trafficking in human beings by anna ekstedt (cbss task force against trafficking in human being)
TRANSCRIPT
Trafficking in Human Beings
What is Trafficking in Human Beings Causes of Trafficking Human trafficking versus Human Smuggling International trends and policy responses The work of the CBSS Task Force against
Trafficking in Human Beings
What is Trafficking in Human Beings?
Introduction
Trafficking in persons is an underreported crime
Trafficking should be seen as a process, starting with the recruitment and ending with the exploitation of the victim
Trafficking is a severe crime that violates the human rights of its many victims
The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that around 12.3 million people yearly fall victims of forced labour, whereas the United Nations (UN) estimates that around 2.5 million people are trafficked yearly
Definition of Trafficking
The UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons:“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.
The consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended exploitation shall be irrelevant where any of the above mentioned means have been used.
(The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, )
Definition of Trafficking
1. Recruitment
2. Transport
3. Harbouring
4. Receipt
Abduction or abuse of
power
Deceit and/or fraud
Exploitation
Threat of Force or Use of Force
What are the means?
What are the objectives?
ForcedLabour
SexualExploitation
Removalof Organs
Servitude
Definition of Trafficking
Children - No need for the the crime to involve any of the means set forth in the definition of trafficking in persons
Consent- rendered meaningless if any of the means have been used- can never consent to the means
Council of Europe
Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Beings.
Into force 1st of February 2008 A stronger victims rights perspective Reflexion Period Greta- Monitoring Mechanism
The Causes of Trafficking
The Causes of Trafficking
Countries of Origin:
• The most common causes are poverty, unemployment and lack of opportunities, gender inequality, marginalization and discrimination
• Political and humanitarian crises displace populations and expose the most vulnerable, usually women and children, to the designs of traffickers and criminal groups
• In many less developed regions of the world, children are entrusted to more affluent friends or acquaintances with the intention to improve their lives and relieve their families of economic burden. This practice often sends these children into the trafficking market for slavery
The Causes of Trafficking
Countries of Destination: Organized crime Demand for cheap and low-skilled labour Demand for sex services Restrictive immigration policies and laws Porous borders and/or limited border control New technologies and networks such as internet
Incentives for Traffickers
• Few risks for traffickers
- absence of legislation
- lack of strong enforcement measures
- corruption
• Few traffickers are punished while many victims are
• Huge financial profits compared with the low investment
- victims can be re-trafficked several times
Trafficking mechanisms
• The first element of the mechanism is the recruitment of the victim by traffickers or intermediaries
• Recruitment can have different forms, the most violent being the kidnapping of the victim in a situation of extreme vulnerability
• Other forms of recruitment occur through false employment offers
• Often the trafficker is already known to the victim- boyfriend, family
Trafficking mechanisms
Physical and psychological coercion are used to convince the victim to comply through out the trafficking process.
The players in the trafficking process have diverse, but important, roles to play
These players are often also active in other international organized criminal activities
Trafficking versus Smuggling
Definition of Smuggling
The UN Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants
Activity: Transportation and transfer of persons
Means: No element of force, deception, or abuse of power. In most cases, the intending migrant contacts the smuggler to request help to cross the border into another country illegally.
Purpose: Financial profit from the illegal border crossingFee for illegal services
Difference between Trafficking and Smuggling
1. Smuggling of migrants involves migrants who have consented to the smuggling whereas
Trafficking victims have either never consented or if they initially consented, the consent has
been rendered meaningless by coercive, deceptive or abusive actions of the traffickers.
2. Usually smuggling ends with the migrants’ arrival at their destination, whereas trafficking involves the
ongoing exploitation of the victims to generate profits.
3. Smuggling is always transnational, whereas trafficking in human beings can also occur within the same Country
Crime against the individual- crime against the state
1. Consent
2. Exploitation
3. Transnationality
Similarities Trafficking and Smuggling
Profitable business involving human beings Operated by criminal networks Increased cooperation between smugglers
and traffickers
International Trends and Policy Responses
International Trends on Human Trafficking
Increased internal trafficking Increased labour exploitation, begging- multiple
exploitation Trafficking in men and children increasing More refined techniques- Treatment of the victims
has changed Other mechanisms for control Production - controllers Former victims becoming traffickers
Current Policy Problems
Coordination and Cooperation of all the actors- governments, International Organisations, NGOs - Partnerships
Lack of knowledge about other forms of exploitation than sexual
No systematic collection of data on trafficking in national/global level
Legislation to address trafficking is often lacking, inadequate, or not implemented, making the prosecution of traffickers very difficult and often impossible
The corruption of governmental officials to facilitate trafficking is a serious threat to the functioning of the State in affected countries
Trafficking convictions are often based on witness and/or victim testimony. Such testimony is hard to obtain, as trafficking victims are either deported as illegal migrants or, if identified as trafficked persons, are often too frightened to testify; risk of deportation
The Three Ps + 1?
PREVENTION PROTECTION PROSECUTION
Root causes;
Awareness Raising;
Sound Migration Policies
Assistance;
Empowering Victims;
Human Rights Based
Criminalisation;
Investigation;
International Cooperation
Prevention
Information campaigns -Who is the target group? - Perception of the victim and the recruitment process,
boyfriend and family members -Increase the awareness of the population- report to the
authorities eg. Politi link in Norway -Assistance cards to foreign women and men The role of media- countries of origin and destination Education Fight poverty and discrimination Fight corruption and crime Curb the demand
Protection and Assistance
Information about alternatives- Assisted Voluntary Return Programs- The IOM?
Patience Cultural sensitivity Psychologial needs of the victims- history of abuse The individual conditions, background and
qualification- help to self help National and local conditions- avoid ”white
elephants” Support and assitance in the return process
Challenges
Victims not wanting assistance- self perception, stigma, situation the home country, lack of trust and threats
Lack of knowledge - esp. labour exploitation, removal of organs
Identification Lack of resources and working methods- cooperation
models between authorities Assitance to male victims Children’s specific vulnerable- emotional connection
to the trafficker
Address the Root Causes
poverty lack of employment and opportunities lack of education lack of equality and discrimination violence demand
Regional Cooperation: The Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS)
11 Memberstates + EU-Commission, Secretariat in Stockholm
Task Force against Trafficking in Human Beings (TF-THB) since 2006. Consists of experts from relevant ministries in the CBSS region.
Working Group for Cooperation on Children at Risk, since 2002
TF-THB: Strategic goals 2008-2010
Trainings on human trafficking for diplomatic and consular personnel – filter 1
Joint Project with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on Fostering NGO-Law Enforcement Cooperation in Preventing and Combating Human Trafficking in, from and to the Baltic Sea Region
Regional Information Campaign against Trafficking in Human Beings
Improved Data Collection and Support to Research on Human Trafficking in the Region
Comparative Regional Legal Analysis on Human Trafficking
To think about...
Interdependence – Cooperation and Increased coordination of activities to join forces and avoid duplication- partnership
Knowledge- Trainings, research on all forms of human trafficking
Victim support- Increased resources and evaluate the current models, assist all victims - women, children and men
Tackle the demand that induces trafficking in human beings
Self reflexion of the actors in anti trafficking
Thank you for your attention!
www.cbss.org/tfthb
Contact
Anna Ekstedt - Senior Adviser Secretary to the CBSS Task Force against Trafficking in Human Beings
Council of the Baltic Sea States Secretariat P.O. Box 2010SE -103 11 Stockholmt/f: +46 8 440 1934/1944 m: +46 705 11 48 64