In The News:

Trafficking in Perssons (TIP) Report 2010 has been released. Andy maybe you wanna watch Hillary Clinton being amazing at the release of the report. She really has been quite a leader in putting policy spotlights on the rights of women and god damn is her hair looking good. A few select quotes from Ms. Clinton:

• Human trafficking not only exploits and victimizes women and girls it also fuels the epidemic of gender-based violence around the world.
• Human trafficking crosses cultures and continents.
• Traffickers must be brought to justice. And we can't just blame international organized crime and rely on law inforcement to persue them. It is everyone's responsibility. Businesses that knowingly profit or exhibit reckless disregard about their supply chains. Governments that turn a blind eye or do not devote serious resources to addressing the problem.
• We have to ensure that our policies live up to our ideals and that is why we have for the first time included the United States. As this report documents, cases of trafficking are found in our own communities. In some cases foreign workers, drawn by the hope of a better life in America, are trapped by abusive employers. And there are Americans, unfortunately, who are held in sexual slavery. Some find themselves trapped through debt to work against their will; in conditions of modern day bondage.
• Human trafficking is not someone else's problem. Involuntary servitud is not something we can ignore or hope doesn't exist in our own communities.
• This report is a catalog of tragedies that the world cannot continue to accept, but it is also a record that deserves praise and recognition because it exemplifies hope and action, because hope without action cannot be our goal.

I'm just going to put down some countries of interest and their tiers. And just for reference I'll briefly explain the tiers.
Tier 1: Countries whose governments fully comply with the TVPA's minimum standards
Tier 2: Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPA's minimum standards, but are making significant efforts.
Tier 2 Watch List: Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPA's minimum standards, but are making significant efforts AND a) the number of victims of severe trafficking is very significant or is significantly rising b) failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking c) the determination that a country is making significant efforts was based on commitments by the country to take additional future steps over the next year
Tier 3: Countries whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so

Argentina - 2
Bolivia - 2
Bosnia & Herzegovina - 1
Brazil - 2
Burma - 3
Cambodia - 2
Chile - 2
Colombia - 1
Cuba - 3
Ecuador - 2
Guatemala - 2WL
Iceland - 2
Israel - 2
Laos - 2WL
Mexico - 2
Paraguay - 2
Peru - 2
Philippines - 2WL
Poland - 1
USA - 1
Uruguay - 2
Venezuela - 2WL