Human trafficking bolsters abusive regimes and criminal groups, weakens global supply chains, fuels corruption, and undermines good governance. Jamille Bigio and Rachel B. Vogelstein urge the United States to increase investment in anti-trafficking measures.

“Human trafficking is more than a violation of human rights: it is also a threat to national security, economic growth, and sustainable development,” warns a new Council Special Report, Ending Human Trafficking in the Twenty-First Century. However, the United States “lacks sufficient authorities and coordination across the federal government to address human trafficking adequately, instead treating this issue as ancillary to broader foreign policy concerns.” 

“Critics who challenge the allocation of political and financial capital to combat human trafficking underestimate trafficking’s role in bolstering abusive regimes and criminal, terrorist, and armed groups; weakening global supply chains; fueling corruption; and undermining good governance,” write Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Senior Fellows Jamille Bigio and Rachel B. Vogelstein. Trafficking generates $150 billion in illicit profits, and “an estimated twenty-five million people worldwide are victims—a number only growing in the face of vulnerabilities fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic.” Continue leyendo →