PROSECUTION
The government improved law enforcement efforts. Estonia prohibits all forms of both sex and labor trafficking through Articles 133 and 175 of the penal code, which prescribe a maximum penalty of up to 15 years’ imprisonment. These penalties are sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. Estonian authorities launched 20 new investigations in 2014, compared with 26 in 2013. Investigators registered the first ever criminal case of labor exploitation occurring within Estonia in 2014; the investigation was ongoing at the close of the reporting period.The government initiated one prosecution in 2014, a decrease from six in 2013 and 12 in 2012. Estonian courts convicted four traffickers under Article 133 in 2014, an increase from two convictions in 2013.Two traffickers convicted in 2014 were sentenced to prison terms of four years, representing an improvement from weak sentences for convicted traffickers in 2013; however, authorities also sentenced two convicted traffickers to probation without prison terms.The government provided four training sessions for police, border

guard, and labor inspection officials to facilitate cooperation on forced labor cases. Authorities did not offer training to the judiciary. Estonian authorities cooperated in one transnational investigation. The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government officials complicit in human trafficking offenses.

PROTECTION
The government demonstrated weakened protection efforts. Since April 2013, a police report must be filed for presumed victims of trafficking to be eligible to receive government-funded services. The police thereafter have 10 days to meet with the prosecutor’s office; if authorities decide not to pursue a criminal case, the government ceases funding the victims’ care. In 2014, four Estonian victims, two of whom were newly identified during the year, received government assistance.The government identified no foreign victims in 2014. NGOs assisted an additional 20 sex trafficking victims and 43 labor exploitation victims who were not officially recognized by the government. Sex trafficking victims could receive non-specialized services for individuals in prostitution without going to the police; a government-funded NGO assisted 280 women involved in prostitution in 2014, 20 of whom showed indicators of trafficking.
In 2014, the social security board disbursed 20,421 euro ($23,200) to fund assistance provided to the four officially identified trafficking victims. In addition, the Ministry of Social Affairs provided 99,580 euro ($125,800) to an NGO providing services to women in prostitution, which included 20 women who showed indicators of sex trafficking victims in 2014.There were no specialized shelters for children, though child victims could reportedly stay at women’s domestic violence shelters or be placed in foster care. Adult male victims had access to accommodation, legal counseling, and other services. For at least the sixth straight year, no victims assisted in the investigation or prosecution of traffickers. Although foreign victims were eligible to apply for temporary residency for the duration of criminal investigations and legal proceedings in which they participated, no trafficking victim has ever applied for a permit since it became available in 2007. Estonia’s witness protection law allows trafficking victims to provide their testimony anonymously, but this has never been applied in a trafficking case. An Estonian court ordered a restitution payment of 150,000 euro ($159,300) to a trafficking victim. Observers noted obtaining legal counsel for victims was overly bureaucratic, and the lawyers were not sensitive to the needs of trafficking victims.

PREVENTION
The government made progress in prevention efforts.The anti- trafficking working group, with 35 government agencies and NGOs, continued to meet regularly and published an annual public report of its activities. The government provided an NGO with 53,601 euro ($60,900) to operate an anti-trafficking hotline; the hotline received 497 calls from individuals vulnerable to trafficking during the reporting period.Authorities ran awareness campaigns targeting schoolchildren and prospective migrant workers. The government had a 2010-2014 national action plan for reducing violence, which included trafficking as one of its four objectives; the government approved a plan for 2015-2020 in February 2015. The government commissioned a survey of Estonians’ awareness of trafficking and used the findings to inform the development of the new action plan and outreach activities. Estonia acceded to the Council of Europe’s Convention on Action against Trafficking

in Human Beings in February 2015, which enabled the Council’s monitoring group to conduct a future country evaluation. The government provided anti-trafficking training or guidance for its diplomatic personnel.The government reported specific measures to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts and forced labor, including educating employers on the rights of migrant workers.

ETHIOPIA: Tier 2 
Ethiopia is a source and, to a lesser extent, destination and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Girls from Ethiopia’s rural areas are exploited in domestic servitude and prostitution within the country, while boys are subjected to forced labor in traditional weaving, herding, guarding, and street vending.The central market in Addis Ababa is home to one of the largest collection of brothels in Africa, with girls as young as 8 years old in prostitution in these establishments. Ethiopian girls are forced into domestic servitude and prostitution in neighboring African countries and in the Middle East. Ethiopian boys are subjected to forced labor in Djibouti as shop assistants, errand boys, domestic workers, thieves, and street beggars.Young people from Ethiopia’s vast rural areas are aggressively recruited with promises of a better life and are likely targeted because of the demand for cheap labor in the Middle East.
Officials reported up to 1,500 Ethiopians departed daily as part of the legal migration process. Many young Ethiopians transit through Djibouti, Egypt, Somalia, Sudan, or Kenya as they emigrate seeking work in the Middle East; some become stranded and exploited in these transit countries and are subjected to detention, extortion, and severe abuses en route to their final destinations. Increasing numbers of reports describe Ethiopians transported along southern routes towards South Africa, as well as large numbers of Ethiopians who have died in boat accidents crossing the Red Sea to Yemen, many of whom are attempting irregular migration and are vulnerable to trafficking in these onward destinations. Many Ethiopian women working in domestic service in the Middle East face severe abuses, including physical and sexual assault, denial of salary, sleep deprivation, withholding of passports, confinement, and even murder. Ethiopian women sometimes are subjected to sex trafficking after migrating for labor purposes or after fleeing abusive employers in the Middle East. Low-skilled Ethiopian men and boys migrate to Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states, and other African nations, where some are subjected to forced labor. Reports suggest district level officials accepted bribes to change the ages on district-issued identification cards, enabling children to receive passports without parental consent, which causes minors to leave the country for illegal work.The Ethiopian government’s October 2013 temporary ban on overseas labor recruitment currently remains in effect. Over 400 employment agencies were licensed to recruit for work abroad; however, government officials acknowledged many agencies are involved in both legal and illegal recruitment, leading to the government’s temporary ban on labor export. Following the ban, irregular labor migration to the Gulf has reportedly increased. Between November 2013 and March 2014, the Saudi Arabian government deported more than 170,000 Ethiopians lacking proper visas or employment papers; international organizations and Ethiopian officials believe thousands were likely trafficking victims. Eritreans transiting Ethiopia-based refugee camps, some of whom voluntarily migrate out of the camps and others who are lured or abducted from the camps, face situations of human trafficking in Sudan and