The U.S. Department of State recently released the Trafficking in Persons Report for the year. It’s an impressive document that looks at every country in the world and evaluates whether they’re doing enough to eliminate trafficking. You can download it as a whole or in small pieces. I’d recommend downloading and scrolling through the Introduction. The intro talks about the criteria they look for and then summarizes the findings. It has some interesting charts and maps, as well as stories of people around the world who are making a difference for trafficked people.

One of the significant findings of this year’s report was the effect of worldwide economic trouble on human trafficking. This Radio Free Asia article and this HumanTrafficking.Change.org post do a good job analyzing how the change in global economy makes vulnerable people even more vulnerable to traffickers.

Overall, the report is informative, but the report itself is not enough to spur effective change around the world. The penalties for countries who aren’t doing what they’re supposed to are minimal, and saying that a certain country meets the requirements creates the perception that human trafficking is not an issue there at all. For real change there needs to be cooperation between governments, economic consequences for traffickers, and social change that minimizes the vulnerability of the poor. All of that can begin with our awareness and understanding of the issue.

Here’s more about how the report works: Countries are evaluated on prosecution, convictions, and legislation tied to human trafficking. They are categorized according to the findings. Tier 1 countries are ones that do everything mandated by the Trafficking Protection Victims Act. Tier 2 counties don’t fully comply but are making significant efforst. Tier 2 (watch list) countries don’t meet all the requirements and the number of victims is significant or rising, there is a lack of evidence of compliance, or the country’s tier 2 status is based on changes they’ve committed to make in the next year. Tier 3 countries don’t fully comply and aren’t making a significant effort. Tier 3 countries may be subject to sanctions where the U.S. “may withhold nonhumanitarian, non-trade-related foreign assistance.”

Here’s a rundown of who’s meeting requirements and who’s not. (The intro also has this information in the form of color-coded maps.)

Tier 3:

Burma
Chad
Cuba
Eritrea
Fiji
Iran
Kuwait
Malaysia
Mauritania
Niger
North Korea
Papua New Guinea
Saudi Arabia
Sudan
Swaziland
Syria
Zimbabwe

Tier 2 (Watch List)

Algeria
Angola
Argentina
Azerbaijan
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belize
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Central African Rep.
China (PRC)
Congo (DRC)
Congo, Rep. of
Cote D’ivoire
Djibouti
Dominican Republic
Egypt
Equatorial Guinea
Gabon
Ghana
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
India
Iraq
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Libya
Mali
Micronesia
Moldova
Montenegro
The Neth. Antilles
Nicaragua
Pakistan
Philippines
Qatar
Russia
St. Vincent & the Gren.
Senegal
Sri Lanka
Tajikistan
Tunisia
Turkmenistan
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
Uzbekistan
Venezuela
Yemen

Tier 2:

Afghanistan
Albania
Antigua & Barbuda
Armenia
The Bahamas
Barbados
Belarus
Benin
Bolivia
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Brunei
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Chile
Costa Rica
Cyprus
Ecuador
El Salvador
Estonia
Ethiopia
The Gambia
Greece
Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kosovo
Kyrgyz Republic
Laos
Liberia
Macau
Madagascar
Malawi
The Maldives
Malta
Mexico
Mongolia
Morocco
Mozambique
Namibia
Nepal
Oman
Palau
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Portugal
Romania
Rwanda
Serbia
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovak Republic
South Africa
Suriname
Taiwan
Tanzania
Thailand
Timor-Leste
Togo
Trinidad & Tobago
Turkey
Uganda
Uruguay
Vietnam
Zambia

Tier 1

Australia
Austria
Belgium
Canada
Colombia
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Italy
Korea, Rep. of
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Mauritius
The Netherlands
New Zealand
Nigeria
Norway
Poland
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom