Responding to the report released in July, KRG Coordinator for International Advocacy Dindar Zebari said in a statement "a draft project for human trafficking has been submitted to the Kurdistan Parliament, but it has not become a law yet due to the various crises that happened over the past few years."
The US report stated that the KRG "did not have a law that specifically prohibited all forms of human trafficking and the national anti-trafficking law did not apply in the IKR [Iraqi Kurdistan Region."
Kurdish officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, have pushed for law enforcers to work more closely with the judiciary so cases make it to court.
"In Kurdistan Region for human trafficking Iraqi Penal Code No. 111 of 1969 is implemented and in the Kurdish areas outside KRG Administration, Human Trafficking Law No. 28 of 2012 is implemented," added the KRG statement.
The US statement also criticized the Kurdistan Region for allowing "sex trafficking and forced labor" of "Iranian women, boys and girls."
"Media reports from 2015 and 2016 noted Iranian girls were subjected to sex trafficking in brothels in the IKR, especially Sulaimaniya; in some cases this exploitation was facilitated by Iranian trafficking networks," noted the US report.
Zebari said subcommittees for the provinces of Erbil, Sulaimani, and Duhok have been formed by ministerial decree "to confront and investigate."
"There have been inevitable cases of human trafficking in the Kurdistan Region which include re-selling foreign workers, illegally trafficking humans by crossing the border, refusing to pay the foreign workers' salaries, using women as sex workers, giving labor to foreign workers despite not having residence cards and work license," acknowledged Zebari.
He said the committees have coordinated with foreign consulates, put companies on trial, blacklisted companies, and provided hotlines for foreign workers, among other measures.
The US alleged "the Iraqi government and the KRG provided limited protection services to victims of all forms of trafficking, and victim care varied by location."
More than 1,000 Yezidis remain in captivity after their homeland of Shingal was overrun by ISIS in 2014.
"In 2017, the KRG facilitated and funded the release of 356 Yezidis held captive by ISIS, most of whom were likely trafficking victims," the US statement pointed out.
Women's rights in Kurdistan
The US report notes that non-governmental organizations have reported that "girls who have run away from their families out of fear of honor killings are exploited in commercial sex by criminal networks."
"Many laws exist in the Kurdistan Region in favor of women rights," stated Zebari, noting laws on family violence, personal status, and building shelters — several of which have been amended from previous Iraqi penal code.
"In case if the woman's life is under threat, they are kept in special shelters, and provided with hotlines all around Kurdistan Region," added Zebari.
His office provided shelter statistics for Sulaimani and Duhok provinces, as well as the Garmiyan district, but not for Erbil.
The KRG says it is emerging from several crises (hosting 1.8 million IDPs and refugees, a drop in global oil crisis, the costly ISIS war, and more recently the loss of Kirkuk's oil revenues).
"Prior to the economic crisis in the Kurdistan Region, the region was economically very prosperous and projects were being implemented in all sectors..." stated the KRG.
The Kurdistan Region will hold a parliamentary election for the first time since 2013 on September 30.
"The KRG departments relevant to women rights treat the women who seek help as victims. Special care and help is provided for victims of physical, emotional and sexual abuse," it added.
