Required Reading: TIP Report

Today is an important day for anti-trafficking supporters.  The U.S. State Department has released its annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report for 2009.  

There's been some controversy in past reports about political relationships and diplomatic issues shading particular rankings among countries that still have a long way to go in terms of human trafficking--Japan, you know I love you, but my finger is pointing at you.  Another issue was the fact that the U.S. itself does not appear on the list, and our hands are far, far from clean in the issue of human trafficking.  However, the report will apparently begin to include the U.S. as of 2010.  Regardless of past controversies, I think that this is an important document that everyone who has an interest in advocating for the fight against trafficking should take the time to study.

You can view the report here.  I'm going to spend the next few days reading it in depth, and will let you know my thoughts.  In the meantime, check out one of my favorites (Diana Scimone!), as she already covered it earlier today.  

"With this report, we hope to shine the light brightly on the scope and scale of modern slavery so all governments can see where progress has been made, and where more is needed.  Trafficking thrives in the shadows, and it can be easy to dismiss as something that happens to someone else, somewhere else.  But that is not the case.  Trafficking is a crime that involves every nation on earth.  And that includes our own." Hillary Rodham Clinton