Foreword
Increasing attention is being given to the hundreds of thousands of women and children who are now commodities traded on an inter-national market. They are marketed, transported and sold by traffickers to be exploited in prostitution, pornography and forced labour.
Trafficking in persons is a gross violation of human dignity and human rights, and a disgrace to our societies. It is slave trade and must be fought with every means at our disposal.
Poverty and lack of equality make women and children more vulnerable to traffickers and buyers. Initiatives to reduce poverty and promote gender equality are therefore of direct importance in efforts to combat trafficking.
Trafficking in persons is a problem that transcends national borders. No country acting in isolation can put an end to it. Trafficking must be addressed within the framework of collaborative development and migration policy. We also call for efficient judicial cooperation and law enforcement as these are necessary to fight this outrageous crime.
Stockholm, May, 2001
Anna Lindh Maj-Inger Klingvall
Minister for Foreign Affairs Minister for Development
Cooperation, Migration and
Asylum Policy
Contents
I.Introduction......
II.What is trafficking in persons?......
Definition......
Causes......
Consequences......
III.Patterns and trends......
Asia......
East and Southeast Asia......
South Asia......
Europe......
Eastern Europe, the Balkan and the Baltic States......
Central Europe......
Western Europe......
IV.Efforts to combat trafficking......
International efforts......
International standards and policy statements......
United Nations agencies......
Other intergovernmental (IGOs) and international
non-governmental organizations (INGOs)......
Regional efforts ......
Asia......
Europe......
List of references......
I.Introduction
Trafficking in persons means the transportation of a person within a country or across borders through coercion, deception or illicit influence with the purpose of exploiting the victim. The international community considers trafficking in persons a modern form of slavery and a gross violation of human rights and dignity.
Globalization is accompanied by an increasing incidence of transnational crime, such as smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons. Most countries are affected, some more than others. Today, women and chil-dren are the main targets of trafficking, while adult men may rather be victims of smuggling. Trafficking is thus an age and gender specific phe-nomenon. Women and children are often trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation, mostly for the growing entertainment business and the sex industry in cities and urban areas.
Information on trafficking is limited and scattered. The data in the available reports are often recycled. The statistics on the number of per-sons trafficked should be regarded as rough estimates. However, the overall picture of a widespread, complex and growing problem is not open to doubt. In 1999, the UN Centre for International Crime Preven-tion[1] reported that it was evident that trafficking in women and children particularly affected countries in Asia, Europe and Latin America and, to a lesser extent, countries in Africa.
The underlying causes of trafficking in persons are poverty and low status of women and children. Unemployment and lack of education and livelihood opportunities are driving factors. While many people are ready to take the risk of falling into the hands of traffickers in order to im-prove their prospects, there is a worrying trend in industrial countries to use cheap and undeclared labour as well as to exploit women and chil-dren in prostitution and pornography. Women in particular are vulner-able to trafficking due to the feminization of poverty and migration. Organized crime takes advantage of this situation.
Trafficking in persons may be considered a comparatively profitable crime since the penalties are relatively lenient, at least compared with trafficking in firearms or drugs. The new information technology and growing flows of capital and people also facilitate these operations.
Efforts have been made during the last decade by the UN, other inter-national agencies, international and local NGOs and governments to highlight and address the issue by reaffirming policy commitments and strengthening legislation and law enforcement, as well as by supporting the victims. During the last few years a series of broad programmes have been developed.
Most countries have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the UN Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimi-nation against Women, thereby committing themselves to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the human rights of women and children.
At the UN Millennium Summit in 2000 the Member States agreed to intensify their efforts to fight transnational crime in all its dimensions, including trafficking in human beings, to combat all forms of violence against women and to take measures to ensure respect for and pro-tection of the human rights of migrants, migrant workers and their families.
The UN recently adopted the Convention against Transnational Organ-ized Crime and its optional Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.
The purpose of this publication is to give a brief presentation of the problem of trafficking and an overview of various initiatives and differ-ent actors involved in the fight against trafficking in women and children in Asia and Europe.
II.What is trafficking in persons?
Definition
There was no internationally agreed definition of trafficking in persons until November 2000, when the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children was adopted, supple-menting the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.
The following language was then agreed.[2]
a) "Trafficking in persons" shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.
b) The consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended exploitation set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article shall be irrelevant where any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) have been used;
c) The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation shall be considered "trafficking in persons" even if this does not involve any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article;
d)"Child" shall mean any person under eighteen years of age.
Common criteria for trafficking in persons are: a) transportation of a person, either within a country or across national borders b) through co-ercion, deception or some other form of illicit influence c) with the pur-pose of exploitation of the victim in some form.
Causes
A complex of underlying factors contributes to the phenomenon of trafficking. However the main structural causes are the poverty, in-equality and subordination of women and children.
Poverty
Lack of income and opportunities makes people vulnerable and more inclined to migrate in the hope of creating a better life for themselves and their families elsewhere. Likewise, it is poverty that makes parents sell their children to traffickers and that makes women become victims of trafficking. There is a trend for more and more women to be left alone to fend for themselves and their children; this is referred to as the feminization of poverty. Their powerlessness is taken advantage of by traffickers who promise them jobs and opportunities, although instead they may end up in prostitution. People who believe they have little to lose may be willing to take great risks.
Mass media and travel bring information, new goods and modern life-styles from a wider world to remote areas. Thus there is a growing awareness of modern life that may attract young people in particular, leaving them vulnerable to traffickers. In general terms, economic and social disparities within and between countries create an incentive to migrate.[3]
Migration
Trafficking in women and children is intimately linked to movements in search of employment opportunities. The low profits in traditional pro-duction and reduced income opportunities in underdeveloped and poor areas drive people to look for work and higher incomes in richer and more prosperous regions.
Rural to urban migration is increasing substantially all over the world, resulting in a growing population of migrants. Many people also move away from areas hit by a conflict or disaster and end up as refugees and displaced persons. These mass movements of people have profound effects on family structures and well-being, often leaving women and children vulnerable.[4]
Women have outnumbered men as migrants over the last decade. The feminization of labour migration is most striking in the Asian region. Most women go to work in the informal sector, usually as domestic workers. Many end up in prostitution and the entertainment business.
As a consequence of restrictive migration policies in many countries, regular migration has declined and illegal migration has increased. This trend has also affected the smuggling of persons and trafficking in women and children.
Discrimination of women and children and lack of respect for their human rights
The unequal balance of power between men and women, reflected in gender inequality and patriarchal attitudes, paves the way for trafficking by leaving women and girls powerless and in subservient roles. As a result women and girls get less education and less access to resources, have a heavier workload and less influence. Consequently the over-whelming majority of the victims of trafficking are women and girls. Furthermore, trafficking has an ethnic dimension in that women belong-ing to minorities tend to be victims of trafficking more often. Lack of awareness and respect for the human rights of women and children make them vulnerable to exploitation. States are responsible to their citizens and to the international community to respect, protect and promote the human rights of all. Efforts to strengthen human rights are therefore a cornerstone in the fight against trafficking.[5]
Lack of education and opportunities and of a stable family
Reports on trafficking in persons indicate low educational levels among child victims. They also show that parents with little or no education are more likely to expose their children to trafficking than others. Children with no literacy skills and limited knowledge about the outer world are easy targets for traffickers who present themselves as potential friends. In developing countries the literacy rates for girls and women are often lower than for boys and men, leaving females more vulnerable to trafficking.[6]
Unemployment and underemployment and the lack of alternative income-generating activities may all be regarded as push factors.[7]
Boys and girls from families suffering from criminality, drug addiction and domestic violence often run away from home. These children easily fall prey to trafficking recruiters.[8]
Political change and economic regression
Dramatic political changes during the last decade have had severe effects on women's lives. The dissolution of the Soviet Union and the trans-formation of the socialist economies into market economies took place without social security nets being in place. Likewise, the fall of the Berlin wall created new pressure for migration from Central and Eastern Eur-ope into the EU. War and conflicts in the Balkans put further pressure on the women in those countries. The recession of the Asian economies in the late 1990s also had repercussions on the lives of women and chil-dren. Armed conflicts continue to afflict parts of the world, leaving many women exposed to traffickers. In addition, the increased demand for sexual services at military camps may trigger trafficking in women and girls.[9]
Globalization and information technology
The new information technology has helped to expand the scope of communication and information. At the same time, trafficking is facili-tated by globalization and by modern technologies. Traffickers are taking to the Internet to organize mail-order bride schemes and adoption ser-vices for the purpose of pornography and prostitution. E-mail and Inter-net marketing have made transactions safe and simple.
The demand for sex-related services
As the sex industry grows, so does the market for trafficking. The increase in tourism is also linked to the escalating demand for sexual services. Aggressive marketing seeks to lend an aura of glamour to this lurid business. However, as long as the demand is there, the traffickers will stay in business. Traditional and cultural male behaviour, together with the demand for entertainment and sex services, may fuel the sex market and thus feed the trafficking business.[10] Furthermore, the myths in certain cultures regarding the rejuvenating power of sex with virgins and young girls and the wish to avoid AIDS, may lead men to seek younger partners.[11]
Organized crime and trafficking networks
The trafficking of people for prostitution and forced labour is one of the fastest growing areas of international criminal activities. Trafficking is now considered the third largest source of profits of organized crime, behind only drugs and guns.[12] Law enforcement experience shows that, although there is local-scale traffic involving few individuals, there are also large enterprises and international networks that create a sophis-ticated and well organized industry in the countries of origin, transit and destination. Cases of corruption of officials have also been reported. There seem to be links with other forms of organized crime. The high profits made by these criminal organizations often necessitate the creation of front companies involved in legitimate activities. Profits are also laundered and fed into other illicit activities, including narcotics and arms trafficking.[13]
Consequences
Trafficking affects the mental and physical health of the victims as well as their social situation and future life. It also has legal implications and a damaging effect on society and development.
Health effects
The mental effects caused by trafficking have not yet been properly docu-mented and assessed. Trafficking in persons involves situations of ex-treme psychological stress, which may lead to trauma, depression and in some cases to suicide.[14] A trafficked woman or child may be exposed to isolation, hiding, fear, sexual abuse, rape and other forms of violence. Perpetrators often use psychological means in order to break down their victims. The power over the victims is even stronger when the criminal organizations control the whole chain from recruitment, through trans-portation to ultimate exploitation. In the case of sexual exploitation of children the effects may be lifelong and seriously hamper the child’s physical, psychological and social development.[15]
The most obvious physical consequence is the high risk of contracting sexu-ally transmitted diseases (STD), especially HIV/AIDS. Fear of AIDS among customers has driven the sex industry in Asia to supply very young girls from remote villages who are believed to be untouched and not infected by HIV. These young girls may be at particular risk. Not only are they often too intimidated to negotiate the terms of sex, but preliminary medical research suggests that the younger the girl, the more susceptible she may be to HIV infection.[16]
The provision of health care for these women and children is often sporadic at best. Serious illnesses often go untreated. Unwanted preg-nancies and high-risk abortions are also common and may have lethal consequences.
Social effects
Trafficking into the sex industry leads to stigmatization of the victims and their families. This makes it hard for the victims to return to their families, who may not welcome them. It may also be hard to get accept-ance and support from the community at large. It may be even harder if the victim is believed to suffer from HIV. There will be limited oppor-tunities to marry and have a family, and it may be difficult to get a job. Thus, many victims who have returned to their homes will become easy targets for re-trafficking.
Legal effects
The legal consequences for trafficked persons vary depending on the legislation in the country of destination and the country of origin. In the vast majority of destination countries, trafficking is primarily seen in terms of illegal migration and prostitution. Since trafficked persons rarely have either travel documents or residence permits, the law en-forcement authorities focus on the victims rather than the traffickers. Victims may be arrested and deported while the perpetrators go unpunished and continue to operate.
Moreover, the fact that victims are residing illegally in the country leaves them unprotected by national laws and social safety nets. Many women suffer not only from their low status of being women from a poor country, but also from being illegal migrants. Thus trafficked women and children find themselves in a state of lawlessness. This, in addition to the language barrier in many cases, result in a fear of the authorities that prevents the victims from getting the legal aid and other support they are in need of.[17]