The 9th annual report on human trafficking was just released by the U.S. State Department.

The annual report, submitted to Congress every year since 2000, focuses on the efforts of foreign governments to eliminate human trafficking. This year's report looks at 175 countries and documents their progress... or lack there of.

In 2000, the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act was enacted and then amended in 2008. Its purpose is to protect victims, punish traffickers and prevent trafficking. In addition to this law, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) authored two more anti-trafficking laws -- the second being The Trafficking Victims Reauthorization Act of 2003 -- which increased resources for crime prevention and expanded treatment assistance for victims. A press release from Smith's office says that over 100 countries now have anti-trafficking laws patterned after his second law.

According to the report, there are various estimates on the numbers of victims of modern day slavery. The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates at least 12.3 million adults and children are caught in forced labor, bonded labor, and commercial sexual servitude at any given time.  Of these, 1.39 million are victims of sex trafficking, most being women and children. Also, 56 per cent of all forced labor victims are women and girls.

Traffickers play on the weak and the poor. Women in developing nations who want a better future are often lured by promises of work as nannies, housecleaners, waitresses or models, only to discover themselves slaves once they arrive in their new country. Children are stolen or sold by their parents and relatives.

Enforcement of the law is part of the U.S. strategy to combat human trafficking, but I’d like to see even more conversation and effort focused on the demand side of things. Human trafficking exists because there's a demand. And as journalists have exposed over the years, much of that comes from people you'd never expect... like your neighbors. According to people who serve prostitutes on the streets in western countries, it's not uncommon to see men with "Baby on Board" stickers on their Volvos pulling up to contract for sex.