.
Name of Resource | Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as amended |
Type | Legislation |
Country / jurisdiction | United States of America |
Enacting authority | Congress |
Entry into force / date of approval | 28 October 2000 |
Description | The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) is the landmark federal statute defining human trafficking and establishing a comprehensive approach to combating human trafficking domestically and internationally. The TVPA established the Trafficking in Persons Office within the U.S. Department of State, the President’s Interagency Task Force on Trafficking in Persons, and the Senior Policy Operating Group; authorized the State Department’s annual Trafficking in Person’s Report; authorized the provision of anti-trafficking foreign assistance programs by State and the U.S. Agency for International Development; and enshrined a victim-centred approach within U.S. law enforcement and immigration processes, among many other provisions. The TVPA, as amended, directs the Secretary of Labor, through the Bureau of International Labor Affairs, to carry out activities to monitor and combat forced labour and child labour in foreign countries, including: (1) developing a public list of goods believed to be produced by forced labour or child labour in violation of international standards; and (2) ensuring that such products are not imported into the United States. The National Defense Authorization Act, further supplemented this by stipulating that a contracting or grant officer of an executive agency who receives credible evidence that a recipient of a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement has engaged in trafficking in persons or other prohibited activities is also required to promptly refer the matter to the agency's inspector general for investigation. Each such officer is required to compel a recipient to immediately inform the appropriate Inspector General of credible evidence of the recipient's violation of anti-trafficking requirements, and to fully cooperate in any subsequent audit, investigation, or corrective action. The TVPA criminalized forced labour, for whoever “knowingly benefits, financially or by receiving anything of value, from participation in a venture which has engaged in the providing or obtaining of labor or services [by forced labor]” |
Availability | ENG: https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title22/chapter78&edition=prelim |