Human Smuggling and Trafficking - US Department of State

Human Smuggling and Trafficking


An Indian girl protests human trafficking during a January 2008 rally in Hyderabad, India. (© AP Images)

Modern Abolitionists at the U.S. State Department

The U.S. government says some 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year and millions more are trafficked within their own countries to be indentured servants, farm laborers or worse. There is help for them now, in what the New York Times has called “one of the most effective units in the U.S. government.” (complete text)

U.S. Clothing Company Drops New Delhi Contractor

Multinational apparel giant Gap Inc. acted quickly after discovering that a Gap contractor in New Delhi employed children. “We strictly prohibit the use of child labor. This is non-negotiable for us -- and we are deeply concerned and upset by this allegation,” Gap North America President Marka Hansen says. The October 28 statement follows revelations in a British newspaper, The Observer, that quotes child workers’ accounts of being sold by their parents, forced to work 16-hour days without pay and being beaten. Children as young as 10 years old were held in conditions of abject slavery. (complete text)

United States Helping To End Abusive Child Labor in Africa

Three African countries –- Democratic Republic of the Congo, Togo and Uganda –- will receive $16 million from the United States for projects to eliminate the worst forms of child labor. The grants, announced October 1 by Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, will be used to provide basic education and training and to collect reliable data on child labor. Part of a larger $54 million in worldwide grants from the U.S. Department of Labor, they “continue our efforts to eliminate abusive child labor practices around the world,” Chao says. (complete text)

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