The Foreign Service Journal, October 2018

24 OCTOBER 2018 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL been fueled by corporations that facilitate advertisements and payment systems for the sale of sex trafficking victims and the online distribution of child pornography. Corporate vessels engaged in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing exploit trafficked labor. Sexual exploitation is only one form of human traffick- ing. Labor exploitation, forced marriage and illegal organ transplantation are other forms of this crime. All involve elements of coercion, fraud and deception, but do not require movement; individuals can be trafficked for marriage or sex, for example, within their immediate community. Human trafficking is distinct from illegal immigration: in the latter case, individuals agree to be transported across borders illegally; the individual and the trafficker have a consensual rather than a coerced relationship. But in the case of human trafficking, the individual is the victim. And in cases involving smuggling, the state is victimized; its borders and sovereignty are violated. The Embassy’s Role Many of the most serious threats to the United States today are financed and expedited by the proceeds of illicit trade. So the effects of transnational crime figure in the work of every embassy today, whether it is monitoring the insecurity resulting from civil wars and conflicts funded by illicit commodities, the human rights violations resulting from this trade or the role of narcotics in the local economy. Specific State Department products require the cooperation of all embassies overseas. State’s Trafficking In Persons Report chronicles the trade in human beings for sexual, labor and other forms of exploitation around the world. Those providing input to the Country Reports on Terrorismmust follow the financing of terrorism, part of which comes from illicit trade in arms, people, drugs and other commodities, including in some locales wildlife. Although illicit trade is at the heart of threat finance, monitor- ing and combating illicit trade is not just the responsibility of law enforcement, human trafficking or terrorism specialists—almost all embassy employees do contribute in some way. Members of the consular division work to ensure that they are not providing visas to human traffickers and their potential victims, or to the many other perpetra- tors and facilitators of illicit trade and its companion activity, money laundering. Employees of economic and commercial sections work to encourage trade from the United States. This includes defending intellectual property from those who might appropriate it and ensuring that mining, transport and financial institutions are not infiltrated or misused by illicit traders. Analysis of the illicit economy is often critical, because it may represent as much as 20 percent of total economic activity in some of the most affected countries. In conflict-ridden states such as Afghanistan, Syria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, significant sums are generated from illegal trade in narcotics and people, as well as trade in natural resources such as oil, gold, timber and coltan, a key component of cell phones. The agricul- tural branch of embassies must focus on the increasing trade in pesticides and counterfeit food production shipped globally. As the variety and scope of illicit trade today and its repercus- sions globally implies, this is not a problem that can be left merely to the law enforcement section of the embassy, although it has a key role to play. Much more can be accomplished by harnessing the collective capacities of the different agencies now represented in embassies to develop and implement effective policies. Need of the Hour—Stop Stovepiping Illicit trade has such significant cross-cutting effects on politics, economy and society that responses cannot be left to single sec- tions of embassies or branches of government; broader, more comprehensive approaches are essential. As our national security strategy singles out the challenges of these harmful trades, collec- tive efforts in working groups, both overseas and in Washington, D.C., are needed to counter the diverse forms of illicit trade that often intersect with the legitimate economy. Because the products The rise of the internet, the dark web and social media has fundamentally transformed human trafficking around the world. ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/WHO_I_AM