About the Author: Sarah Mendelson serves as Deputy Assistant Administrator in the Bureau of Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance at USAID.

Today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will release the eleventh annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report and the world’s attention will turn to the global fight against human trafficking and the persistence of this problem in at least 181 countries around the world.

The International Labor Organization estimates that 12.3 million people globally are victims of trafficking — trapped in forced labor, debt bondage, or sexual exploitation. An accurate number of victims is hard to determine, however, because they are often a hidden population, kept under guard in mines, fishing boats at sea, back alley sweatshops, and brothels. Trafficking is a crime, a human rights abuse, and a development problem.

In our development programs, USAID is tackling the conditions… more »