USING ART TO CREATE AWARENESS ABOUT HUMAN TRAFFICKING: BREAKING THE BARRIERS Presented at: International Conference on Trafficking of Women and Children 3-7 September Ramada Plaza, Melaka, Malaysia By: Abid Gulzar Associate Director, Advocacy and Justice for Children World Vision International Asia and Pacific Region Contributed by: Laurence Gray (Senior Policy Advisor WVI - Asia Pacific) John Whan Yoon (Regional Manager End trafficking In Person Program WVI East Asia)
1. Introduction: Human trafficking is a criminal offense in which victims are moved or placed into slavery or slavery-like situations through the use of force, threats or deceit. Trafficking is considered a major human rights violation. In recent years, there has been growing recognition that trafficking of persons for labor exploitation is claiming an even larger number of victims than sex trafficking. It is estimated that for every trafficked person subjected to forced prostitution, nine people are forced to work. It is estimated that as many as 27 million men, women and children are trafficked at any given time. 1 When trafficking first emerged as a global issue in the mid- 1990s, the focus was almost exclusively on the cross-border sexual exploitation of women and children with little or no attention to labour trafficking. Fortunately, this is changing, although majority of the victims are women and children but males are now being acknowledged and recognized as victims of trafficking in legislation and in national responses. Though trafficking is a documented problem in all parts of the world, the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) is recognized as a priority area in Asia, where high levels of undocumented migration between the GMS countries is believed to be linked to high incidence of trafficking. Migration has shaped the GMS and brings many social and economic benefits, both for the migrants countries of origin and destination countries. With limited opportunities for safe and legal migration in the GMS, there is widespread irregular migration, creating a fertile breeding ground for the exploitation of workers. Trafficking has been said to be the perfect business. The supply of vulnerable people is constant, there are low risks of punishment or arrest, and there are high, continual profits because a victim can be exploited for years on end. In the GMS, a great number of trafficked persons end up in involuntary servitude, bonded labour, debt bondage, and/or slave-like conditions in the labour sector. They find themselves in factories and sweatshops, on farms and construction sites, in the fishing industry and in private homes. Victims are often physically and mentally abused, and lack medical treatment, health care and social services. They are forced to work to pay off inflated debts, and are generally not allowed to leave their work premises or contact anyone outside the workplace a situation that is especially dire on fishing boats. Victims of trafficking often are denied access to information or services that could help them. Mechanisms to monitor the labour sector in are generally not in place or properly implemented, allowing employers to hire local and foreign labour without proper contracts and to confiscate identity papers, while recruitment agencies forge papers to conceal the true ages of children. Victims from Asian nations have been trafficked for sex or labor purposes to other regions, and have been identified in the UK, Germany, USA, Australia, South Africa, and many others. Within Asia itself, victims from the GMS have been identified in Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, and Taiwan, while sub-regions often have trafficking routes within themselves, India being a major destination country in South Asia, while Thailand is a major destination country in the GMS. 1 Trafficking in Persons Report 2013, Department of State United States of America (page 7)
Key points: Human trafficking is a sensitive and complex issue; Human trafficking is impacting millions of people around the world. Trafficking occurs within and across the border. It is national, regional and international issue. Trafficking is happing not just because of poverty, but also due to many other social, political and cultural factors. Human beings are trafficked into sexual slavery as well as labour. Still many victims remain undetected due to the nature of the crime as well as lack of skills of the frontline law enforcement officials. A multi dimensional and integrated approach is required to eradicate human trafficking from the face of the earth. It is also very much accepted that people still lack understanding about the issue especially tactics used by traffickers. Thus, a new model of integrated trafficking prevention is required. 2. World Visions Response to Combat Human Trafficking World Vision is a Christian relief, development and advocacy organization dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice. Motivated by our Christian faith, World Vision works with the world s most vulnerable people. World Vision serves all people regardless of religion, race, ethnicity or gender. World Vision s experience in regional anti-trafficking programming since 2005 has shown that there is both a need for specialization and a need for a coordinated response. WV implemented first regional project in the GMS in early 2000. The project 2 focused on Prevention, Protection and Prosecution. Later in 2006, WV launched another regional project 3 which exclusively focused on policy advocacy. In order to maximize impact WV launched regional program End Trafficking in Persons (ETIP) Program in October 2011. World Vision s End Trafficking in Persons (ETIP) Program is a five years, multi country regional anti-trafficking program in the GMS. End Trafficking in Persons Program is the largest anti- 2 Mekong Delta Regional Trafficking Strategy Project 3 Regional Advocacy anti Child-Trafficking Project
trafficking program of its kind, and comprises three pillar projects: 1. Prevention Pillar Project 2. Protection Pillar Project 3. Policy Pillar Project End Trafficking in Persons Program is being implemented in 30 districts and reaching out to more than 210 communities in the GMS, which have been identified as source, transit and destination. TIP is working directly with community members so they themselves can build human trafficking prevention groups at the village level. These human trafficking prevention groups help children and adults in villages find out more about the dangers of trafficking and how they can be avoided, assist the most vulnerable families, and report possible trafficking incidents to government officials so that those in danger can be protected. When educating parents, children and youth, the emphasis is not only on providing information but actually changing attitudes and behaviors so that more and more young people choose safe migration options. The most vulnerable families are identified through home visitors, and proper assistance is provided to those who most need it. To enable people to easily report suspicious incidents, ETIP is setting up community watch volunteers and reporting systems so that the police and social workers can be alerted about any human trafficking cases. ETIP is helping these human trafficking prevention groups to develop strong links with government officials, such as the anti-trafficking committees at the district and provincial levels and specialist anti-trafficking police units, so that trafficking prevention efforts can be better coordinated. The ETIP Program based on a principle of integration of various components of the program to reinforce impact of each component. In order to prevent human trafficking the project has developed three pronged prevention strategy which covers: Community Prevention Systems: Build community ownership to carry out prevention activities and set up reporting systems. Children s Clubs: Create safe spaces for children and youth to learn how to protect themselves from trafficking and share what they learn with their friends. Protection of Migrants: Assist migrants to stay safe in source, transit, and destination locations.
3. Why art and theater is the best approach to create better awareness? Visual images can break barriers as many people learn better through what they can see. Breaking language barriers are easier with everyday life stories that people are familiar with or can relate to. Art is a powerful tool to build social awareness and social change. (Slide 11) It promotes communal participation especially if we use interactive art forms. Art and theatre are compelling mediums to mobilize people on sensitive issues and helps them to understand complex issues like human trafficking Key points: Through interactive techniques most vulnerable communities gain access to a medium through which they can communicate their views with the levels of society they want to change. It also provides them space to share their views with the wider community. The use of art can be impactful if young people and children are engaged to explore issues through creative and participatory group discussions and then presenting those issues through various art forms. 4. Integration of art and theater into anti trafficking efforts: The need to integrate art and theater approaches into anti trafficking programming emerged after receiving feedback from young people who participated in the Mekong Youth Forum in 2007. The Mekong Youth Forum (MYF) initiative was an inter-agency partnership between World Vision (WV), ILO, United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region (UNIAP) and Save the Children regionally. The MYF was able to engage governments at local, national and regional levels since it began in 2007. The regional forum was a first of its kind initiative, which embedded children / youth dialogue with policy makers. The dialogue session in 2007, government officials raised their eyebrows because dialogue was based on approaches used by civil society. Children shared recommendations through speeches and shared about critical issues. In 2010, all the partners agreed to revise the MYF approach and integrated art as the principle methodology for youth dialogue. With participation and empowerment of young people as one of the pillars of the anti trafficking strategy, WV developed a comprehensive strategic approach called Communication for Development known as C4D to promote voices of the community especially children from the most vulnerable groups. C4D is a development method used by World Vision partnership. It involves community-based communication activities and tools that empower children, youth and communities to participate in their own development journey and tell their own stories. In anti trafficking prevention and advocacy, children and youth used following three main art forms; Interactive theater and puppetry art Photo Voice Video short films
C4D helps children and communities learn and use communication skills for their own local purposes, such as advocating for their rights to local government, championing change within their own community, and increasing their own sense of self-worth and dignity through their ability to communicate to others. World Vision has been using C4D approaches in its development work for years, through activities like storytelling, advocacy, community radio, photography and videography, which enable valuable community learning and life skills. Each country selected art forms according to their specific contexts to promote anti trafficking messages. For instance, all countries in the GMS used physical theater but some countries also selected some other forms of art. The Myanmar program selected string puppets for training youth to promote anti trafficking messages as it was popular in the communities; China used photo voice; and Thailand and Cambodia used video technology to promote stories of human trafficking. WV also established partnerships with organizations like the Philippine Educational Theater Association and MTV Exit to empower children and youth. Slide 14 Interactive theater and puppetry art: World Vision worked with the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) 4 and other local organizations to build capacity of young people on various forms of art they can use to create awareness in the community and contribute to advocacy work. The training consists of three main components: orientation, artistry and organization. Creative Drama, Creative Writing, Visual Art, Creative Sound and Music, Creative Body Movement, and Group Dynamics were used to stimulate creativity of young people to help them explore and discover their skills and capacities as creative individuals. Although physical theater is one of the most effective medium to communicate message at the local level, children faced some challenges; Key points: Theater provides opportunities to involve communities in discussion to explore solutions to highlighted issues Highly skilled trainers are required to provide training for creation of meaningful and effective theater Longer time required to master skills Needs more time and space to perform each play Lack of resources at the community level creates hurdles e.g. children find difficulty to meet the demand of the play with available resources. 4 www.petatheater.com
Lack of time for practice before each performance. Components of PETA s Training Pedagogy; 1. The Orientation serves as the thematic and content-base of the training. It allows for participants heightened self-awareness and moves towards an understanding of the larger contextual map of their lives. Tools for critical analysis are used to dissect and draw connections between young people s rights, to the specific issue of Trafficking in Persons, and leads to an appreciation of the role of advocacy through theater. 2. The Artistry defines the method and form with which the Orientation is conveyed. It is in this component that the participants explore the communicative and mobilizing power of the integrated art approach using drama, visual art, sounds and music, writing, dance and movement. These art and specific forms appropriate to the audiences in mind serves as building blocks for the creation of awareness and advocacy pieces. 3. The Organization reflects the desired process and relationships that shall govern the conduct of the training and the production work. This component weaves the Orientation and Artistry, bringing to the fore the importance of recognizing individual as well as collective strength, and working relationships that are characterized by respect, trust and cooperation. The value of art in freeing individuals steeped in a culture of silence to realize their creative potential in the process of release, explore, make aware, select, master, and apply this potential for growth. PETA Photo Voice: See it our Way Photo project 2010 Young people speak out about the risks and root causes of human trafficking in their communities 5. World Vision China empowered young people to strengthen their capacity to use photos for sharing their views about the world around them. The main objectives of the Photo Voice initiative were; 1) Youth self confidence increases by learning how to use camera and show their view through photos; 2) Youth can learn self protection and provide peer education after being equipped with the knowledge of child rights, trafficking prevention, and safe migration. The capacity building process consists of 3 phases: Phase 1: Participatory training:. The training has three components: 1) Provide simple skills for using cameras through demonstration, games, and outdoor practice; 2) Educate youth on child protection, and trafficking prevention through photo sharing and group discussion; 3) Discuss photo exhibition details, such as: date, location, forms, and photo selection criteria. On 5 www.photovoice.org
the last day of training, photos the youth have taken during the 5-day training are showcased to teachers, friends and parents. Phase 2: The Exhibition: After the training, participating youth will have 3-4 months to take photos and prepare for the photo exhibition; WV staff will meet youth twice a month to monitor the use of cameras, collect photos, and check the quality of their work. Phase 3: Integration into field Programs: After the photo exhibition, youth who are interested in photography will continue to participate in this project. Their photos will be selected for variou:s purposes: higher-level exhibition, printing on postcard or on other promotion material for ETIP. They can also organize such exhibitions at local level with help of their schools and communities. Key Points Photographs can be a powerful tool to tell stories reflecting key issues which we see every day but may not understand the complexities within the issue. A participatory photography project brings community together to create awareness as well as take collective action by working together in designing and implementing a campaign Photographs can express the feelings of communities even on sensitive issues like human trafficking and can reach out to decision makers in a safe way Photographs tells stories of real issues faced by real people Young people find it hard to link photos to issues and advocacy messages due to lack of knowledge and capacity in developing precise messages. Video short films: The anti trafficking programming video project was launched in 2009 with a training for youth in Cambodia and Thailand. The training helped young people understand video technology and to create short films by using simple video technology and approaches. Children were selected from various communities, which have been identified as high-risk areas and were provided training on storyboard development and production of video short films. As World Vision had already trained children on theater and physical art, it was much easier for children to use video and produce short films. World Vision also partnered with MTV Exit and conducted media trainings in Cambodia and Thailand. Key Points: Technology is changing rapidly and people now have access to more media outlets. Internet access through mobile technology is opening new avenues to reach out to people Through C4D children and community members are better able to voice their own realities, their own dreams, their own journeys of change. Video technology helps to share stories of victims of trafficking without exposing them directly to external audiences It is simple, but needs training and mentoring support to produce better films
On 10th December, a group of young people from Leuk Daek a project area of World Vision Cambodia - began production of their second film about unsafe migration in their community. A twenty year old youth leader and the film s director, Hoeun Hun said, We decided to film about unsafe migration because it happens in our community and throughout the whole country. Most people migrate to Thailand and Malaysia and we think it s not safe because there are lots of brokers. Conclusion: World Vision s experience in anti trafficking programming and campaigning shows the significant impact of art and theater to create awareness about critical and sensitive issues even in restrictive contexts. Art can reach millions of people through modern technologies and create better under about critical issues. There are many forms of art, which can be used according to context and space. Each form is unique and brings unique challenges. It is important to keep in mind key messages you want to communicate, your audience and the appropriate art form to deliver your message. Through art we can communicate a simple message to a general public or a specific call to action for a particular target group. Art also provide opportunities for survivors of human trafficking in their healing process and allows them to share true stories in a safe way. Art for the purpose of awareness raising should be based on solid research. Stories of survivors always provide powerful information and messages for awareness raising purposes. Art created by the most vulnerable and survivors of trafficking are compelling and can leave a lasting impact on audiences. Your audience should be carefully selected after research on the issue. While technological advancement has opened new avenues for people living anywhere in the Youth from the See it our Way project live in communities that are source, transit and destination communities for human trafficking across the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Photographs taken by these youth in several photography workshops reveal ground-level issues from the unique, inside perspective of young people that are particularly vulnerable to trafficking. The training has enabled these atrisk young people to consider the issues more carefully themselves, while playing an active role in informing and guiding peers in their communities who are also at risk of falling prey to traffickers. Their work is informing future prevention and campaign activities by local World Vision teams and partners. http://www.photovoice.org/projects/uk/sights-unseen.
world to reach out to the world and share their views, levels of risk and insecurities has increased as well. We need to develop clear child protection procedures and assessment of risks before starting awareness building campaigns. It is important to keep children, young people and communities excited about any awareness building project, ensuing that they understand the risks and sensitivities related to human trafficking issues. God has gifted us with talent and opportunity, let s use them to save others and help restore dignity and respect to those who need it most. We can make a difference!! Reference: 1. U.S. Department of State, Trafficking in Persons Report 2010 2. Molland S. The perfect business? Traffickers, victims and anti-traffickers along the Mekong, PhD thesis, Macquarie University (Sydney, 2008). http://www.mendeley.com/research/the-perfectbusiness-traffickers-victims-and-antitraffickers-along-the-mekong-1,accessed 30 September 2010. 3. Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP). Report on the CSCAP Study Group on Human Trafficking, Discovery Suites (Pasig City, The Philippines, April 2005). 4. Department of State United States of America, Trafficking in persons Report, (June 2013) 5. World Vision International Asia Pacific Region, Regional Advocacy Anti Child trafficking Project Report (March 2010) 6. World Vision International Asia Pacific region, Mekong Delta regional Strategy Project Evaluation Report 7. World Vision International Asia Pacific region, End Trafficking in Persons Program (2011) 8. World vision International, See it our Way Photo Project (2010) http://www.photovoice.org/projects/uk/sights-unseen. 9. http://qed.princeton.edu/main/image:trafficking_of_persons,_especially_women_and_children:_so uth_east_asia_routes