PROTECTION
The government made some progress to protect and assist victims, although funding for NGOs was insufficient. The MIA Anti-Trafficking Department (ATD) fully renovated the MIA- run shelter in Baku to improve conditions in the shelter, which could accommodate 50 people; however, the shelter was heavily guarded and kept victims within the shelter at all times. Experts

reported the shelters lacked specialized care for victims. In 2014, the government certified 50 women and one girl as sex trafficking victims and three men as labor trafficking victims, compared with 40 sex trafficking victims and 16 labor trafficking victims in 2013. Of the 54 victims certified, 35 women and three men were referred to the MIA-run shelter, where they received legal, medical, and psychological support.The government provided 53 victims with a one-time allowance of 400 manat ($380), 24 victims with jobs, and 35 victims with vocational training. Of the 54 victims, 36 were directed to NGOs, and 51 were directed to the state-run Victim Assistance Center (VAC) for additional social services.Two NGOs provided shelter and care for 48 potential and recognized victims without government funding.According to authorities, provision of these services was not contingent upon a victim’s agreement to participate in a law enforcement investigation.The ATD reported allocating 314,330 manat ($298,500) to victim assistance in 2014; however, the government did not provide any funding for victim assistance to the NGO partners that provided shelter and other services for victims.These institutions continue to be significantly underfunded, considering the frequency with which they are asked to provide vital housing, medical, employment, and legal assistance to victims.
The government identified three foreign national victims of trafficking.All three foreign victims received services from the ATD. Although the ATD has a list of indicators for identifying victims, it is unclear how the list is distributed or when it is referenced in the course of an inspection. Experts reported identification procedures were insufficient and expressed concern the government only acknowledged cases involving violent coercion and confiscation of passports to be forced labor. Experts widely reported flaws in the referral process, including the government’s failure to officially acknowledge or provide services for victims identified by NGOs. Standard procedures instruct authorities to refer foreign victims to the State Migration Service, as opposed to domestic victims who are referred to the MIA; experts expressed concern the State Migration Service did not consistently identify foreign victims.

PREVENTION
The government continued progress in prevention efforts.The ATD took the lead in drafting the National Action Plan (2014-2018), which was enacted in July 2014, in consultation with international organizations, NGOs, the public, and others.The plan stipulated that shelters be established for youth recently released from correctional facilities—a population vulnerable to trafficking—and that representatives of specified ministries and other government bodies attend anti-trafficking training. It also provided for increased protection of witnesses and included plans to expand shelter and victims’ assistance facilities outside of Baku. Multiple civil society representatives praised the explicit implementation timeline and aligned their own work plans to the new national action plan, but some criticized a lack of evaluation metrics in the plan.The plan did not propose an independent evaluation of anti-trafficking efforts, despite GRETA’s suggestions.
Most government-supported awareness campaigns targeted Azerbaijani citizens as potential trafficking victims, with an emphasis on international travel and migration. This focus may have perpetuated the government’s tendency to inadequately address internal trafficking and Azerbaijan as a destination or potential transit country.The ATD conducted 65 awareness-raising activities in 60 cities and districts, distributed anti-trafficking posters and video clips, and maintained a hotline.The government did not

report any new measures to reduce the demand for commercial sex or forced labor.The new national action plan requires training diplomats to protect the rights and interests of Azerbaijani citizens who are discovered as victims abroad, but the training did not address the prevention of diplomats themselves from engaging in trafficking.The government did not provide anti-trafficking training or guidance for its diplomatic personnel.

THE  BAHAMAS:  Tier 1 
The Bahamas is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children from other Caribbean countries, South and Central America, and Asia subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor, including in domestic servitude and construction. Vulnerable populations include migrant workers who arrive voluntarily to work as domestic employees and laborers, children born in The Bahamas to foreign-born parents who do not automatically receive Bahamian citizenship, girls exploited in prostitution, and foreign nationals in prostitution and exotic dancing.Traffickers lure victims with false promises and fraudulent recruitment practices, and maintain victims in sex trafficking and forced labor by confiscating passports and restricting movements.
The Government of The Bahamas fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government successfully convicted one trafficker and sentenced two traffickers from previous convictions in 2014, initiated three new prosecutions, adopted a four-year national anti-trafficking strategy and action plan, provided anti-trafficking training to officials, and continued to implement a victim-centered assistance protocol for identified trafficking victims. Victim identification among vulnerable populations in the country remained low, and the government identified no potential Bahamian victims.

RECOMMENDATIONS  FOR  THE BAHAMAS:
Increase efforts to prosecute, convict, and appropriately punish traffickers; increase efforts to identify victims of sex and labor trafficking, especially among vulnerable groups, by implementing the victim identification and referral protocol; provide all identified victims with adequate protection and assistance; continue to implement protocols to take potential trafficking victims to a safe location while conducting victim identification interviews, as victims often first appear as immigration or prostitution violators and are reluctant to disclose details of their exploitation in a detention or post-raid environment; involve independent interpreters when conducting inspections of migrant worker labor sites, and conduct private interviews of workers; continue to build partnerships with NGOs to increase grassroots outreach with potential trafficking victims among vulnerable groups; and continue development of a nationwide public awareness campaign to educate the public and officials about human trafficking, as distinct from human smuggling, and its manifestations in The Bahamas.