U.S. Embassy announce the Release of the 10th Annual Trafficking in Persons Report

Panama Receives “Tier 2 Watch List” Rating

Panama City, June 14, 2010 – Each year in accordance to the 2000 Trafficking Victims Protection Act, the Secretary of State is required to provide Congress a report about the global state of human trafficking. The annual Trafficking in Persons Report provides an opportunity to diagnose the world’s efforts to combat the global scourge of modern human slavery. “Trafficking in Persons” applies to a wide range of activities involved when one person obtains or holds another person in compelled service, including forced labor, sex trafficking, bonded labor, debt bondage, involuntary domestic servitude, and forced child labor.

The recently released 10th annual Trafficking in Persons Report outlines the continuing challenges posed by trafficking in persons to countries across the globe. The Report, for the first time, includes a ranking of the United States (Tier-1) based on the same standards to which we hold other countries. The United States takes its first-ever ranking not as a reprieve but as a responsibility to strengthen global efforts against modern slavery wherever it occurs, including within America.

The annual assessment makes recommendations focused on implementing the “3P” paradigm of prevention, protection, and prosecution. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton notes that “based on lessons learned, we must work together with civil society, the corporate sector, and across governments through the fourth “p”--partnership… toward a world in which every man, woman, and child is safe from the hands of traffickers and can realize their God-given potential.”

This year, Panama has been given a rating of “Tier 2 Watch List.” Panama continues to be a source, transit, and destination country for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution. Most foreign sex trafficking victims are adult women from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and neighboring Central American countries; some victims migrate voluntarily to Panama to work but are subsequently forced into prostitution. Weak controls along Panama's borders make the nation an easy transit point for irregular migrants.

The Report recommendations for Panama include:

• Amend anti-trafficking laws to prohibit forced labor, including involuntary domestic servitude;
• Intensify law enforcement efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses and convict and sentence trafficking offenders, including any public officials complicit with trafficking activity;
• Train government officials in anti-trafficking laws and victim identification and care;
• Dedicate more resources for victim services; and,
• Develop a formal system for identifying trafficking victims among vulnerable populations, particularly women in prostitution.