Human Rights & Human Trafficking

1. Define the Issue
• What rights are being violated?
Human Trafficking is a crime against humanity. It involves an act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harbouring or receiving a person through a use of force, coercion or other means, for the purpose of exploiting them. Every year, thousands of men, women and children fall into the hands of traffickers, in their own countries and abroad. Trafficking is defined as 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.
• Where in the world is this occurring?
Currently, the regions of the world with the most severe trafficking problems are Southeast Asia, South Asia, the former Soviet Republics, but every country in the world is involved in the web of human trafficking. Most of the victims come from poorer countries, which serve primarily as ‘source countries’ or countries of origin. Richer nations, such as the US, Australia, or Japan, are primarily ‘destination countries’, where victims are taken to. Many countries serve as ‘transit countries’, where victims are held temporarily en route to destination countries. For example, many women from the former Soviet republics are trafficked to the US through Mexico. Israel is another transit country for people sold into Europe. The FBI estimates that as many as 18,000 are trafficked into the US each year, to work in brothels, strip clubs, nail salons and massage parlors, or as domestic servants, nannies, and farm laborers. People can also be trafficked within their home countries, often from rural areas to large cities. Trafficking can be transnational, meaning across country borders, or internal, meaning within one country. For examples, children who are commercially sexually exploited in the US are defined by the US government as trafficking victims, even though they have not been taken across borders.

• What are the statistics regarding the issue?

An estimated 2.5 million people are in forced labour (including sexual exploitation) at any given time as a result of trafficking1
Of these:
• 1.4 million – 56% - are in Asia and the Pacific
• 250,000 – 10% - are in Latin America and the Caribbean
• 230,000 – 9.2% - are in the Middle East and Northern Africa
• 130,000 – 5.2% - are in sub-Saharan countries
• 270,000 – 10.8% - are in industrialized countries
• 200,000 – 8% - are in countries in transition2
161 countries are reported to be affected by human trafficking by being a source, transit or destination count3
People are reported to be trafficked from 127 countries to be exploited in 137 countries, affecting every continent and every type of economy4 The majority of trafficking victims are between 18 and 24 years of age An estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked each year 95% of victims experienced physical or sexual violence during trafficking (based on data from selected European countries) 43% of victims are used for forced commercial sexual exploitation, of whom 98 per cent are women and girls 32% of victims are used for forced economic exploitation, of whom 56 per cent are women and girls
• What are the causes of the issue?
There are many causes of human trafficking. UNICEF argues that the causes are poverty, little education, lack of awareness of trafficking, family conflict, the higher importance of men in some countries’ society and the lesser value of women, and the open, shared and difficult-to-police border between some countries. The UN Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking argues that many of the causes are socio-economic, such as difficulty finding employment in rural and remote areas, lack of awareness, and low education level.
• Case Study
Vietnamese men, women, and girls are trafficked for sexual and labor exploitation in Cambodia, the People's Republic of China, Thailand, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the Czech Republic for commercial sexual exploitation. Women and men are trafficked for forced labor as factories and construction or as domestic servants. Vietnamese trafficking victims are recruited through fraudulent marriages, false promises of employment, licensed and unlicensed migrant labor recruiting agencies. Many Vietnamese women and girls are trafficked through Dong Tham, An Giang, and Kien Giang to Cambodia for sexual exploitation. In 2004, Cambodian police estimated that more than 50,000 girls were in brothels through Cambodia, many of whom were Vietnamese. The World Human Rights Organization and UNICEF estimate that one-third of the prostitutes in Cambodia are under the age of 18, the majority of whom are Vietnamese. Vietnamese women are also recruited through fraudulent marriages. The Vietnamese Government estimates that approximately 10 percent of the arranged marriages with Chinese men may have become trafficking victims. Many women are raped and abused by their husbands and in-laws. In some cases, they are sold off to other men. A Vietnamese NGO estimated that the average age of Vietnamese trafficking victims was between 15 and 17; other NGOs have estimated lower ages. There are no reliable estimates on the number of Vietnamese who are trafficked but Chinese police stated that they rescued more than 1,800 trafficking victims on the China-Vietnam border between 2001 and 2005.

2. Action Plan
• What needs to be done to stop it, and what can we do?
- Be an informed consumer by finding out where products come from and the conditions of those who make them before you buy. Choose products that adhere to fair trade principles and support vulnerable communities. Don't buy products you suspect are made in sweatshops or by child labor. Don't support businesses known to exploit people.
- Keep your eyes and ears open for evidence of human trafficking or enslavement.
Warning signs can be: evidence of physical restraint or assault, such as suspicious bruising; an overly controlling boss; accommodation or workplaces locked from the outside while occupied; a person whose identification and/or travel documents and/or money is held by someone else for no clear reason; someone who works for little or no pay; a person who is always fearful and anxious; and other more obvious clues.
- Keep up to date on news reports regarding human trafficking issues around the world.
- Tell your friends, family and community leaders about human trafficking and its impacts. Ask them to join you in taking action to prevent it.
- Support anti-trafficking organizations by donating and attending meetings.

• Why should we care?
We are privileged to live in a country like Canada, where we are free to control our lives and not fear being sold or captured. Being a young female, hearing about the stories where your own family could sell you to become a prostitute, or even be born into the business, is extremely mortifying to hear. How people can even live with themselves after doing this to innocent children boggles my mind. These children being sold or born into this trade are innocent people that deserve the same rights as everybody else.