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Every year the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons puts out a report on human trafficking in order to raise awareness on this modern form of slavery.

Part of the report sorts international governments according to how much their efforts conform to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.

Now this is a US law, not an international law, but tracking this is one way the US tries to raise awareness on the topic, recognize the efforts of other countries, and encourage other governments to do more.

Countries are classified in four tiers.

"Tier 1 countries aren't perfect, but they meet what are called the minimum standards for combating human trafficking in the U.S. law that governs how we prepare the report."-Ambassador Mark Lagon, Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons

The only Tier 1 country in Latin America is Colombia. That's it. All other Latin American nations are in Tier 2. The ambassador mentions significant improvement in Mexico, Venezuela, and Brazil.

As for the US, it does not situate itself in the tier system, but does report to congress and make records public on domestic performance in fighting this heinous abuse.

Human Trafficking is the third largest global criminal enterprise, and Latin America, while not the most vulnerable, is still a major source for this market that buys and sells men, women, and children.

It's worth learning more and increasing our understanding.