The US State Department has released its 2025 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report. The annual TIP Report, initially due to be released by 30 June, provides tiered rankings (Tier 1 to Tier 3) to each country on the basis of whether the country does or does not ‘meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking’.
The TIP Report evaluates each country’s performance on the ‘Three Ps’ (Prosecution, Protection and Prevention) details the nature and scope of the type of trafficking in the country, and provides prioritized recommendations to better meet its obligations to prosecute, protect and prevent trafficking.
Despite some criticism of the influence of geopolitical interests on the TIP Report’s scoring (as countries designated Tier 3 may be sanctioned by the US), the report’s findings are routinely used by the Home Office to evaluate trafficking risks in countries, and is used by the National Referral Mechanism in its Reasonable Grounds and Conclusive Grounds decisions to determine whether modern slavery occurs in the countries that victims allege to have been subject to exploitation.
The United Kingdom remained on Tier 1, although the report highlights that fewer potential victims are recognised at the Reasonable Grounds stage for a second consecutive year, and that fewer victims are receiving services under the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract. It is also critical of the ever-increasing wait times for potential victims to receive a Conclusive Grounds decision.
The report also lists various recommendations to better improve the UK’s response to trafficking and modern slavery. Notably, it recommends that the UK must ‘ensure victims are not inappropriately penalized solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked’. This is particularly consistent with our firm’s experience of the criminal justice system’s response to victims of modern slavery. Despite the existence of the non-punishment principle (see, e.g. V.C.L and AN v The United Kingdom) our firm still sees numerous cases where victims have been convicted of crimes that were a direct result of their trafficking.
The full report can be accessed here.
Southwell & Partners specialises in advice on Modern Slavery law and representing victims of modern slavery. Should you require any advice in relation to the same please get in touch with the firm.
