In March 2003, the U.S. Department of State released a Model Law to Combat Trafficking in Persons (Model Code).

Most of the provisions of the model code are a codification of the principles contained in the 2001 United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (Trafficking Protocol).  The six articles of the Model Code address definitions, criminal offenses, assistance and protection for victims, misuse of commercial transportation, prevention of trafficking, and security and control of documents.

In Article I, the Model Code defines trafficking in persons as

the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of a person by means of the threat or use of force or other means of coercion, or by abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability, or by the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.

Unlike the Trafficking Protocol, the Model Code includes many supplemental definitions explaining the terms used to describe trafficking.  Most of these definitions are consistent with the Trafficking Protocol.  Coercion, for example, is explicitly defined to:

include violent as well as some forms of non-violent or psychological coercion, including: threats of serious harm to or physical restraint against any person; any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause a person to believe that failure to perform an act would result in serious harm to or physical restraint against any persons; or the abuse or threatened abuse of the legal process.

The term "practices similar to slavery" is defined in accordance with the 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery.  A "position of vulnerability" is defined to include immigration status, "pregnancy, any physical or mental disease or disability of the person, including addiction to the use of any substance, or reduced capacity to form judgments by virtue of being a child."

However, by providing a definition of exploitation, the Model Code takes a position on prostitution unlike the Trafficking Protocol.  The Trafficking Protocol explicitly leaves the phrases "exploitation of the prostitution of others" and "other forms of sexual exploitation" undefined, deferring to the decisions of individual states on whether to abolish or regulate prostitution and other commercial sex work.  By contrast, the Model Code defines exploitation to include "exploitation of the prostitution of another; engaging in any other form of commercial exploitation, including but not limited to pimping, pandering, procuring, profiting from prostitution, maintaining a brothel, child pornography . . ."  In addition, Model Code Interpretive Note 16 suggests that the phrase "exploiting the prostitution of another can be defined as obtaining of a financial or other benefit from the prostitution of another."  This note is attached to a provision in Article II criminalizing "Transporting a Person for the Purpose of Exploiting Such Person's Prostitution."  Model Code Interpretive Note 15 points out that although the "U.N. Protocol does not require criminalization of prostitution, . . . the suggested language may prove useful in combating trafficking in persons."  Note 17, however, would appear to leave at least some room for States to adopt different approaches to the issue of prostitution: "While some countries would prosecute the offense of transporting a person for the purpose of prostitution regardless of whether the offender receives any financial or other benefit, other countries would require proof of exploitation of the prostitution of another person."  Nonetheless, the additional provisions in the Model Code defining exploitation and criminalizing transport for the prupose of exploiting prostitution appear to be a departure from the compromise definition of trafficking included in the Trafficking Protocol.  More information about the evolution of the definition of trafficking is available here.

Article II criminalizes trafficking, as well as organizing or directing, participating as an accomplice in, or attempting to commit such an offense.  Under Article II, a convicted trafficker must receive a prison sentence, may be subject to forfeiture of property, and must pay full restitution to the victim.  The provision on restitution is spelled out in great detail, specifying the source of the funds and the types of injuries for which a victim can be compensated.   The Model Code also contains provisions designed to protect victims of trafficking during legal proceedings.  Although no such explicit provisions are contained in the Trafficking Protocol, the protections described in the Model Code are consistent with the Protocol's stated purpose of protecting the human rights of victims.  For example, under the Model Code, victims are immune from prosecution and the admissability of evidence of a victim's past sexual behavior is limited.  The Trafficking Protocol makes consent to be trafficked irrelevant where the victim has been subject to force or coercion.  While the Trafficking Protocol addresses consent in the definition of trafficking, the Model Code includes this language in its provision protecting victims during legal proceedings: "the alleged consent of a person to the intended or realized exploitation is irrelevant" once force or coercion is established.  In addition, the Model Code provides sentencing guidelines, specifying, for example, that exposing a victim to a life-threatening illness such as HIV or tuberculosis will result in the addition of five years to the perpetrator's minimum sentence.  The Model Code also expands on the general principles of the Trafficking Protocol by adding new provisions that address, for example unlawful withholding of identification papers and transporting a person for the purpose of exploiting the person's prostitution. 

Article III addresses assistance and protection for victims. Unlike the Trafficking Protocol, these provisions cover not only the victim, but also extend to the victim's family.  Authorities must take measures to protect the victim's safety and privacy.  Victims may be eligible for witness protection programs.  Victims must receive information about their legal rights and an opportunity to present their views and concerns.  Victims should receive support services and be eligible to work and receive social benefits while they remain in the destination country.  While the Trafficking Protocol only provides for the possibility of victim resettlement in the country to which they have been trafficked, the Model Code states that victims "shall be eligible for permanent residence . . . providing they have complied with reasonable requests, if any, for assistance in the investigation or prosecution of acts of trafficking."  This provision extends to a victim's spouse and children, or in the case of child victims, to siblings and legal guardians.  Article III also describes how a government must support victims abroad through its diplomatic and consular missions and includes provisions for providing services to returned victims.

Article IV describes the responsibilities of commercial transportation companies and makes them liable for failure to properly check travel documents.  Companies may be subject to a fine or, in the case of repeated violations, revocation of operating licenses.  Other provisions are meant to ensure the safety of unaccompanied minors traveling across international borders.

Article V deals with the prevention of trafficking.  This article establishes a national task force and requires the government to collect data, conduct training, and raise public awareness about trafficking.  Governments are also required to periodically identify known traffickers in a public report.  The Model Code extends domestic labor standards to apply equally to workers both with and without the legal right to work in a country.  Unlike the Trafficking Protocol, the Model Code does not contain provisions on dealing with the root causes of trafficking, such as poverty, underdevelopment, and the lack of equal opportunity for men and women.

Article VI discusses the security and control of documents, and requires that governments take steps to monitor the quality of travel and identification documents.