This would mean that
corruption, lack of resources and difficulty finding and prosecuting
criminals are all very different reasons for the lack of all three countries
listed as not fully complying with the minimum international standards
of combatting human sex trafficking globally set forth by the US State
Department. I believe both methods could get the job done with
extensive research and comparing the statistics of all three countries
while keeping in mind other countries that are placed in other tiers and
if any of those countries face the same situations or problems but do
not have the same outcome as Russia, Algeria or Venezuela.
Analysis
Through researching the Russian government and the active role human
trafficking plays in their economy, a few ties can be made to the way the state is run and
their possible role in the facilitation of such an illegal activity. With reports from the State
Department of Russian officials not only facilitating the trafficking of victims but also
20
protecting those who have been charged of trafficking or who are in charge of trafficking,
I think a safe assumption is that corruption plays a major role in the everyday operations
of the government. Corruption within state government can have many negative effects
for combatting human trafficking. Not only does corruption often include embezzling
funds but also can slow progress of legislation passed and even slow or alter judicial
processes when traffickers are caught and prosecuted. To go further, when government
officials are involved directly with trafficking victims or taking measures to protect other
traffickers it not only complicates the legal process but also shows deliberate disregard
for the duties and responsibilities of those officials. With such direct involvement from
government officials I think it can be concluded that in the case of Russia, hypothesis 1 is
correct in assuming that corruption may have a direct tie to the rise, expansion and
continuation of the problem that is global human trafficking. Hypothesis 2 cannot
however be directly linked to the case of Russia. Russia falls around the twelfth spot on
the rankings of economy by GDP making it a pretty economically healthy country. With
such wealth Russia has financial means to make steps towards combatting human
trafficking. Russia is no way in poverty like other countries that also fall on Tier 3. This
evidence could make a reasonable argument that poverty or financial burdens of a
country that is democratic might pose a problem for funding and resources available to
combat human trafficking within that state. With such funds and available resources that
Russia has there should be little to no problem for this country to initiate programs
towards stopping trafficking of humans globally and within their own borders.
Hypothesis 2 would not make a strong argument in the case of this country. Hypothesis 3
also has discrepancies when relating it to the case of Russia. Hypothesis 3 introduces the
21
theory of corruption within the ranking system itself based on feelings towards each
individual state. While Russia is a permanent member of the UN, many would think that
they would have a higher ranking on the Tier system in order to continue cooperation and
friendship between the US and Russia but this seem not the case. Russia although a
permanent member and despite their prominent position within the global community can
still be found at the bottom of the Tier system.
Through research of Algeria corruption was of a different sort and scarce in
activity but still prevalent within the government of the state. The major outlet for
corruption in Algeria was through economic and development projects, which mostly
included embezzlement. Though no known forms of government involvement have been
recorded in the crimes of human trafficking this does not mean that it has no involvement
or effects. With the existence of corruption within the government this can support
hypothesis 1 as well. Corruption here in Algeria could play a role in human trafficking.
Hypothesis 2 was that of unavailable funds and resources for a country to combat human
trafficking or make any steps towards combatting the problem. Algeria is significantly
poorer than Russia in terms of GDP and economic growth, which could contribute to
their lack of necessary resources. While their lack of monetary funds to address the issue
may be a main reason as to why they remain on Tier 3, their lack of funding could also
sprout from the issue of corruption and their embezzlement. Funding and resources to this
country could be of major help to a country like this if corruption did not exist within
their government. Algeria is not a permanent member of the United Nations and therefore
has no real political prominence within the global community. Their global status whether
economically or politically could produce no real incentive or problem for the State
22
Department when being ranked on the Tier system. This case example provides an
argument that corruption within the ranking system itself may have an effect on the status
of Algeria on the Tier system. There are no real repercussions for Tier 3 countries other
than having the rest of the world know their stance on human trafficking and where they
are in their fight against it. If there were corruption within the reporting and placement of
countries there would be no real reason for the state to interfere with the placement of
Algeria on the scale. This could neither reject nor support hypothesis 3 based on the
neutrality of this states power and economy versus the role of the US State Department.
Researching Venezuela also brought about instances of corruption within their
government, which only strengthens the overall argument of hypothesis 1. While the
level of corruption compares nowhere near that of Russia or Algeria, a corrupt
government still plays a major role in the prosecution of criminals involved with human
trafficking. Many women are even transported by boat to the Caribbean; with corruption
in the government this could explain the ease of traffickers to use such noticeable
transportation to move these women back and forth. Concerning hypothesis 2, Venezuela
also has nowhere near the funds that Russia has but by no means are they extremely
impoverished. Venezuela has made small steps towards combatting human trafficking but
due to corruption they may be lacking enough funds and resources to make any
significant progress that can be noted by the US State Department. There is no real
evidence that sticks out for this hypothesis to be completely supported but evidence
shows that without ample resources and funds can slow the progress of meeting the
minimum standards to combat human trafficking. Hypothesis 3 however might come into
play with the case of Venezuela. It has been reported that Venezuela has attempted to
23
make progress in complying with the TVPA minimum standards yet they remain on Tier
3 instead of being moved up for their progress and attempts. Whether this has something
to do with political motivation towards the leaders of Venezuela or the simple fact their
efforts just arent enough for others to take notice is unclear. This case of Venezuela who
has made efforts yet remains at the bottom of the Tier system could make an argument for
prejudice and injustice within the rating system itself.
Conclusion
While corruption is well known throughout the Russian government, there have
also been accusations of government official corruption throughout Algeria as well.
These accusations arose from development projects and projects for economic growth
where tremendous amounts of public dollars were being spent but the economic growth
was slow compared to the amount of money spent.40 Corruption cannot only affect the
economics of a state but also the laws and enforcement of the laws towards illegal
activities such as human trafficking. They take measures to protect some traffickers,
facilitate the trafficking of victims and even ignore new or updated ways of law
enforcement related to this specific activity.
Algeria is known to be a very poor country located at the Northern part of Africa.
The problem for Algeria seems to be the complexity of human trafficking situations
taking place there as well as the miniscule amount of funds and resources available to
them to increase their fight against human trafficking. Algerias economy based on GDP
is significantly smaller than that of Russia, which could contribute to the lack of available
funds, which seems to hinder their progress. Although these countries differ significantly
40 "AlgeriaHeldBackByCorruption,PoorPlanningAlMonitor:ThePulseofthe
MiddleEast."AlMonitor.2013.http://www.al
monitor.com/pulse/business/2013/04/algeriacorruptiongrowtheffect.html#.
24
both states find their name on the same Tier 3 and maybe this could be a possibility to
explain that the amount of resources and monetary funds available to each different state
plays no major role in the illegal activity of human trafficking. All three countries have
economic gaps yet all three are on the same tier. Hypothesis 2 stating that the placement
of each state is dependent on funds and resources could be rejected here since there are a
variety of economies here and all are on the same tier.
Some research has shown possible evidence of hypothesis 3, that there could be
corruption within the US State Department as some states that have made more
significant efforts to comply with the minimum standards fall on lower tiers than other
states that may not have made such big steps. Russia who has seemingly made no effort
at all can be found under the same tier as Venezuela who has not only enacted new laws
and made public service campaigns to raise awareness about the issue. Normally a state
that has made efforts would be noticed or rewarded and those that do poorly and continue
to make no effort would be reprimanded but both are found in the same category. This
could provide evidence for hypothesis 3which stated that there could be discrepancies
within the ranking system itself.
With many researchers finding more than one possible explanation for the willing
or unwilling lack of compliance to the minimum standards of combatting human
trafficking, it can be debated that a formula of multiple different factors can create
different situations for each country. One factor cannot alone cause such massive
situations involving the coercion and exploitation of young women and children. While
each case state had corruption within their country, I think it is safe to assume that
government corruption from not only high up elected officials but also local law
25
enforcement officials as well can hinder investigations, break down the promise of
protecting victims and can influence the punishments for those prosecuted. With little to
no evidence of the effects of resources and funding on where each state is placed,
hypothesis 2 could not create a strong argument to be accepted. Hypothesis 3 also
provides evidence to be accepted as a factor that determines how and where each state is
categorized. With inconsistencies in the requirements by the State Department for both
Venezuela and Russia it is likely that efforts go unnoticed for some states and lack of
effort is also unnoticed for other states. More research on a wider scale including all
countries on all tiers could provide clearer evidence on which factors have stronger ties to
human trafficking globally. Through my research I have found corruption through
government officials and no steady set of requirements from state to state have potentially
harmful or helpful effects for different states. These two hypotheses are supported most
by the evidence provided while hypothesis two was rejected.
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"AlgeriaHeldBackByCorruption,PoorPlanningAlMonitor:ThePulseoftheMiddle
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Fall

Why are Some Countries

Global Sex Trafficking and Laws

There are many different

With so many victims

globally there are challenges when trying to stop these trafficking

the use of working groups and special rapporteurs to monitor and

Many other countries have taken major

initiatives towards ending human trafficking, such as the 2005

According to the US Department of State, countries can be

These minimum standards

During the reporting period, Russia opened shelters for

While efforts are being made in different places, maybe

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