We refuse to legitimize a process and a system that fails to look inward
…and we reject America’s “ranking” of human trafficking responses in other countries when their own heads of state are refusing to address well-documented, widespread, and systematic human trafficking that has been allowed to flourish domestically.
Marissa Kokkoros
Every year, Aura Freedom has the opportunity to contribute to the U.S. State Department’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, which assesses global efforts to combat human trafficking, including forced labor, sex trafficking, and other forms of modern slavery. The opportunities to feed into the report come from different coalitions and networks we sit on, as well as through open calls on the State Department’s website.
As a Canadian organization working to end human trafficking, we have the ability to provide insights on Canadian case trends and data, policy gaps, access to justice for survivors, Canadian law enforcement practices, emerging patterns, and more.
Based on this type of input from organizations and policymakers around the world, the TIP Report evaluates countries worldwide based on their actions to identify, prevent, and prosecute trafficking, as well as protect survivors.
The result is a “report card” of sorts where countries are ranked by the United States in tiers (Tier 1-3, with 1 being the highest) reflecting how well they are, or are not, addressing human trafficking. The annual TIP Report then serves as a key reference for governments, NGOs, and activists globally, and the rankings go on to influence U.S. foreign policy, diplomacy, and funding decisions.
Currently, the U.S. is ranked as a Tier 1 country, which means the government fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking under U.S. law, based on its efforts to prevent trafficking, protect victims, and prosecute traffickers.
In fact, the United States has consistently been classified as a Tier 1 country since its first inclusion in the TIP Report in 2010.
Aura Freedom regularly engages in different processes of this nature. We believe in mechanisms of accountability that monitor and track progress on human rights and hold governments to account in different ways.
However, in light of the recent disclosures under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which we have analyzed closely over the past month, we’ve made a deliberate decision to withhold our participation in the TIP Report process this year. This decision is intentional and has been reached with much thought and care.
Indeed, the crimes exposed in the Epstein files are not new, but the public now has access to over 3 million pages of evidence and no meaningful efforts have been made to hold those responsible to account. Certainly, there are other countries involved in the files, however the annual Trafficking in Persons Report is led and published by the United States and we reject America’s “ranking” of human trafficking responses in other countries when their own heads of state are refusing to address well-documented, widespread, and systematic human trafficking that has been allowed to flourish domestically. This trafficking includes the dehumanization, abuse, torture, slavery, and murder of women and children for the profit and pleasure of government officials, representatives of institutions, celebrities, spiritual leaders and powerful corporate executives that continue to enjoy impunity and power.
As UN experts recently noted in a statement released on February 16, “These crimes were committed against a backdrop of supremacist beliefs, racism, corruption, extreme misogyny, and the commodification and dehumanisation of women and girls from different parts of the world”.
Engaging in a process like this, at this time, can only serve to uphold a system that is, at its core, unjust and unfit to judge anyone else.
We reject any suggestions that it’s time to “move on from the Epstein files” and consider the comments a deliberate and gross mishandling of justice, as well as a cruel slap in the face to survivors of human trafficking around the world.
In support of and solidarity with all survivors and those of us who work with and for them, Aura Freedom demands a meaningful and large-scale investigation into all those responsible in the USA and meaningful support and respect for all survivors impacted.
Aura Freedom International, February 2026.