From the Trenches: A Global Survey of Anti-TIP NGOs and Their Views of U.S. Efforts

Authors: Heiss, Andrew & Kelley, Judith

Abstract: Amid the academic and policy critiques of the United States’ 15-year push to eliminate human trafficking, the perspective of the nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working with anti-trafficking advocacy and services has been largely ignored. This article presents the results of a global survey of nearly 500 anti-trafficking NGOs working in 133 countries and is the first NGO-focused survey of its kind. Based on the results of the survey, we provide an overview of the anti-trafficking NGO sector as a whole, detail the relationship between anti-trafficking NGOs and the United States and account for some of the variation in NGO opinions of U.S. efforts. Notably, we find that NGOs are remarkably satisfied with U.S.-led efforts—despite their acknowledged flaws—and that NGOs believe that American anti-TIP policies are important and, on balance, helpful. These results also provide a warning for the future of the United States’ anti-trafficking advocacy, suggesting that the United States avoid politicizing its annual Trafficking in Persons Report.

Keywords: Anti-trafficking efforts, anti-trafficking policy, human trafficking, NGOs, Trafficking in Persons Report