Armenia has been classified as a Tier 2 country in the US Department of State’s 2012 Trafficking in Persons Report.


According to the document released on Tuesday, Armenia remains a source country for females subjected to sex trafficking.


“Armenia is a source country for women and girls subjected to sex trafficking, as well as a source country for women and men subjected to forced labor. To a lesser extent it has been a destination country for women subjected to forced labor. Women and girls from Armenia are subjected to sex trafficking in the United Arab Emirates and Turkey, and within the country. Armenian men and women are subjected to forced labor in Russia. Armenian boys have been subjected to forced labor within the country,” reads the report.


The Department of State experts find that the Armenian Government fails to fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of the crime, despite significant efforts in that direction.

“In 2011, the government convicted more trafficking offenders than during the previous year, continued to train hundreds of officials in partnership with NGOs and international organizations, and strengthened anti-trafficking public awareness campaigns. The number of victims identified by the government during the year continued to drop,” they say.


As measures to combat trafficking, the Department calls upon the Armenian authorities, inter alia, to increase efforts towards identifying victims of forced labor and investigating and prosecuting labor trafficking offenses; keep improving partnerships with NGOs and further educate law enforcement and labor inspectors on distinguishing between labor trafficking and civil labor violations.
According to the Department’s estimates, as many as 27 million people around the world are victims of what is commonly known as modern slavery


“And we were particularly concerned about what we saw as an explosion of the exploitation of people, most especially women, who were being quote, ‘trafficked’ into the sex trade and other forms of servitude. But I think labeling this for what it is, slavery, has brought it to another dimension.


I mean, trafficking, when I first used to talk about it all those years ago, I think for a while people wondered whether I was talking about road safety – (laughter) – what we needed to do to improve transportation systems. But slavery, there is no mistaking what it is, what it means, what it does. And these victims of modern slavery are women and men, girls and boys. And their stories remind us of what kind of inhumane treatment we are still capable of as human beings. Some, yes, are lured to another country with false promises of a good job or opportunities for their families. Others can be exploited right where they grew up, where they now live. Whatever their background, they are living, breathing reminders that the work to eradicate slavery remains unfinished. The fact of slavery may have changed, but our commitment to ending it has not and the deeply unjust treatment that it provides has not either,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in her speech.