Dominican Republic improves ranking in U.S. human trafficking report

Santo Domingo.- President Luis Abinader announced on Monday that the United States has upgraded the Dominican Republic to Tier 2 in its human trafficking report, recognizing the country’s “significant efforts” to combat the crime. Abinader attributed this improvement to effective coordination between the Dominican and U.S. governments over the past year.

The U.S. State Department classifies countries into three tiers based on compliance with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). Tier 1 includes nations fully meeting the minimum standards, Tier 2 covers countries not fully compliant but making substantial progress—now including the Dominican Republic—and Tier 3 includes countries failing to meet standards or make efforts to do so.

The TVPA mandates that governments criminalize severe forms of trafficking, including sex trafficking involving force, fraud, or coercion, and impose penalties proportionate to serious crimes, especially in cases involving children, rape, kidnapping, or death. Tier 2 status reflects the Dominican government’s ongoing commitment to addressing severe forms of human trafficking and strengthening enforcement measures.