Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Evaluates the Efficacy of U.S. TVPA Law


Recently, the Tom Lantos Human Rights
Commission held an evaluation cum hearing on the Trafficking Victims Protection
Act (TVPA), which addressed the rampant issue of sex and labor trafficking
around the world. The hearing was scheduled on January 15, 2020, at Rayburn
house building. A committee of legal panelists had been appointed to evaluate
the efficacy of the Act in the last few years.
The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of
2000(TVPA), after amendment, provided the essential legal action to combat the trafficking
of human beings worldwide and at the domestic level. The Act authorized the
machinery of the State Department’s TIP Office and the President’s Interagency
Task Force to monitor and combat the trafficking of human beings to contribute
the anti-trafficking multi-level actions.
The Trafficking Victims Protection Act
(TVPA) was amended in 2000 which combats the trafficking of human beings across
national and international boundaries.
The Act authorizes the State Department’s
TIP department and the President’s Interagency Task Force to trace and combat trafficking
of human beings. It has proven effective for the U.S. government to curb trafficking
practices.
Internationally, there are several international
human welfare organizations such as the United Nations which are meticulously attempting
to root out the trafficking of women and children. United Nations follows an international
convention against transnational organized crime dubbed as Palermo Protocol
which outlines the international standards for combating trafficking in persons.
The hearing involved the evaluation of the
effectiveness of the TVPA in the past years. It also revised the contribution
of the activists and workers which played a major role in tracing and averting
these inhuman practices along with the agencies of Government of US which
include the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of
Justice. The panelists pondered upon the evolving trends in the labor
trafficking of both genders. Strategy about the future legislative action had
been discussed as well in the assembly.
The hearing was attended by Members of Congress,
the general public, congressional staff members and representatives from the
media. The hearing was live-streamed on the commission’s website

Jayashree Ingle
CBW - External Analyst
INDIA