By Cristina S. Sevilla*
Trafficking in
persons (TIP) has predominantly been tackled from a limiting criminal justice
perspective. The U.S. State Department’s annual TIP Report highlights trafficking-related
convictions in classifying countries under its tier system. The report’s
emphasis on rule of law indicators, rather than prevention and victim services,
impacts how countries focus their anti-trafficking resources. For example, over
time Thailand has increased its efforts targeting the prevention of human
trafficking, and therefore reduced its investigation, prosecution and
conviction efforts. However, this shift
to prevent exploitation resulted in a drop in the TIP report rankings, down to the lowest ranking of Tier 3. As another example, in its vigorous zeal to
achieve a better ranking, the Philippine government amended its
anti-trafficking law in
order to increase its number of convictions. The focus on convictions distorts
the point.
