Efforts to combat human trafficking on a national level

Transcription

1 Forum: Issue: Human Rights Commission Efforts to combat human trafficking on a national level Student Officer: Enisha Sharma Position: Head Chair Introduction There are 30 million people in forced labor worldwide, more in Less Economically Developed countries (LEDC s) million of the forced labor are in the Pacific and Asia region when there is only 1.6 million inclusive of the Central, Southeast, Eastern Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States. Human trafficking as defined by the federal law includes commercial sex act, sex trafficking, fraud or coercion or an act where the victim is under the age of 18, and labor trafficking (i.e. harboring, provision or transportation of an individual for services by giving false information). Human trafficking includes child labor where children are forced to work in distressing conditions and in locations such as constructions sites, bars, factories, and restaurants however, human trafficking also occurs for profit where the children are used for pornography, illegal activities, forced begging additionally in some region's children can be forced to participate in armed conflict. This is arising issue as the children are not able to escape these situations as they are abused, threatened and violated constantly these actions violate their fundamental human rights and also scars them mentally and physically. Which leaves them to have psychological issues even if they are able to escape, they will constantly fear that these incidents can happen again to them. Bill Flores stated, Imagine having all your freedoms taken away, being forced to work against your will, and constantly living under the threat of violence- in short, being forced to live as a slave. This quote briefly summarizes human trafficking and its consequences along with explaining how life has a drastic change once you have been trafficked. It has also been noted that the trafficking patters are closely linked to migratory patterns and this is because they are more vulnerable compared to people who are already living there. Human trafficking is particularly high when people are escaping from war and persecution as they are the most vulnerable to becoming a victim. As the situation is very urgent in war environments it can lead to the most dangerous migration decision. This is noticed in the Syrian victims as the conflict started there and now there is a rapid increase in vulnerability as people are trying to flee from that location to save their lives. The situation significantly gets worse is there are armed traffickers in that region can lead to abduction of children to be used as combatants and females being forced into domestic violence, similarly boys are forced into labor. Research Report Page 1 of 11

2 Definition of Key Terms Human Trafficking The trade of human beings for purposes of sexual slavery, forced labor, and sexual exploitation. Child Child as defined by UN is a person under the age of eighteen. Traffickers Traffickers are the people who use people for sexual slavery, sexual exploitation, and or forced labor. Exploitation Exploitation is the action where someone is treated unfairly which would mean someone else would benefit from their work. Slavery A condition where an individual is working very hard and for long durations in bad conditions without remuneration. Labor Labor is physical work which is often difficult. Trafficking Often talking about illegal actions which are related to trade or dealing. Page 2 of 11 Research Report

3 Background Information According to ILO in 2012 it is estimated that approximately 20.9 million people are forced into labor or sexual exploitation. Specifically, 11.4 million are women and girls, 9.5 million are men and boys. 98% of the sexually exploited are females 21% children and 79% adults. What is Trafficking in persons? Human Trafficking is known as the transportation, recruitment, harboring receipt of persons and or transfer. By means in which the persons are in threat or where they are being forced into adduction, fraud, coercion, deception where abuse is used as a power in a state of vulnerability. It also includes giving and or receiving payments to receive consent over someone s body for abuse and exploitation purposes. It is often noted that the consent of the victim is considered irrelevant in most circumstances. Forced Labor Forced labor is described as work that is performed which is involuntarily and is often conducted under threat and or penalty. It refers to situations where individuals are intimidated to work through violence, or simply through manipulated debt. This is often done by holding identity papers to immigration authorities. There are 3 common types of forced labor being work or service, menace of any penalty and involuntariness. Work or service discusses all types of work which occur in an activity, sector included in the informal economy and industry. Menace of any penalty refers to penalties induced on an individual at a workplace. Involuntariness is the opposite of offered voluntarily which defines as giving free and consented worker for the job where the employee has the freedom to leave anytime, they wish to do so. This is not what occurs when an employer makes false promises given to one so that they take the job in the false acquisitions as they would have not been accepted otherwise. This is called the binding agreements where the employee has to choose the employer and accept the job or face deportation. Trafficking in Children According to statistics every 30 seconds a child is sold for sex, for labor, for organ harvesting. There are approximately 6 million children being forced into one of these categories right now. However, because child trafficking is lucrative and is lined to criminal activity and corruption it is often hard to give a good estimate on how many children are suffering. However, without a doubt it is a risk that has built up for children all around the world. As human trafficking can occur almost everywhere whether it may be agricultural work, mining, domestic servitude or forced armed fights in conflict situations. Research Report Page 3 of 11

4 Trafficking in children is easier than in adults as children are easier to manipulate and are more vulnerable. As it is easier to persuade them to leave their homes and it is easier for the traffickers to gain trust of the family by using grooming techniques. Often families can be threatened however, that is not always the case it is more common that violence is used to recruit the victims. As stated previously education is one factor that makes parents weak which is one reason parents themselves offer their child to the trafficker being unaware. As the child is exploited the child would earn some money because of the labor that they are providing however that money is given to the trafficker who continues exploiting the child. This is justified to the child as a debt the family had to pay to the trafficker however is now being paid by the child. Child trafficking since the past decade is being taken very seriously as various research studies show disadvantages. Some of them being poor health and illness which is often left untreated, limited or no access to education, and physical or mental exhaustion. One of the most often experience is emotional distress of being lonely, disturbed sleep patterns. Organ Harvesting Organ Harvesting has now become a common fashion where victims are exploited or forced into donating organs as organs are bought in high prices. Sometimes the exploited donor is not given money for the organ they have donated this is another action which is being done with victims after human trafficking. However, in some cases people are exploited and organs are removed without the victim being informed. Organ harvesting cannot be done by one individual person as it requires a host of offenders. Such as the recruiter, whom goes to find the victim, then transports organs and then their staff of the hospital and the doctors. Their middlemen, buyers, contractors, and organ/tissue banks which will all be receiving money and the victim does not receive proper treatment either and is left to die. Major Countries and Organizations Involved International Labor Organization (ILO) International Protocol to eliminate Child Labor (IPEC) ILO is a specialized organization that works with the member states to set labor standards and ensure that the working conditions for are sufficient. ILO s structure is in a tripartite format which aims to accommodate workers, employers and the government to ensure that all international labor standards are being met. One of the most important standards is the working conditions and the way the employees are being treated. As it is often noted that there are false promises made on the way the employees will be treated and how they will work. It is often seen that the security in their work decreases when employers make false acquisitions thus ILO encourages social dialogue which is to make sure that the employee is fully aware of the nature of the job and the workplace before accepting Page 4 of 11 Research Report

5 the job. This organization has been working since 1919 to ensure labor treatment as that is one step to decrease the human trafficking rates. International Protocol to eliminate Child Labor (IPEC) ILO S international program on the elimination of child labor (IPEC) was created in the year 1992 which has one clear goal to progressively eliminate child labor which was planned to be achieved by strengthening capacity of countries in resolving the issue. IPEC currently is working with 88 countries whilst having an annual expenditure on technical cooperation projects. It is also the largest single operational program of the ILO. International Protocol to eliminate Child Labor (IPEC)United States of America (USA) Trafficking has been an issue which has been very popular in USA as it is considered a source and transit country. Along with is now the top country with children being trafficked and exploited. Out of the 50 states all states have reported human trafficking cases regardless or race, religion, education, age, gender, class, or citizenship. It has become a common practice in the USA to give false promises on education for children and false promises for jobs for adults. These two are often reported to be the reasons why people get manipulated to go with the so-called employer. UNICEF To protect people from being exploited the factors that need to be addressed are poverty, and discrimination as that often is the reason why people get manipulated into taking decisions where they don t have any other choice. UNICEF has been making efforts in countries by helping provide a wage for parents that is adequate for their children to go to school so they don t have to support their families when they should be getting educated. UNICEF has been closely working with governments and other partners to strengthen the existing laws and develop better children protection systems to prevent abuse and violence to children. Working with faith-based organizations and communities to change society norms which make children vulnerable to exploitation. Along with supporting the training of professionals who work with children and social workers, police and border control and health workers, who help stop trafficking. UNICEF has created a project in USA where the aim to raise awareness about human trafficking and specifically child trafficking and what the actions that need to be taken by the communities to help protect these children. UNICEF has partnered with the End Trafficking project where they aim to stop any kind of exploitation. Operation Underground Railroad O.U.R. Research Report Page 5 of 11

6 Since this group s foundation in December 2013 they have gathered world experts to extract operations in anti-child trafficking to bring an end to child slavery. This organization has a 6-step plan to rescue. It starts off with assessing the feasibility of the rescue, then researching the location, whilst designing a strategy, then acting, recovering the children and lastly trying to get justice to the victim by arresting the perpetrators. The organization has been providing domestic services in which there is law enforcement where professionals investigate, arrest and prosecute all who violate children under evidence. O.U.R. constantly acknowledges the work that is done by dedicated men and women who have bravely saved kids from being sexually exploited and or saving them from going into child slavery. O.U.R. is committed to law enforcement in means to but not limited to providing resources where there is a lack of budget to prohibit child pornography, human trafficking, and child exploitation. O.U.R. collaborates with law enforcement as it reduces the duplication and promotes practices which arise from issues in coordination. Thailand Thailand is the destination which is used for human trafficking in that region exploitation. Victims are routed via migration patterns into Thailand from neighboring countries with lower levels of economic developments. The reason why Thailand remains a destination for human trafficking is due to porous border control and irregular migration. It is more common to see nationals being trafficked for sexual exploitation and domestic services. Nationals of Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar are the most commonly identified trafficked persons in Thailand. However, nationals from countries like China, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, and Fiji willingly migrate to Thailand on false promises of better job opportunities however, then are forced, deceived and or coerced into sexual exploitation which happens the same time as corruption which limits the progress of anti-trafficking efforts. Timeline of Events Date November, 2000 Description of event United Nations passed down a Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking This was the first treaty which had agreed on the definition of human trafficking. This protocol included articles which were successful in defining key terms which are linked to the issue of human trafficking. Along with were successful in having a discussion about the protection and assistance which may be required if someone has been trafficked and how to prevent trafficking of an individual. Page 6 of 11 Research Report

7 December, 2001 Economic Community of Western African States Action Plan (ECOWAS) Countries of the ECOWAS commenced with an action plan which addressed the slavery, and human trafficking in the region. This plan was created looking at previous solutions and strengthen creation of anti-trafficking along with improving border control. July, 2002 April, 2004 Protection of children by the International Cocoa Initiative The International Cocoa Initiative, along with anti-slavery groups and chocolate companies formed and contributed to the abolition of child labor by protocols and surveys to become aware of how severe the issue was. The United Nations appoints Special Rapporteur United Nations appointed the first Rapporteur who would focus on human trafficking who would closely monitor treatment with women and children. The Special Rapporteur is appointed to submit an annual report to the Commission of Human Rights which includes recommendations of what has to be done to decrease human trafficking rates. May, 2005 National Pact for the Eradication of Slave Labor Brazil and the international labor organization came together to introduce the National Pact for Eradication of Slave Labor which gathered civil organizations to create a dirty list of all the companies that sell any product created by slaves. March, 2014 September, 2015 Britain s Modern Slavery Act This act was placed to increase the time spent in jail by human traffickers from 14 years to the possibility of a life time sentence. British authorities were granted the right to seize human traffickers in order to assist the victims. Sustainable Development Goals SDGs or the Global Goals aim to end slavery. SDGs 1 and 8 aim to eradicate forced labor and human trafficking they specifically talk about poverty and employment where the first step is to ensure that people are comfortable at work. Relevant UN Treaties and Events Trafficking in women and girls, 2 February 2017 (A/RES/71/167) Research Report Page 7 of 11

8 Adopted by the Security Council at its 8111th meeting, 21 November 2017 (S/RES/2388) Protecting human rights defenders addressing economic, social and cultural rights, 21 March 2016 (A/HRC/31/L.28) Previous Attempts to solve the Issue Some of the most common attempts to solve this issue have been to start a community group where people get together and try to make parts of the society aware of what has been happening. However, more specifically the Office of trafficking person strives to establish a national system which serves that helps survivors in all forms by empowering those giving them jobs in existing service systems and forming partnerships. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 is called for the creation of Task force which would help monitor and combat the trafficking in persons which would be done by coordinating the efforts in USA and other Federal government agencies. United Nations passed down a protocol which would help prevent and suppress and punish trafficking. This was one of the first attempts in solving this issue which started off my defining what human trafficking is defined as and had discussions on how to prevent trafficking of an individual. Britain has recently changed the number of years a trafficker will be sentenced. It was 14 years before this act was confirmed however now it can be up to a lifetime of the trafficker. Various other countries are aiming for this however due to some complications are not updating their laws. Possible Solutions To tackle an issue such of human trafficking. Some possible ways of tackling the issue are helping provide a living wage for parents so they can send them to school instead of being forced to work. This will lead to less opportunities for a child to be trafficked and their human rights being violated. This can also mean that they won be helping out in the family however, that is a good aspect as they will be receiving education and will not be illiterate. Possibly lobbying governments and other partners to help develop laws and strengthen child protection systems which aim to prevent the respond to violence and abuse. These lobbying practices can be done with NGO s which are already in place have already attempted to solve the issue. Along with this annual Page 8 of 11 Research Report

9 reports could be required from each country which is one measure to prevent the issue. This is a helpful technique as research shows that reflecting on the actions that occurred in the past help realize simple ways to solve the problem. Similarly, working with communities with different faith believes to help change harmful society norms which constantly make children vulnerable and exploited. Often different communities have different believes that is why it must be considered to talk to each community and be aware of the issues that the specific community faces as it is illogical to create general plans when each countries situation is different. Bibliography "World Day against Trafficking in Persons 30 July." UN, 2018, Accessed 6 Dec ACF. "About." ACF, 2018, Accessed 3 Dec "Federal Government Efforts to Combat Human Trafficking." ACF, 2018, Accessed 9 Dec ILO. "Statistics on forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking." ILO, 2018, Accessed 9 Dec Jesionka, Natalie. "What's Being Done to Stop Human Trafficking?" The Muse, 2018, Accessed 9 Dec Jordan, Dianne Small. "Organ Harvesting, Human Trafficking, and the Black Market." Decoded Science, 23 Mar. 2016, Accessed 10 Dec Research Report Page 9 of 11

10 Justice.gov. "National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking." Justice.gov, 2018, Accessed 8 Dec NPSCC. "Child trafficking." NPSCC, 2018, Accessed 15 Dec NSPCC. "Protecting children from trafficking and modern slavery." NPSCC, 4 Sept. 2018, learning.nspcc.org.uk/child-abuse-and-neglect/child-trafficking-and-modern-slavery/. Accessed 2 Dec OHCHR. "Human rights and trafficking in persons." OHCHR, 2018, Accessed 9 Dec "Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime." UN, Accessed 7 Dec "Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking." OHCHR, 2018, Accessed 10 Dec "Trafficking in Persons." OHCHR, Aug. 2014, df. Accessed 8 Dec OSCE. "Human Trafficking for Labour Exploitation/Forced and Bonded Labour: Identification Prevention Prosecution." OSCE, 8 Nov. 2005, Accessed 5 Dec Page 10 of 11 Research Report

11 O.U.R. "SINCE BEING FOUNDED IN DECEMBER 2013." O.U.R., ourrescue.org/about#process. Accessed 2 Dec OVC. "Federal Strategic Action Plan on Services for Victims of Human Trafficking in the United States." OVC, 2018, Accessed 11 Dec Save the Children. "Child Trafficking Awareness." Save the Children, 2018, Accessed 4 Dec UN-ACT. "THAILAND." UN-ACT, 2018, un-act.org/thailand/. Accessed 6 Dec UNICEF. "Child Trafficking." UNICEF, 2018, Accessed 6 Dec UNODC. "GLOBAL REPORT ON TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS." UNODC, "HUMAN TRAFFICKING INDICATORS." UNODC, 2018, Accessed 3 Dec "Responding to the Trafficking of Children and Young people." UNODC, 2018, Accessed 5 Dec "UNODC report on human trafficking exposes modern form of slavery." UNODC, 2018, Accessed 8 Dec Research Report Page 11 of 11