Armenia was downgraded to Tier 2 in the 2018 Trafficking in Persons Report issued by State Department.

The Government of Armenia does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so, the report says.

The government made significant efforts to meet the minimum standards during the reporting period by providing robust training for law enforcement, initiating slightly more prosecutions, and organizing various awareness campaigns.

However, these efforts were not serious and sustained compared to the efforts during the previous reporting period. The government did not proactively identify victims or conduct proactive investigations and relied on victims to self-identify; the number of victims identified decreased compared to the previous reporting period.

Authorities dropped most cases categorized as trafficking by local police due to a lack of evidence and first responders did not use uniform indicators to screen vulnerable populations. Investigators repeatedly interrogated victims, including children, and victims always appeared in front of their traffickers in court; risking re-traumatization. International organizations reported cases of child labor and child abuse in state childcare institutions, and noted the institutions lacked measures to prevent the exploitation of children.

The government continued to suspend the majority of labor inspectorate functions, hindering regular inspections that had the potential to identify forced labor; no labor inspections were conducted during the reporting period. Therefore Armenia was downgraded to Tier 2.