An Interview with United States Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons: John Cotton Richmond
Picture a timeline of all recorded history—nearly 4,000 years. In that time, some form of legalized slavery has existed in every country in the world. It is only when we zoom into the last 220 years on this historical timeline—a mere sliver of time—that we see nations have begun, one by one, to acknowledge the horrors of slavery and pass laws to abridge or curtail the slave trade and emancipate those affected by it.
Meet United States Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons John Cotton Richmond, who is a headliner in this historic moment. His title is nearly as complex as his mission: leading the US in global efforts to combat modern slavery through the prosecution of traffickers, the protection of victims, and the prevention of human trafficking.
A large part of Ambassador Richmond’s work involves engagement with governments across the world to ensure nations are meeting minimum standards to fight human trafficking. About this office, he said, “We don’t just monitor the country’s efforts; we also combat trafficking directly by helping governments improve.” The Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP Office) provides training and technical assistance, grants to NGOs and international organizations, and other forms of aid to countries around the globe.
“Slavery didn’t become wrong in 1865 with the 13th amendment; it didn’t become wrong with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; it didn’t become wrong when we got the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. It was wrong the whole time. This new legal regime that we have just recognizes the truth that everyone matters.”
Before his appointment to the TIP Office in 2018, Ambassador Richmond fought human trafficking in the non-profit sector. He spent three years living in India and working with International Justice Mission (IJM), learning law and procedure, building a team of advocates and social workers, and engaging with police to stop traffickers. Working with IJM, “really helped me learn what trafficking looks like, what motivates traffickers, how victims respond to trauma, and what engagement is effective,” said Richmond.
Carrying his experiences from India back to the United States, Ambassador Richmond became a federal prosecutor with the United States Department of Justice in 2006, where he prosecuted some of the Untied State’s biggest sex and labor trafficking cases. Wanting to create a long-term approach to combating human trafficking, he later co-founded the Human Trafficking Institute, an NGO that exists to “decimate trafficking by striking at the root cause, which is the traffickers themselves.”
The Human Trafficking Institute works with public justice systems to train and implement specialized units in countries around the world, recognizing the need for strong metrics and analysis. Ambassador Richmond said, “For far too long, the anti-trafficking movement has been driven by anecdote and emotion. Those are powerful and meaningful, but they don’t change policy.” The Institute’s Federal Human Trafficking Report was created to address the need for metrics and data collection, gather best practices, and identify global trends in trafficking.
Fast forward to the present. Each year, the State Department’s TIP Office produces a report that comprehensively assesses what governments around the world are doing to combat human trafficking. Richmond praises the people who collaborate to make the report possible, “It’s an incredible privilege to get to peek behind the curtain and see how the report is made, how hardworking and bright the analysts are that are working through this material, and the tough, thoughtful questions that they’re asking. The report is brimming with integrity and fact-based analysis.”
“We are in a massive historic moment. There’s this hinge of history, and I think the door of freedom is poised to swing wide. We’re going to be the generation that pushes on that door, and we are going to step through and say that we can actually do something.”
The theme of the most recent TIP Report featured internal trafficking, as opposed to transnational trafficking: “The International Labour Organization reports that 77% of victims are trafficked in their own country of origin … we want to attack all forms of trafficking to make sure that the 24.9 million people* that are estimated to be exploited in the world find their way to freedom.”
As the TIP Office looks ahead to the 20th anniversary of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (America’s comprehensive statute to combat human trafficking) next year, Ambassador Richmond says, “We want to recognize that anniversary not just as a way to celebrate the successes of the last 20 years, but to pivot and to come up with a plan that might accelerate the movement into the next 20 years.”
Ambassador Richmond says he plans to focus the next few years on the “Three P’s:” prosecution, protection, and prevention; we need to look at what’s really working in prosecution, as well as create individualized support for each survivor. He said, “Every trafficking victim is different and they all need specialized care.” We also need to develop our prevention efforts and “understand that traffickers exploit vulnerable people, but the vulnerabilities themselves don’t cause trafficking. All “Three P’s” are necessary and essential aspects of combating human trafficking.
Not every person will have the chance to hold a position in a government office, but every person has the ability to engage in the fight to end human trafficking by being informed and supporting those who are on the front lines.
It is also important for the public to remember that, while human trafficking is urgent, it is also preventable—and that is what victims are looking for. “I don’t hear victims crying out for more laws, or for us to wear the right color ribbon on the designated awareness day. What victims are looking for is someone to make their pain stop, for someone to restrain the trafficker and hold them accountable, for someone to make sure that they get the services they need,” said Ambassador Richmond.
I asked Ambassador Richmond to recall a particularly powerful or memorable moment in his time working so closely with trafficking survivors. He described the poignant, symbolic story of four survivors who were brought to Buckingham Palace, “Traffickers often tell victims that they are worthless, that no one will listen to them, and that their opinions do not matter. When the survivors were brought into this ornate and famous setting the traffickers’ script was reversed. [The survivors] were spoken to by name, they got asked their opinion, and the words they spoke were listened to by everyone in this austere, fancy place. I thought, ‘This is absolutely reversing the script that traffickers are using.’” The survivors were treated with respect—as humans rather than commodities—in one of the most influential, iconic buildings in the world.
“I don’t hear victims crying out for more laws, or for us to wear the right color ribbon on the designated awareness day. What victims are looking for is someone to make their pain stop, for someone to restrain the trafficker and hold them accountable, for someone to make sure that they get the services they need.”
While it is estimated that 24.9 million people are exploited in the world today*, Ambassador Richmond emphasizes that there is hope. Trafficking survivors would not have been spoken to by name at Buckingham Palace 220 years ago. In two short centuries, the fight to end trafficking has grown into an effort at the government level (and at the individual level) that is being supported by resources and brilliant minds all over the world. Ambassador John Cotton Richmond is one of many brilliant minds working to make freedom a reality for all people in all places. In the timeline of recorded history, we can be the generation that sees the door to freedom that is poised to swing wide, step through, and do something.
*When we speak of modern slavery, we say that 40 million people are victims as estimated by ILO. The figures, from the UN’s International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Walk Free Foundation, show 24.9 million people across the world were trapped in forced labour and 15.4 million in forced marriage last year, accounting to 40 million together. When the TIP Office uses the term “human trafficking” (or “modern slavery”), those umbrella terms generally reflect what is covered by the term “forced labor” as used by the ILO.
About the Author
Emma Pitzl is a senior at the University of Minnesota pursuing a degree in English with a minor in psychology. Her happy place is anywhere with a lake. Outside the classroom, she enjoys reading, running, playing volleyball, and curating too many playlists.