There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women. -Kofi Annan

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2 There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women. -Kofi Annan Page 2

3 Table of Contents I. Description of the committee:... 4 II. Introduction:... 4 III. Timeline:... 6 IV. Subtopics:... 6 V. Countries Histories:... 9 VI. Hints & Tips: VII. Countries Represented: VIII. Contact Us: IX. References Page 3

I. Description of the committee: On July 2 2010, the General Assembly adopted the resolution 64/289 and thus creating the United Nations Women, which is the UN s Entity for Gender Equality and the

4 I. Description of the committee: On July , the General Assembly adopted the resolution 64/289 and thus creating the United Nations Women, which is the UN s Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, by merging four distinct parts of the UN system. These parts are the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW), the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), and the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI). The UN Women has three main goals and it s empowered to: Support intergovernmental bodies, such as the Commission on the Status of Women, in their formulation of policies and global standards. Help UN member states apply these global standards, standing ready to provide both technical and financial support to countries that request it. Enable member states to hold the UN system accountable for its own commitments on gender equality. The UN Women is an organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls around the world. It s working on developing an environment where every woman and girl can exercise her own human rights. The UN Women is also investing in women s economic, leadership, and political empowerment, in addition to maintaining peace and security. Its main focus is ending violence against women since it s a violation of human rights. Every woman deserves to live in a world in which she can fully enjoy her rights, and to live as equally as men do. No woman deserves to live in a society where she has to keep fighting sexism and discrimination because of people s mentality that treat her as a secondary issue. II. Introduction: For the 8 th HHHSMUN conference, the UNWomen will be tackling the topic of Rural Women and Their Protection Against Sex Trafficking. The UNWomen seeks to achieve equality and equity between females and males, and to empower women and girls around the world. This is also one of the UN s 17 Sustainable Development Goals that have a promise of leaving no one behind. The ones who are furthest behind are the people, mostly women, who live in developing countries that include rural areas. For this reason, the UNWomen decided to take action on the promise of the UN s SDGs to leave no rural woman or girl behind. We live in the 21 st century and Page 4

yet every woman is still at risk of facing violence, rape, or sexism. What s worse, sadly, is that rural women are at risk of facing more than just that while they are marginalized or unreported. Sr.

5 yet every woman is still at risk of facing violence, rape, or sexism. What s worse, sadly, is that rural women are at risk of facing more than just that while they are marginalized or unreported. Sr. Jean Quinn, executive director of UNANIMA International said, "The significance of rural women can hardly be overstated, they make up over a quarter of the world's population and around 43 percent of the agricultural workforce in developing countries. Women are a sizeable group with a lot of potential, yet at the same time are overlooked and marginalized." Rural women play an important role in accomplishing economic, environmental, and social changes that are needed for sustainable development, and this is why their empowerment is crucial. On March , UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women issued its new General Recommendation No. 34 on the Rights of Rural Women. In this General Recommendation, the Committee clarifies State obligations to ensure the rights of rural women, with a focus on article 14 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women which recognizes the unique situation of rural women and highlights specific obligations of States parties in recognizing, promoting and protecting their rights. Even though many measures and actions have been done regarding the trafficking of rural women, many cases of trafficking have been reported even after this general recommendation was issued. Very recently this year, at the March 13 event at the United Nations, which focused on the human trafficking issue mainly in rural areas, many women who were exposed to trafficking spoke about their experiences. Mely Lenario, a one-time trafficked woman from the Philippines mentioned how traffickers lied saying they can offer a better life, food, and education in big cities, while they took her and other women as sex slaves and forced them into prostitution and other acts. She even mentioned that she knelt in front of them begging them to have pity on her because she was young. No woman should ever face such cruelty no matter what situations or circumstances they went through. There is no such thing as an excuse for actions of human or sex trafficking whether it was towards women, men, or even children. Angelina Jolie once said, Women are still treated as secondary issues. It is still far too easy and accepted for leaders to ignore uncomfortable truths. Women, we know, are the first to be affected by war, and the last to be taken into account when it ends. This is why the UNWomen exists; it exists to make sure women are not treated as secondary issues anymore. People rarely think about resilience, until they are faced with a crisis. Women are a representation of resilience in our society, whether they are women who faced violence, assault, rape, sexism, or women who are breast cancer survivors; they all work hard everyday so that they can see something beautiful in the ugly reality of life. What s up to Page 5

6 the delegates of the UNWomen committee is to see how rural women can be resilient and end their own trafficking. III. Timeline: Date Event 1904 The International Agreement for the Suppression of White slave traffic was signed and put into action in order to prevent women from being forced into sexual slavery. This agreement was a step into combatting this act Women started protesting against sex trafficking of girls and women. Which triggered governments to find solutions to this matter therefore organizing seminars and discussing this matter The UN held the fourth world conference in Beijing, China to discuss this issue. Sex trafficking was recognized as a violent act against women, solutions were discussed to eliminate this act completely internationally The US congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) into law it was then authorized by president Bill Clinton, and the UN adopted the Protocol in order to Prevent, minimize and Punish traffickers and to protect undocumented immigrants from being victims to sex trafficking Human trafficking was brought up in a high level meeting of the general assembly discussing the UN global plan of action of combatting trafficking with all kind of purposes A conference entitled Preventing Human Trafficking among Rural Women and Girls: Integrating Inherent Dignity into a Human Rights Model. was organized by the UN to discuss this issue in order to find solutions to prevent rural women from sex trafficking. Note: October 15 is the International Rural Women s Day. IV. Subtopics: {These are some subtopics that the dais deems necessary to be discussed. Note that they are not the only subtopics that can be entertained.} Page 6

A. The role of governments in the protection of rural women against sex trafficking: Having a government that ensures the security of its citizens reduces all kinds of social problems such as sex

China, Russia, and Uzbekistan have been named among the worst offenders when it comes to human trafficking. This means the U.S.

7 A. The role of governments in the protection of rural women against sex trafficking: Having a government that ensures the security of its citizens reduces all kinds of social problems such as sex trafficking. We live in a society that punishes women for being abused instead of punishing the abuser. China, Russia, and Uzbekistan have been named among the worst offenders when it comes to human trafficking. This means the U.S. may sanction those countries with measures like cancelling nonhumanitarian and military assistance, ending exchange visits for government officials, and voting against any IMF or World Bank loans. The protection of women against sex trafficking by the government is a must because not only will it affect the society, but also the government itself. The government can play a huge role in the protection of these women by enforcing new laws that punish the traffickers and aid the women mentally and financially. B. The role of women in society: With all the development and improvements the world is getting, we still can t manage to develop the old mindset that refutes the importance of women on the society and economy. Women are the bases of having a respected society. Motherhood is the most important job a person can have. Mothers spend years raising children to become successful and respected people of a society. Many cultures consider women as ones who must stay at home to cook, work, and raise their children while their husbands have jobs to financially support their families. Nobody said that women should stay at home and men should find a job, in fact both females and males as parents have a role in raising their children and supporting their families. a. Sub Subtopic B.1: The impact of rural women on society and economy: When a person is raised to respect women and refuse and kind of injustice, this creates a society free of social problems such as sex trafficking. Let s take Germany as an example. Germany is one of the countries with the most developed and stable economy having a woman, Angela Merkel, as a chancellor. Rural women make up around 43 percent of the agricultural workforce in developing countries, and they are around a quarter of the world s population. These women must be empowered since they have an essential role in developing the social, economic, and environmental Page 7

8 conditions of their countries, but certainly not by being trafficked. The injustice towards women must be stopped because they are of equal importance to the society and the economy. C. The effects of sex trafficking on the society: Sex trafficking has nothing but bad influences on the society. To start with, a high decrease in tourism will be observed. Nevertheless, the rate of diseases such as HIV/AIDS will increase and have a higher chance of spreading across the society. Also, migration will increase and the young generation will leave the country making it hard for the society to develop and stay up to date. It s enough that this kind of trafficking happens in developing countries that have bad economic and social circumstances, it happens to the poor who would risk anything to work and gain money to live a better life. These people will become mentally and emotionally disturbed, and this is how trafficking in all its types can destroy a whole society and its future. D. The role of the NGOs concerning sex trafficking: NGOs can play a very important role concerning this issue. Training sessions can be held for women by some NGOs in order for them to learn self-defense and build up confidence. Also, awareness can be spread to the minds of traffickers, attacking the issue from its roots. Moreover, NGOs can provide aid, both financial and emotional, to the women who experienced trafficking and to their families. a. Sub Subtopic D.1: Ways to prevent trafficking: Trafficking in all its types usually starts with poor families who are seeking jobs and better lives. Traffickers could trick a family member by offering them a job that could raise money for the family and lets them live better, and when someone accepts the job they find themselves being trafficked. It could also happen in any other way, for example with parents who sell their children to human traffickers, or ones who sell their daughters as child brides to sex traffickers. Governments of developing countries that are facing trafficking situations could warn its people from traffickers, offer help to some families, or even put new laws that forbid any kind of trafficking. Traffickers must also be punished in addition to parents who tend to sell their children. E. Educating rural women: Knowledge is the most powerful weapon a person can have. With education comes protection, power, and confidence. Achieving these three will lead to nothing but the success of their owner. When someone is ignorant or uneducated, they are more Page 8

9 likely to be in danger of being fooled into sex trafficking. Education is very important to women since it increases their power in the society. However, many people still don t want women to achieve power but rather stay ignorant to be used and taken advantage of. Malala Yousafzai is an example of a young girl that strived to show people the importance of education for women and girls. She later went on to receive the noble peace prize. There are endless reasons for why educating rural women is crucial. They don t have access to good quality education in the places they live in, and this leads to putting them at high risks of being trafficked in which they think they re being offered a good job and a better life. V. Countries Histories: A. Thailand: Thailand is unfortunately a source and transit country for human sex trafficking, knowing that the sex industry in Thailand began to grow during the 1970s. According to the 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report, the US Department of State ranked Thailand as a "Tier 2 Watch list" country which means that while the Thai government is trying to eliminate human trafficking, the number of victims is still increasing. On October , Thailand ratified the Palermo Protocol, and it was obligated since then to combat human and sex trafficking with international support. B. United States: The US has an extensive history with human and sex trafficking. Ever since the 19 th century, most of the cities in America had a legally protected area of sex trafficking and slavery. Many actions were done previously, including the 1921 Convention that set new goals for international efforts to restrict human trafficking. In the year 2000, the Congress passed the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, which strengthened services to victims of violence, law enforcements ability to reduce violence against women and children, and education against human trafficking. In addition to that, the TVPA included collecting funds for the treatment of sex trafficking victims, and to provide them with food, shelter, and education. Page 9

10 C. Mexico: According to an activist group, Women United Against Trafficking, Human trafficking is believed to be the fastest-growing criminal industry in Mexico, and three-quarters of its victims are sexually exploited women and girls. In 2007, the Congress of Mexico passed a law on human trafficking. After the 2012 anti-trafficking law in Mexico, any person convicted with such crimes could spend up to 30 years in prison. However, according to the 2016 Global Slavery Index, nearly 380,000 people are believed to be enslaved in Mexico. D. Cambodia: Cambodia is a transit and destination country for human trafficking, but despite this crime the country has a worse problem that is child sex tourism. Some parents sell their children, while others believe they are taking job offers when they are actually forced into prostitution and other acts. According to a UNICEF survey, 35% of Cambodia's 15,000 prostitutes are children under the age of 16. Women are sexually exploited and are forced to work in factories or as domestic servants. The Government introduced the Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation in 2008, which criminalizes all forms of trafficking. E. Lebanon: The issue of trafficking in Lebanon is not easy to assess, yet it began to flourish since the arrival of refugees to the north and south areas of Lebanon. Lebanon signed and ratified the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially women and children in Nevertheless, according to HRW, Syrian women appear to be at particular risk of trafficking into forced prostitution and sexual exploitation in Lebanon. A series of raids in 2015 and 2016 found dozens of Syrian women being held against their will and exploited. Authorities arrested and indicted over a dozen people on sex trafficking charges in that case. VI. Hints & Tips: A. Questions to Consider: What s your country s position regarding the topic? What has your country done/can do nationally and internationally to protect rural women against sex trafficking? How can education reduce the risks of any forms of trafficking? Page 10

11 To what extent can the goals of the UNWomen protect rural women and girls around the world? How does human/sex trafficking affect the society B. Suggested sites: C. Be sure that: Use credible resources. Stay in character. You are representing your country s beliefs not your own. Be very certain about your knowledge regarding your country s position. Undergo deep research tackling all details concerning rural women and their protection against sex trafficking. Be ready to ask and answer questions. Be logical and rational when suggesting solutions. VII. Countries Represented: Africa Asia Europe Americas Central African Afghanistan Albania Australia Republic Chad Bangladesh Belarus Canada Egypt Cambodia Denmark Chile Ethiopia China France Mexico Kenya India Germany United States of America Mali Indonesia Iceland Morocco Iraq Norway Page 11

12 Nigeria Japan Russia Republic of Guinea KSA Spain Sierra Leone Lebanon Sweden Tanzania Pakistan Switzerland Palestine United Kingdom Philippines South Korea Thailand Turkey Yemen VIII. Contact Us: President: Yasmine Osta Chairs: Sallama Seifeddine & Salah Kaissi s: & IX. References Experts Focus On Eradicating Human Trafficking Among Rural Women And Girls. (2018, March 18). Retrieved July 2, 2018, from The Permanent Observer Mission Of The Holy See To The United Nations: Gomez, M. (2016, April 1). Protecting rural women human rights defenders. Retrieved July 2, 2018, from International Service For Human Rights: Guterres, A. (2017, September 27). Remarks at High-level meeting of the General Assembly on the appraisal of the UN Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons. Retrieved July 2, 2018, from United Nations Secretary-General: Herlinger, C. (2018, March 27). Un women's commision agrees on measures to empower rural women and girls. Retrieved July 2, 2018, from Global Sisters Report: Page 12

13 agrees-measures-empower-rural-women-and-girls Khazan, O. (2013, June 20). A Fascinating Map of the Worst Countries for Modern Slavery. Retrieved July 2, 2018, from The Atlantic: Larson, A. (2018, May 8). Sex Trafficking in the United States. Retrieved July 2, 2018, from Expert Law: Los, C. (2015, October 15). Sex trafficking: Remaining alert in rural and urban areas. Retrieved July 2, 2018, from The Municipal: from Malo, S. (2017, May 11). Sex trafficking, child marriages linked, study of Mexico finds. Retrieved July 2, 2018, from Reuters: from Sam, D. E. (2017, January 7). Wise Women: On Resilience. Retrieved July 2, 2018, from The Blog: Yong, P. (2011). Timeline of Human Trafficking. Retrieved July 2, 2018, from Rutgers University Campus Coalition Against Trafficking: Page 13

A Call to Action to End Forced Labour, Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking

A Call to Action to End Forced Labour, Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking This Call to Action 1 was launched on the 19 th September 2017 during the 72 nd Meeting of the UN General Assembly. It has been