Global Anti-Trafficking Infocalendar 2002

GLOBAL ANTI-TRAFFICKING INFOCALENDAR 2002

WORKING TOGETHER

TO STOP TRAFFICKING

Trafficking of humans is the fastest growing criminal activity in the world

JUNE/JULY 2002

News
Reports
Video
Useful Links
Recent Conferences
Forthcoming Conferences
Recent Meetings
Policy News / News
June 12, World Day Against Child Labour
The International Labour Organization has chosen June 12 as World Day Against Child Labour to focus world attention on the urgent need to eradicate child labour.

Around the world, some 246 million children between 5 and 17 years old are working instead of attending school. That's one out of every six children in the world today.
Nearly three-quarters of these children are exposed to work that is hazardous for their health and safety. That equals one out of every eight children around the world.

Child labour is a complex problem that requires comprehensive solutions driven by moral outrage, personal commitment, community determination and national action.This is a day to remember the children and to commemorate those who work to bring about a world without child labour and for employers, governments, workers' groups, and for civil society to renew their mandates to make that world a reality - a world where parents work and children go to school.
Press Release:
Comment on TIP

Human Rights Watch

The U.S. State Department's second annual report on trafficking in persons falls short as a rigorous tool to assess a country's efforts to combat trafficking. "The State Department is taking this issue more seriously. But it's a shame that one can still read these reports and end up not knowing basic facts. For this report to be relevant, specificity matters," said LaShawnR. Jefferson, Executive Director of the Women's Rights Division, Human Rights Watch.
Press Release 6 June
US Senators’ Concern
US Senators Wellstone and Brownback wrote to the US State Department prior to publication of the US Trafficking in Persons Report.Their letter raised some of the same concerns that people in the NGO community have raised with the State Department. The Senators requested a 30 day delay of publication of the report so information on trafficking of women, men and children into forced labour in homes, office, fields and factories could also be included in the final report.
See also: Human Rights Advocates in Congress Question Report. / Reports
The Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report 2002
The US State Department released the congressionally mandated 110-page TIP report on the 5th of June. The Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report 2002 "represents the resolve of the entire United States government to stop this appalling assault on the dignity of men, women and children," said Secretary of State, Colin Powell. The TIP report is described as the most comprehensive international anti-trafficking review issued by any single government despite its acknowledged limitations in data collection.
This second annual report evaluates the performance of 89 countries, putting each country in one of three categories depending on how its domestic efforts meet the legislation's minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The US Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 requires the TIP reports to address ALL forms of trafficking
Tier 3 countries are deemed to be not in compliance with the minimum standards and not making significant efforts; Tier 2 countries are not in compliance, but making significantefforts; and Tier 1 countries are in compliance. The report covers countries worldwide with a "significant number" of trafficking victims. The full text of the report is available for downloading from the State Department web site at
ILO Reports:
Over 179 million children aged 5-17 are in the worst forms of child labour that endanger the child's physical, mental or moral well-being. Of these, 8.4 million are trapped in slavery, trafficking, debt bondage, prostitution and other illicit activities, and should be "immediately withdrawn," says the ILO in A Future Without Child Labour. The report notes that while most child workers are in the developing world, 2.5 million are in industrialized countries.
Every ChildCounts: New Global Estimates on Child Labor is a second study that provides new data on the scope, sectors and geographic distribution of working children. Available at Every Child Counts: New Global Estimates on Child Labour.
Annotated Guide
The Washington-based Human Rights Law Group has produced an Annotated Guide to the new UN Trafficking Protocol. The guide is a tool to assist advocates in the development of a human rights framework for national policies and
anti-trafficking laws. The annotations provide guidance on all of the important sections of the complete Trafficking Protocol. Currently only in English but it will be available in other languages shortly.
/ Video
Remote Sensing traces the routes and reasons of women who travel across the globe for work in the sex industry. Female bodies are the new cargo in the highly lucrative transactions across boundaries. Voluntarily or not, women are displaced in great numbers from Manila to Nigeria, from Burma to Thailand, from Bulgaria to Europe: female bodies in the flow of global capitalism. This video essay (53 min) visualises the multi-layered meaning of geography where the sexualization of women in global capitalism is linked to the implementation of new technologies, in often contradicting ways. While the Internet facilitates the migration flow, particularly for women via bride market, the border reinforcement technologies, on the other hand, hinder and push it into the illegal sector. Remote Sensing fills in missing geographic data that offer a gendered and relational view on the global flows of humans.
Available from film producer Ursula Biemann: or
Recent Conferences
21st Century Slavery –The Human Rights Dimension to Trafficking in Human Beings
May 15-16, Rome. Organised by the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See, the Pontifical Councils for Justice and Peace and for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, and Urbi et Orbi Communications.
For conference papers contact: Tel:+39 06 46743438, Fax:+39 06 57300682
E-mail:
Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Human Trafficking Conference
May 20-22, London. CPS organised a conference for top EU and accession country prosecutors. Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, opened the conference which aimed to support greater coordination between prosecuting authorities. Contact CPS Press Office:
/ Forthcoming Conferences
EC STOP Programme/IOM Conference on Prevention of and Fighting against Trafficking in Human Beings September 18-20, 2002 (tentatively) Brussels
This conference, organised by IOM (International Organisation for Migration), will have a particular focus on enhancing cooperation in the process to enlarge the European Union. Contact .
October 9-10, 2002
Prevention of Trafficking in Persons: Economic Causes and Economic Solutions
Regional Anti-Trafficking Conference: Kyiv, October 2002
Representatives of government and non-profit organizations in Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, and other countries in the region will review the economic roots of the problem of human trafficking in Eastern Europe and the NIS. For more information and registration details, contact Tatiana Timoshenko, Anti-Trafficking Coordinator - .
16-18 October 2002
Fourth Avignon Conference on Women in Slavery and Forced Labour
In honour of Suzanne Myers. Sponsored by University of Avignon, Institute for American Universities. Contact or .
October 25-26, 2002
Globalization, Justice and the Trafficking of Women and Children
University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA, Women's Center
For further information, please contact: Gabriela Villareal - .
Recent Meetings
Trafficking, Slavery and Peacekeeping: The Balkan Case
9-10 May 2002. Turin Italy.
The UN Interregional Crime & Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) organised a conference in collaboration with TraCCC. Panel issues included: trafficking in women and slavery practices in peace mission areas, initiatives against women trafficking in the SEE peace mission areas and specific training for international and local personnel in the South East European peace mission areas. A full report of the meeting will be available in the next few months on line at UNICRI.
Email or visit / Policy
Zero Tolerance Policy on U.N. Personnel Involved in Trafficking
Ambassador Nancy Ely-Raphel, director of the US State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking, has reiterated that all allegations of misconduct by U.N. personnel, particularly involvement in trafficking in women and children, should be thoroughly investigated and appropriate disciplinary action taken. “Even one substantiated claim of peacekeepers' and relief workers' involvement in such activities is one too many," she said. "This kind of behaviour contradicts the principles on which the United Nations was created."
Ambassador Ely-Raphel said the State Department has initiated a zero tolerance policy with respect to immoral, unethical and illegal behaviour, and that any involvement in such activities by U.S. civilian police assigned abroad results in immediate termination of their employment. She noted that further work in the area of prosecution is needed, as to date no American civilian police officer has been prosecuted due to lack of jurisdiction of U.S. courts. The Justice Department's Criminal Division is currently drafting a proposed amendment to the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act that would enable the department to prosecute any criminal offenders identified among the U.S. civilian police cadres serving abroad.

Commonwealth Secretariat

Expert Group Meeting on the Development of Mechanisms to Combat Trafficking of Women & Children. Marlborough House, London 10-12 June 2002. Initiated by a Law Ministers Meeting of the Commonwealth, the recommended guidelines are being developed for use by Commonwealth countries on administrative and legislative measures to address issues relating to consolidation and enforcement of fundamental political values and human rights issues.
Publication forthcoming. Contact:
J. Matiya: / Filipino Forum on Anti-Trafficking in Women Hastens Passage of Bill in Senate
The National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW) and Office of Senator Luisa Ejercito-Estrada jointly sponsored a senate forum calling for the immediate passage of the anti-trafficking bill in the Senate. "Trafficking in women is an urgent issue for the country as countless of our Filipino women are internationally and nationally traded for forced labour, prostitution, sexual exploitation, slavery, servitude, and even removal and sale of body organs. We hope this forum will assist the Senate in immediately passing its version of the anti-trafficking bill," said NCRFW Chairperson Aurora Javate de Dios.
The Bill proposes inter-agency mechanisms that will apprehend illegal recruiters, pimps and others who facilitate the trade; protect and support trafficked persons; and initiate bilateral agreements between sending and receiving countries. Moreover, it imposes stiff penalties for the perpetrators and decriminalizes the victim.
For more information contact: Ria F. Orca Email:
UK Anti-Trafficking Network
On May 30, Dr. Helga Konrad, OSCE Regional Coordinator and Chair of the Stability Pact Task Force on Trafficking in Human Beings for South Eastern Europe addressed a public meeting in London organised by UKAT. Dr Konrad provided an update of the work of the Stability Pact Task Force and policy issues in developing appropriate and effective counter-trafficking strategies. She was visiting UK to meet with Home Office officials and also gave a BBC television and radio interviews arranged by UKAT. Paper available from . Visit: / THE GLOBAL ANTI-TRAFFICKING INFOCALENDAR
INFOCALENDAR assists counter-trafficking efforts by facilitating the dissemination of information on global activities to combat the trafficking of human beings. This service is an integral activity of the WomenAid International Anti-Trafficking programme. The United Nations and the European Parliament have repeatedly stressed the indispensable role of non-governmental organisations and individuals in combating violence in all its forms and encouraged their increased involvement.
Information for inclusion in the INFOCALENDAR should be sent to:
or by Fax + 44 (0) 20 7839 2929
WomenAid International 3 Whitehall Court London SW1A 2EL
Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 1790 Online at
Visit for more information on the UK network.
Founded in 1988, WomenAid Internationalis a humanitarian aid anddevelopment agency whichpromotes all rights for allpeople in all countries.