About 14,500 to 17,500 people, mainly women and children, are trafficked to the U.S, each year. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, makes the already existent criminal penalties more serious, affords new protection to trafficking victims and makes available benefits to victims of trafficking.The U.S. Department of State began looking out for trafficking in people in 1994; this is when the issue began to be covered in the Department’s Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.
