The Government of Zimbabwe does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated overall increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period; therefore Zimbabwe remained on Tier 2.
These efforts included investigating and prosecuting more traffickers and increasing training for law enforcement and the judiciary. The government identified and referred to care more victims, including one internal trafficking victim exploited in Zimbabwe, and coordinated with international organizations and civil society to ensure all victims received services. In partnership with an international organization, the government coordinated with two foreign governments to facilitate the repatriation of three trafficking victims.
The government approved and adopted a national action plan to combat trafficking and conducted awareness-raising activities throughout the country. However, the government did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas.
The draft amendments to the 2014 Trafficking in Persons Act to bring the law in line with international standards, remained pending at the close of the reporting period.
The government convicted fewer trafficking cases compared to the previous year, and the backlog of trafficking cases from 2016 remained, as the government reported no progress on those investigations.
The government did not provide adequate funding to its NGO partners on which it relied to provide protective services to victims. Women, men, children, and migrants may have been victims of forced labor or sex trafficking, and North Koreans working in Zimbabwe may have been forced to work by the North Korean government.
Click here for 2020 Trafficking in Persons Report
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