New UN fund awards $300,000 to help rehabilitate victims of human trafficking

From UN News Centre:

Organizations in 12 countries that help victims of human trafficking seek justice, return home and otherwise recover from their ordeal were collectively awarded some $300,000 today in the first grant of a new United Nations fund.

“A unique approach is being employed by the UN to channel severely needed funds to survivors of the horrific crime of human trafficking,” UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Executive Director Yury Fedotov said, appealing for greater financial support for the Small Grants Facility, launched earlier this year as part of the UNODC-managed UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Human Trafficking.

“There is a critical need for increased donations so that we can step up this assistance. There is no place for human trafficking in the world and the Small Grants Facility has a role to play in eradicating this inhumane act,” he added of a $32-billion global industry, which is currently estimated to be exploiting over 2.4 million people, two-thirds of them women and children.

The 12 projects selected for the first year of the facility cover all major regions of the world and set to be rolled out in Albania, Cambodia, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, France, India, Israel, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, Moldova and the United States.

Read more

World must do better to tackle human trafficking

From the UN News Centre:

The President of the General Assembly today called for redoubled efforts to tackle human trafficking, which the United Nations anti-crime agency says is a multi-billion dollar industry and one that enslaves some 2.4 million people at any given time, many of whom are children

“Although human trafficking takes place in the dark margins of our societies, we must not ignore its presence,” Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser said in remarks to the second ministerial meeting of the Group of Friends United Against Human Trafficking.

He told the gathering, which took place on the margins of the high-level debate of the Assembly’s 66th session, that nations must work together to end this global scourge, which ranks as the world’s third most profitable crime after illicit drug and arms trafficking. 

“We must prosecute and punish the criminals involved and protect and reintegrate the victims into their communities. We must spur governments and all members of society into action to reduce the vulnerability of victims, and increase the consequences for traffickers,” he said.

The President noted that despite the proclamation in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that all humans are born free and that no one shall be held in slavery or servitude, millions of people today, the majority of them children and women, are victims of human trafficking.  

He called for redoubling efforts to ensure that the rights and freedoms of every person are upheld. 

Read more 
 

Human Trafficking on the Silver Screen: The Whistleblower

From Women's News Network:

In 1999, Kathryn Bolkovac, a single mother from Nebraska and a seasoned cop, joined the U.N. peacekeeping force in Bosnia, a country still in tumult after its brutal civil war. Her job was to investigate the sex trafficking of young women from Eastern Europe. Once she began collecting evidence from the victims she discovered that a number of U.N. officers – the very people who were supposed to be keeping the rule of law – were themselves playing part in prostitution rings.

Bolkovac told her employers, the American company DynCorp, what was going on. Instead of being lauded for her investigative acumen she lost her job. Her findings were considered bad public relations for the lucrative rebuilding effort.

After a two-year legal battle in England, where the DynCorp office that dealt with peacekeeping related contracts in Bosnia was based, a tribunal ruled that Boklovac was unfairly dismissed, thereby clearing her name.

Read the full article

Annie Lennox: Women on the Frontline, Traficking in Nepal

Women on the Frontline is a video documentary series presented by Annie Lennox that shines a light on violence against women and girls. The series takes the front to homes, villages and cities around the world where a largely unreported war against females is being waged.

Broadcast on BBC World for seven weeks in 2008, the series covers: Nepal, where thousands of women are trafficked each year; Turkey, where killing in the name of honour continues; Morocco, where women political activists who have survived torture and imprisonment testify before a government truth and reconciliation commission; the DRC, where women bear the brunt of a 10-year war in the eastern provinces; Colombia, where women have been tortured in the shadow of a guerilla war; Mauritania, where women who have been raped may go to prison; and Austria, where, under a new law, perpetrators of domestic violence are forced to leave home.

(Publishers: UNFPA, dev.tv, Austrian Development Cooperation, UNIFEM; Year of Release: 2008)

Read more about Women on the Frontline here

See more chapters from this powerful documentary series:

Afghanistan

Austria

Colombia

Republic of Congo

Mauritania

Morroco

Turkey

Human Trafficking and the EU

On October 19th, European Union marked the EU Anti-Trafficking Day. As the European Union inches closer to adopting a treaty that could, among other things, increase the EU's anti-trafficking work, it makes sense to consider the reality of trafficking in the EU as well as the EU's role in addressing trafficking as a supranational entity.

According to an article in the AFP, "the United Nations said on Sunday [October 18th] there could be around 270,000 victims of human trafficking in the European Union and urged greater efforts to combat the illegal trade." The article goes on to report that "Authorities in Europe were aware of only a tiny proportion of the victims, said the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), estimating there were 30 times more people affected than were known about."Human trafficking is also extremely underprosectued in Europe, according to the United Nations. Bernama.com cites a "report by the Press Trust of India (PTI) [on a] study that finds that fewer people are convicted for human trafficking in Europe than for less-frequent crimes like kidnapping."

While such incredible disparities between the number of victims and the number of victims identified are a universal norm around the world, action at the EU level is vital for effectively combating slavery in Europe. Near the end of October, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Special Representative for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Eva Biaudet, and the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, Ambassador Janez Lenarcic issued a statement underscoring the importance of the EU in addressing trafficking. A press release from the OSCE quotes Biaudet as saying "Fighting trafficking means having zero tolerance towards exploitation, particularly exploitation of women and children. . .If we fail to combat the increased tolerance of exploitation, the effects of the global crisis will be felt in our socio-economic development for decades to come."

The statement highlights different EU-level policies and programs that have a role in combating slavery. The report also addresses the role of the economic crisis in increasing the number of people vulnerable to trafficking, pointing to the EU's role in economic development and immigration policy, both of which impact people's vulnerability to trafficking situation. They applaud the EC Proposal for a Council Framework Decision on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings, and protecting victims for its efforts to establish an EU-level policy that focuses on victims' needs, while addressing prevention and prosecution.

The EU also hosted the Towards EU Global Action against Trafficking in Human Beings Conference in late October. Its goals were:

• "to strengthen the EU policy ands action against trafficking in a the external dimension where action previously has not been taken comprehensively,
• to contribute to development of the EU’s increasingly important partnerships with third countries and in that context a particular challenge, i.e. trafficking,
• to consult with all concerned stakeholders in view of the Action Oriented Paper,
• to collect and collate best practices and concrete proposals for action against trafficking in partnership between the ERU and third countries."

In her welcome statement to the conference, Beatrice Ask, Minister for Justice, stated "But the work done so far is not enough. We need to broaden our approach. The main purpose of this conference is to strengthen the co-operation between government administrations, international institutions and NGOs in countries of origin, transit and destination. There is a mutual dependence between us in order to effectively fight and prevent trafficking in human beings. We have to work together, and we need to step up our efforts."

Minister Ask's words are applicable to all of us involved in working to end modern-day slavery.

OSCE Special Representative launches research on human trafficking for agricultural exploitation

Eva Biaudet, OSCE Special Representative for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, speaking at the launch of a new publication on addressing human trafficking for labour exploitation in the agricultural sector, Vienna, 9 July 2009. (OSCE/Blanca Tapia)

From the OSCE:

VIENNA, 9 July 2009 - The OSCE Special Representative for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Eva Biaudet, launched a new publication on addressing human trafficking for labour exploitation in the agricultural sector in the OSCE region today.

"The paper is the first of its kind to address human trafficking for labour exploitation in the agricultural sector throughout the OSCE region. It sheds light on a sector in which workers are commonly exploited, but are often out of sight," said Biaudet.

Biaudet presented the publication along with her office's results and priorities to OSCE participating States in a mid-year address to the Permanent Council today.

The third Occasional Paper, "A Summary of Challenges on Addressing Human Trafficking for Labour Exploitation in the Agricultural Sector in the OSCE Region", is intended as a policy tool for decision makers and practitioners. It presents an analysis of labour trafficking, including through case studies, in one particular economic sector - agriculture - which according to the International Labour Organization, employs over one billion people around the world.

Agriculture is the second largest employment sector globally, with women and young people in particular working in this sector.

"This thorough analysis of the challenges in the agricultural sector aims to assist countries to identify the structural issues and deficits of this sector that cause or exacerbate a worker's vulnerability to becoming a victim of trafficking," said Biaudet.

Biaudet also discussed the next high-level Alliance conference on "Prevention of Modern Slavery: An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure", which will take place in Vienna on 14 and 15 September. The conference will present the preliminary results of research on the business model and socioeconomic causes of human trafficking to better prevent the crime.

Links
Secretariat - Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings


Full text of the Paper

Contacts
Blanca Tapia
Public Information Officer
OSCE Secretariat
Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings
Wallnerstrasse 6
1010 Vienna
Austria
Tel: +43 1 514 36 6921
Send an email

It is great to see the issue of labor trafficking, more specifically farmworker trafficking, gaining greater traction around the world. Government agencies and major international organizations like OSCE and the ILO have taken to putting together better reports and guidelines when dealing with this aspect of trafficking. Positive steps all around.

African Union starts campaign against human trafficking

From UNGIFT:

16 June 2009 - Nearly 130, 000 people in sub-Saharan countries, and 230,000 in the Middle East and Northern Africa are in forced labour, including sexual exploitation, as a result of human trafficking. These International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates paint a grim picture of human trafficking in Africa. A greater number of trafficking victims of African origin are found within the continent, while a sizeable proportion constitutes victims who are transported to Western Europe and other parts of the world, according to a recent UN.GIFT report on global trafficking in persons.

The African Union has chosen the Day of the African Child, celebrated today [June 16], to launch AU.COMMIT, an initiative to fight human trafficking in Africa. This campaign seeks to put the fight against trafficking in persons as a priority on the development agenda of the continent. It also calls on African States to build on The Ouagadougou Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings, which guides AU Member States in developing and reforming their policies and laws on trafficking in persons.

Many African countries still do not have legislation on human trafficking, or they have laws that criminalize only some aspects of human trafficking (such as child trafficking).

"Such a campaign is badly needed" says UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa. "The evidence available tells a woeful tale of how many regions of Africa are highly vulnerable to trafficking. Shockingly, in West and Central Africa, most of the perpetrators are women. Across the continent, many of the victims are children," he adds.

UNODC as the guardian of the world's anti-human trafficking instrument, innovator of the Global Initiative to fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT), and provider of technical assistance, supports the African Union initiative. UNODC also collaborates with the African Union under the framework of the implementation of the AU Plan of Action on Drug Control and Crime Prevention.

From the African Union:

I. Introduction to AU.COMMIT Campaign

Recently, the fight against trafficking in human beings has gained more prominent place in the international and regional forums pertaining to global governance. This is particularly true with regard to the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT) programme and the Blue Heart Campaign. In addition, the recent Sixth African Development Forum, jointly organized by the UN-Economic Commission for Africa, African Development Bank, and the African Union calls for the popularization and implementation of the Ouagadougou Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings Especially Women and Children (the Ouagadougou Action Plan). Similarly,the Africa-EU Strategic Partnership (Lisbon Action Plan) particularly the Africa-EU Partnership on Migration, Mobility and Employment calls for more action to combat trafficking in persons.

II. Justification

The Department of Social Affairs (DSA) of the African Union Commission (AUC) in its 2009-2012 Strategic Plan and 2008 Programme of Activities has provided several initiatives with regard to the popularization and implementation of the AU policies on migration and development, one of which is the Ouagadougou Action Plan.The AU Commission Initiative against Trafficking (AU.COMMIT) Campaign is one of the major Programme of Activities of DSA on Migration and Development for 2009-2012.

At the centre of the AU.COMMIT Campaign is the implementation of the Ouagadougou Action Plan. The Ouagadougou Action Plan urges Member States and RECs to utilize the same action plan as a reference to develop and reform their policies and laws on trafficking in persons. It also requests the AUC in consultation with the International Organization for Migration and other relevant partners, to assist Member States and RECs with its implementation and development of a follow-up mechanism. The Chairperson of the African Union Commission is also to report periodically on the implementation of the Ouagadougou Action Plan. It further calls the International Community to continue providing assistance towards the attainment of the objectives contained in the Ouagadougou Action Plan.

This concept paper provides the major components of the launch of the AU.COMMIT Campaign.

The official launch of the AU.COMMIT Campaign is to be conducted in a such a way that the messages could be heard louder than before, while raising awareness of the AU’s continued commitment towards tackling the problem of trafficking in human beings in a more strategic and programmatic manner. The launch will thus serve to communicate the overall objectives and messages of the AU. COMMIT Campaign through media and press coverage.

The AU Commission believes that through the launch of the AU.COMMIT Campaign on prevention of trafficking, protection of victims of trafficking and prosecution of traffickers, it will be able to contribute its share to the global fight against trafficking in persons.

For the general and specific objectives, participants, expected outcomes, format and activities of launch, as well as a list of working and background documents, please click here.

Putting a Price on the Cost of Forced Labor

From the VOA:

The International Labor Organization says criminals are making $20 billion a year from forced labor and that figure is substantially higher when profits from sexual exploitation are factored in. A new report launched by the ILO in Geneva finds the impact of the global economic and jobs crisis is worsening the forced labor problem.

New data from the International Labor Organization finds criminals now are making five times more in profits from forced labor than they did four years ago. At that time, the ILO reported they were making huge profits of $32 billion a year. That included $28 billion from sexual exploitation.

Roger Plant, heads the ILO's Special Action Program to Combat Forced Labor, tells VOA illicit profits from forced labor are likely to be much more now.

"In 2005, we looked at $4 billion of profits outside the sex industry. We are now saying, we have a loss to the workers of $20 billion outside the sex industry. So, we are likely to be dealing with a much more serious problem, "he said.

That would add up to $52 billion, if the profits of sexual exploitation were the same.

The ILO calls forced labor a global problem. It says this form of modern slavery operates in multinational companies in industrialized countries, not just in the informal sector of developing countries.

The U.N. agency reports more than 12 million people around the world are trapped in all forms of forced labor. Between 40 and 50 percent are children under the age of 18. Plant says child labor is a particularly serious problem in West African countries. He adds the whole issue of forced labor has not received enough attention in Africa.

"For us, forced labor is a serious crime," added Plant. "It has to be dealt with through adequate penalties and it has to be strictly enforced. Sometimes in Africa, we found that there is a strong focus on slavery. But, sometimes quite low and weak penalties for a slaver. We also have got countries in West Africa where there has been a legacy of slavery and slavery-like conditions. These are quite serious problems that need to be strictly addressed."

The report finds people are forced to work very long hours under bad conditions for no pay or very little pay in a wide range of industries. It says forced labor is appearing in electronics, automobiles and modern textiles, as well as in brick kilns, small fishing boats and backward agriculture in developing countries.

In times of economic and financial crisis, it says migrants, including young women and children are more exposed to forced labor. Under conditions of hardship, the study notes vulnerable people will take more risks than before.

Click here for the Full Report.

UN.GIFT Expert Group Initiative on Stakeholder Cooperation with Law Enforcement

From UNGIFT:

1 April 2009 - In the framework of the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT), of which the International Organization for Migration is one of the Steering Committee members, IOM Vienna hosted last Monday, an Expert Group Initiative (EGI) on Cooperation between law enforcement institutions and stakeholders to effectively combat and prevent trafficking in human beings.

The purpose of the Conference was to present, discuss and disseminate the ''Guiding Principles on Memoranda of Understanding between Key Stakeholders and Law Enforcement Agencies on Counter-Trafficking Cooperation'', developed under this Expert Group Initiative.

Some of the topics addressed were the benefits and challenges on formalized cooperation between stakeholders to counter trafficking in human beings as well as some existing practices on institutionalized collaboration at regional, national and international levels.

Formalized cooperation, such as Memoranda of Understanding (MoU), clearly identifies the driving principles of such cooperation, and contributes to the building of mutual trust and the development of a common understanding on the objectives and policies of the different parties.

While the conference generated much dialogue on a wide range of topics, discussions on the Guiding Principles took centre stage. The Guiding Principles are a practical reference tool for counter trafficking experts from law enforcement agencies and stakeholders on how to build Memoranda of Understanding on cooperation between those institutions on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings as well as on protecting the trafficked persons.

The Conference also served as a platform for counter-trafficking experts to exchange their knowledge and experience.

IOM invite all counter-trafficking actors to make good use of the Guiding Principles and will gratefully receive feedback on the Guiding Principles as well as will happily support any related counter-trafficking initiatives.

In conclusion, there was a general consensus amongst participants that MoUs will guarantee formalized continuity of cooperation and reinforced preventive and combative anti-trafficking practices.

Guiding Principles

This is a small, but targeted and specific step for international law enforcement cooperation to continue to improve. The nature of the international crime inherently requires international law enforcement cooperation in order to combat the crime effectively, but the formalization of policies and procedures between countries has been slow to develop. Hopefully with more readily accessible tools such as this, progress in the best interest of the victims and of justice can occur faster.

UNODC Global Report on Human Trafficking

From the UNODC (February 2009):

A Global Report on Trafficking in Persons launched today by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) provides new information on a crime that shames us all.

Based on data gathered from 155 countries, it offers the first global assessment of the scope of human trafficking and what is being done to fight it. It includes: an overview of trafficking patterns; legal steps taken in response; and country-specific information on reported cases of trafficking in persons, victims, and prosecutions.

At the launch of the Report in New York, the Executive Director of UNODC, Antonio Maria Costa said that "many governments are still in denial. There is even neglect when it comes to either reporting on, or prosecuting cases of human trafficking". He pointed to the fact that while the number of convictions for human trafficking is increasing, two out of every five countries covered by the UNODC Report had not recorded a single conviction.

According to the Report, the most common form of human trafficking (79%) is sexual exploitation. The victims of sexual exploitation are predominantly women and girls. Surprisingly, in 30% of the countries which provided information on the gender of traffickers, women make up the largest proportion of traffickers. In some parts of the world, women trafficking women is the norm.

The second most common form of human trafficking is forced labour (18%), although this may be a misrepresentation because forced labour is less frequently detected and reported than trafficking for sexual exploitation.

Worldwide, almost 20% of all trafficking victims are children. However, in some parts of Africa and the Mekong region, children are the majority (up to 100% in parts of West Africa).
Although trafficking seems to imply people moving across continents, most exploitation takes place close to home. Data show intra-regional and domestic trafficking are the major forms of trafficking in persons.

The United Nations Protocol against Trafficking in Persons - the foremost international agreement in this area - entered into force in 2003. The Report shows that in the past few years the number of Member States seriously implementing the Protocol has more than doubled (from 54 to 125 out of the 155 States covered). However, there are still many countries that lack the necessary legal instruments or political will.

"This Report increases our understanding of modern slave markets, yet it also exposes our ignorance", said Mr. Costa. "We have a big picture, but it is impressionistic and lacks depth. We fear the problem is getting worse, but we can not prove it for lack of data, and many governments are obstructing", he admitted. The head of UNODC therefore called on governments and social scientists to improve information-gathering and -sharing on human trafficking. "If we do not overcome this knowledge crisis we will be fighting the problem blindfolded", he warned.

In a Panel Discussion on "Exposing Denial and Benign Neglect", Mr. Costa called on governments, the private sector, and the public at large to step up the fight against trafficking in persons. "More must be done to reduce the vulnerability of victims, increase the risks to traffickers, and lower demand for the goods and services of modern-day slaves", he said.
To increase public awareness of human trafficking and rally the world to fight it, Mr. Costa appointed Academy Award-winning actress Mira Sorvino as a Goodwill Ambassador to Combat Human Trafficking. "We know that Mira's commitment to the plight of trafficking victims will move people to take action against modern-day slavery", said the Executive Director of UNODC.

Link to the Full Report (English)

ALDE Hearing on Human Trafficking

This video is a collection of statements from members of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, composed of elected Members of Parliament from different political parties of the Member States of the European Union. These national delegations cooperate together in the European Parliament as the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE). One of their campaigns is Stop Human Trafficking, and it focuses on the progress of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings and the Palermo Protocol. Currently, the Convention has been signed by 22 countries and ratified by 18.

From the OSCE:

Joint UN-OSCE meeting aims to intensify fight against money laundering and human trafficking in the Mediterranean region

LARNACA, 18 September 2008 - Helping Mediterranean countries strengthen their fight against money laundering and human trafficking and improve their co-operation in prevention efforts was the goal of a meeting that started in Larnaca today.

The two-day event is jointly organized by the OSCE, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the government of the Republic of Cyprus.

The meeting aims to inform government officials from the Mediterranean region on international standards in building an effective system to fight money laundering and human trafficking and how to better co-ordinate the fight against both crimes.

The meeting, the first of its kind, aims to help countries implement best international practices to protect their populations, meet their international obligations and improve regional and international co-operation.

"Individual countries cannot fight the double threats of money laundering and human trafficking alone," said Bernard Snoy, Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities. "Criminal groups thrive on evading detection by moving from country to country, playing the various agencies against each other. This requires co-ordinated actions by financial intelligence units and law enforcement agencies of the countries concerned."

Ruth Pojman, Deputy Co-ordinator of the Office of the Special Representative on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, added: "Anti-trafficking policies need to address factors such as the demand for cheap, socially unprotected labour and sexual exploitation. They also must focus on the economic costs of trafficking and disrupt the traffickers to create an environment where trafficking is less likely to happen in the first place."

They both said the OSCE was ready to offer assistance to the governments of the region, if requested, to help develop legislation, mechanisms, institutions and procedures to be able to effectively fight both money laundering and human trafficking.

More than 100 officials from more than 20 countries in the Mediterranean region took part in the meeting. Experts from international organisations such as the Council of Europe, the European Commission, Europol, the International Organisation on Migration and the International Chamber of Commerce, as well as state agencies, institutes and universities from Cyprus, France, Switzerland and the United States took part in the meeting.

Ukraine takes steps to curb trafficking

From the Kyiv Post:

With no money, no husband, a sick mother and two children, Natalia became an ideal target for a human trafficking network that has claimed an estimated 100,000 victims in independent Ukraine.

Natalia’s journey took the 38yearold woman from her hometown in western Ukraine, to a brothel in Western Europe for six months and back again to her native country, where she is now working at a printing house.
While Ukraine continues to be a haven for traffickers, the situation is not entirely bleak and there is progress to report.

According to a recent U.S. State Department Trafficking in Persons Report, the Ukrainian government is doing a better job of punishing convicted traffickers, both through convictions and longer prison sentences. The government is also improving its prosecution of labor traffickers, training the judiciary and carrying out prevention strategies.

However, the State Department criticized the Ukrainian government for not doing enough to help victims. A weak witness protection program and a bias against sex trafficking victims which discourages many from testifying in courts, according to the report.

For example, Natalia, which is not her real name, is afraid to press charges against the woman who deceived her and then recruited her into the network where she was sexually exploited...

From 2000 to 2008, IOM assisted 5,214 Ukrainians who were trafficked for sexual and labor exploitation.

Jeffrey Labovitz, chief of mission in Ukraine for IOM, says trafficking in Ukraine remains an “acute problem” and says the government needs to take more responsibility to decrease the number of trafficked victims.

“They need to go after the big fish,” says Labovitz, speaking about the lack of prosecution against the traffickers, who adds that weak prosecution of traffickers prevents Ukraine from getting a top ranking for combating the problem.

The organization helps victims reintegrate into society and provides them with shelter, medical, psychological, legal and job placement assistance. It also runs five centers for migrant advice throughout the country where Ukrainians can get information on workers’ rights, contract terms, visas and fraudulent schemes used to lure workers abroad.

Labovitz believes that Ukraine has, over the last few years, improved its efforts to deal with trafficking by setting up a countertrafficking department within the Interior Ministry that employs over 300 employees. He also points to the statistics and says 90 percent of Ukrainians understand what trafficking is, a significant increase over the last five years, when only 60 percent of Ukrainians knew what trafficking was, he says.

Labovitz says partnerships to reduce human trafficking are crucial. “You need the government, civic society, corporate Ukraine and international organizations working together to get the maximum effect,” he said. Joint efforts remain essential to tackling this problem and over the years more partnerships have been formed between the public and private sector.
Partnership programs between international organizations and the government have helped Ukraine rise from the Tier 2 watch list, a type of “red flag,” to Tier 2, a slight improvement...

New partnerships between the public and private sector are a recent phenomenon and more companies are climbing on board to raise awareness of trafficking. A new campaign was launched by Ukrainian oil company Galnaftogas in February 2008 that includes countertrafficking billboards at 12 OKKO gas stations in Lviv, Volyn and Zakarpattya oblasts warning travelers of human trafficking. In addition, three leading mobile companies Kyivstar, Life, MTS, have joined forces and set up a tollfree number “527” that provides information and assistance on trafficking to callers. Microsoft Ukraine has also donated software to seven nongovernmental organizations meant to train trafficked victims and help them with their job skills. MTV Ukraine has been involved by donating airtime for public service announcements informing viewers of the dangers of working abroad...

Natalia’s story

Despite a steadily improving economy that is reducing financial desperation, Natalia’s story is still all too common in Ukraine. Millions of people still remain mired in poverty or lowwage jobs in tiny villages scattered throughout the nation.

The IOM, which assisted Natalia, set up an interview between her and the Kyiv Post on the condition that her real name and other identifying information not be used. She is a woman with shortbrown hair, skyblue eyes and two gold teeth. Wearing an all-white crochet dress and a gold cross around her neck, her nails are not painted and her makeup is minimal.

Like many deceived victims, Natalia said she was destitute when a young woman approached her as she was working in a local market in her hometown. The woman asked if she was interested in working abroad.

“She promised good money,” says Natalia in a shaky voice, her mascara watering as tears begin to trickle down her face.

“This woman knew I had no money, no husband, a sick mother and two children and she knew I was desperate,” she says. Natalia was told she would work in the home of a family in a Western European nation.

It turned out to be a lie.

“When I arrived, I asked where the family was, where the washing machine was and all the other things I would need to help around the house. Suddenly a large man dressed in black threw cheap lingerie at me and said I had to work to pay off the cost of my travel, and that’s when I knew I had been trafficked. I knew I had been trafficked on the first day.”

Natalia worked with five other women from Ukraine and Moldova in a small apartment, where she was forced to service up to four men a day, she says. She worked in slavelike conditions for six months until she got pregnant and begged to be sent back to Ukraine by one of her customers, who refused to pay for an abortion. The abortion had to wait until she returned to Ukraine.

*Photo courtesy of IOM Mission in Ukraine

OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine fosters local police, NGO co-operation on anti-trafficking measures

KHMELNYTSKY, Ukraine, 16 July 2008 - The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine has launched a series of training courses for local precinct police inspectors on combating human trafficking, with the first session starting in Khmelnytsky in western Ukraine today.

The series of 72 training and networking meetings for up to 1,800 police officers will take place in 12 regions of Ukraine until October. The meetings will provide training opportunities for local level officers and facilitate their co-operation with anti-trafficking non-governmental organizations to prevent trafficking as well as to identify and refer trafficked persons.

"Through this co-operative effort with the Interior Ministry, the OSCE is assisting Ukraine to fulfil its commitments as reflected in the OSCE Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings," said Ambassador Lubomir Kopaj, OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine.

The course targets precinct police inspectors, who work to prevent crime in local communities through raising public awareness, assisting with the criminal investigations and helping people whose rights have been infringed. Much of their work is carried out in close contact with public authorities and civil society groups.

"The precinct police inspectors' service is ideally positioned to play a key role within the national referral mechanism for victims of trafficking - they work in local communities and are most likely to come in contact with potential and possible victims of trafficking," added Kopaj.

"The co-operation between anti-trafficking NGOs and community-level police will help 'rank and file' precinct police officers understand the problem and strengthen their outreach work. We have developed a specialized training programme for this branch of the Ukrainian police force in order to ensure their inclusion in the national anti-trafficking effort."

During the first stage of the project, which is implemented in partnership with the Interior Ministry, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine also conducted one-day training courses for the heads of regional and district Precinct Police Inspectors Services.

The training sessions are funded by the Danish Foreign Ministry as part of the Danish Programme Against Human Trafficking in Eastern and South Eastern Europe.

OSCE Project Coordinator in Ukraine

Working with law enforcement has been one of the more active areas of the OSCE's anti-trafficking efforts in Ukraine this year. During interviews with several Ukrainian NGOs that carry out victim reintegration programs, there was an expressed concern about the relationship between law enforcement and victims. Although victim identification by law enforcement is on the rise and cooperation between NGOs, IOs, and law enforcement is improving under programs such as these, there is still an overwhelming mistrust for law enforcement by victims. At least three of the NGOs interviewed will be taking part in the OSCE project.

'Naked facts' help combat human trafficking in Serbia

From the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe:

On 5 June, a new kind of public awareness campaign to fight human trafficking was launched by the OSCE Mission to Serbia and its local partner ASTRA, a non-governmental organization (NGO) devoted to the cause.

This summer's 'Naked Facts' campaign encourages people to be cautious and aware, and to report any trafficking cases they may know something about.
Since 2001, the OSCE Mission has been helping the country to prevent people from falling prey to traffickers. It has supported the development of a national strategy to combat human trafficking as well as a victim protection mechanism, and has been working intensively with various groups of professionals in their efforts to fight trafficking.

'Naked Facts'

But what makes this campaign stand out are its visuals. "To draw attention to the cause and to challenge the cliché that naked women are an acceptable part of marketing, the images show seven well-known Serbian men who are almost naked," says the Mission's Acting Spokesperson, Ivana Jovanovic.

The men featured on the posters, billboards and TV spots are Zeljko Bodrozic, a well-known journalist, Jugoslav Cosic, a TV presenter and journalist known for his uncompromising attitude towards scandals in Serbia, and Dejan Anastasijevic, known for his investigative writing on both organized crime and war crimes.

Also shown are Milutin Petrovic, the campaign's director, Ivan Tasovac, director of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, Branislav Lecic, actor and former Minister of Culture in Zoran Djindjic's Government, and Vukasin Markovic, actor and front man of a popular Serbian reggae band.

Not just a country of transit

"Serbia has predominantly been a country of transit for victims of human trafficking," says Madis Vainomaa, the Mission's Human Rights Programme Co-ordinator. "In recent years, however, it has become mainly a country of origin, with most victims being trafficked internally.

"In 2007, the State Agency for the Coordination of Protection of Victims of Trafficking identified 60 trafficking cases, including 51 women, 9 men and 26 children.

"The cases identified so far in 2008 also confirm the disturbing fact that Serbia has an increasing number of child victims. Most are cses of sexual exploitation, but forced labour and forced begging are also found."

Previous awareness campaigns have led to an increase in the number of calls to ASTRA's SOS hotline, and as a result, more trafficking victims have been identified and assisted in the last six years.

"Campaigns have been successful in the past," says ASTRA President Marija Andjelkovic, "but their long-term effect depends on the political climate. It is important for the authorities to continuously acknowledge that human trafficking is one of the most profitable organized crimes and that they must do everything possible to tackle it."

Reaching out at the right time

The campaign, which will run until the end of the year, includes TV spots and accompanying radio jingles that will be broadcast in June and September 2008, when young people, for instance, set out to look for seasonal jobs or go on vacation. In addition, billboards and posters will be displayed in selected cities around Serbia.

Leaflets will be distributed to schools, encouraging younger people to be cautious of job, education and travel offers, and advising them to contact ASTRA for free advice. They can, for example, get a background check on particular job ads. The flyers will also explain who could be human traffickers, who are at risk of becoming victims and what they can do to protect themselves.
"Through previous campaigns, the Serbian public has become familiar with the problem, and both citizens and the state seem generally less tolerant of violence then a few years ago," says Andjelkovic. "With this campaign we want to stress that at the beginning of the 21st century we cannot tolerate any form of slavery.

"We need to remind them that women are not meat, children are not slaves and people are not a commodity. These are just the naked facts."

IOM Launches Anti-Trafficking Campaign in Kenya

Kenya - IOM has launched a six-month nationwide public information campaign to combat human trafficking in Kenya.

The campaign, which uses the slogan "People are Not for Sale. Beware of Human Trafficking," is funded by Norway and Canada and will be implemented in partnership with the government, media and local NGO partners.

"The campaign will include a series of three-minute infomercials broadcast in Kiswahili, the national language, before four prime time news bulletins on Kenya Broadcasting Service," says IOM Kenya Counter-Trafficking Programme Officer Alice Kimani.

"National television will also televise a court drama on human trafficking in its popular Vioja Mahakamani programme. And IOM will get other TV and radio spots where listeners can call in and ask questions about human trafficking," she adds.

The campaign will also work with NGO and other partners to develop and distribute Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials, organize stakeholder forums and train government counterparts to raise public awareness and encourage people to report cases of human trafficking.

IOM is also helping the Ministry of Labour to set up a website, where counter-trafficking information will be posted. The website will offer advice to potential labour migrants on how to avoid becoming victims of trafficking and details of whom to contact if they become involved with traffickers.

Kenya is a source, transit and destination country for human trafficking. People are trafficked both internally and internationally. Internal trafficking is mostly from rural to urban areas for domestic work, sexual exploitation and agricultural work.

International trafficking destinations include Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, mostly for domestic work and sexual exploitation.

Girls are also trafficked to Kenya from Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi for sexual exploitation and from Tanzania for agricultural and domestic work. Trafficking victims from South East Asia, Pakistan and Ethiopia transit through Kenya en route to South Africa and Europe.

For further information please contact:

Alice Kimani

E-mail: akimani@iom.int

or

Rose Ogola

IOM Kenya

Tel: +254 20 4444 174/167

E-mail: rogola@iom.int

Egyptian Law Enforcers Training on Protecting Victims of Trafficking

From the International Organization for Migration:

Egypt - A three-week long training for Egyptian law enforcers begins this weekend which will better help them to tackle human trafficking in the country and to assist victims of trafficking.

The training by IOM, in coordination with the Egyptian Ministry of Interior for 20 officials will also tackle other forms of irregular migration, including human smuggling.

During their training, which is funded by the US State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (G/TIP), law enforcers will review international and domestic legal instruments on migration in general, and on irregular migration and human trafficking in particular.

Amongst other things, they will also learn how to identify and assist trafficked victims appropriately, how to manage professionally those that cooperate as witnesses with the Egyptian criminal justice system and how to apply up-to-date methods to investigate and prosecute traffickers.

Other resources:

UNODC's Toolkit to Combat Trafficking in Persons, which includes a section for law enforcement and prosecution.

Human trafficking awareness workshops in Trinidad and Tobago

From the Trinidad Express:

The Government of Trinidad and Tobago is working with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to increase awareness of human trafficking, as it becomes more prevalent locally and regionally.

Amy Mahoney, project coordinator of the Counter Trafficking Unit of the IOM, spoke recently of the training workshops the organisation had already conducted and planned to continue conducting on human trafficking.

She said various groups, including immigration officers and non-governmental organisations, had already been sensitised to the issues as they relate to trafficking and how to deal with information received on trafficked people.

Mahoney explained the difference between human smuggling and human trafficking.

"Trafficking in persons includes three inter-dependent elements: the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons by means of threats, force, coercion, abduction, fraud or deception for the purpose of exploitation through the use or sale of the victim to benefit the trafficker."

Whereas with human smuggling, there is no deception as to what the person is getting into. They pay the smuggler for his service and there and there is no exploitation of the person for the gain of the smuggler.

"You need to be very careful in your reporting of human trafficking because if the last element of exploitation is not present, it cannot be considered or classified as trafficking."

Media representatives were advised that people who are exploited by traffickers are not criminals, but rather victims of a crime.

Mahoney said the IOM was at present working with the Government to formulate legislation on human trafficking, as well as taking steps toward the development of a coalition between the Government, local NGOs and itself to deal with trafficking in the country.

This is an interesting development in the partnership between the IOM and the government of the country. According to the section on Trinidad and Tobago in the 2007 Human Rights Report of the U.S. State Department:

The government had not designated a specific agency to combat trafficking in persons, and it sponsored no public awareness campaigns to address this issue during the year. The government continued to cooperate with the International Organization for Migration, which began a Strengthening Technical Capacity (STC) project. The STC's goal was to bolster capabilities of the Immigration Division and other law enforcement agencies. Domestic NGOs were available to provide care and protection to trafficking victims.

New Yorker Special on Trafficking

From The New Yorker:

The upcoming May 5th edition of the New Yorker features a lengthy article entitled, "The Countertraffickers: Rescuing the victims of the global sex trade." on trafficking in Moldova. This article is extremely useful to learn more about the many facets of trafficking and the response to trafficking. The main focus of the story is the work of a reintegration specialist for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Moldova and her tales of success and challenge in her years of work on this issue.

Rotaru, who is twenty-six, works for the International Organization for Migration, a group connected to the United Nations, in Chisinau, Moldova. She is a repatriation specialist. Her main task is bringing lost Moldovans home. Nearly all her clients are victims of human trafficking, most of them women sold into prostitution abroad, and their stories pour across her desk in stark vignettes and muddled sagas of desperation, violence, betrayal, and sorrow.

Her allies and colleagues in this work are widely scattered. An ebullient Dubai prison officer named Omer, who calls Rotaru "sister," has been a help. So have Russian policemen, an Israeli lawyer, a Ukrainian psychologist, an Irish social worker, a Turkish women's shelter, Interpol, and various consulates and embassies, as well as travel agents, priests, and partner organizations, including an anti-trafficking group called La Strada, which has offices downstairs from Rotaru's and a dedicated victims' hot line.

The article does go on to introduce the reader to some of these colleagues. The article also provides a bigger picture of human trafficking and responses to it.

There are roughly two hundred million migrants today - migrants being defined as people living outside their homelands. The reasons for this are globalization, and wars, and new border freedoms, and, above all, disparities in economic opportunity. Along the nether edge of the huge movement of people, human trafficking thrives.

Migrant smuggling is different from trafficking. Migrants pay smugglers to deliver them, illegally, to their destinations. The line into trafficking is crossed when coercion and fraud are used. (This line is not always clear, and many migrants endure varying degrees of mistreatment.) Trafficking can start with a kidnapping. More commonly, it starts with a broken agreement about a job promised, conditions of work, or one's true destination. Most victims suffer some combination of threats, violence, forced labor, and effective imprisonment. The commercial sex industry, according to the International Labor Organization, absorbs slightly less than half of all trafficked labor worldwide. Construction, agriculture, domestic service, hazardous industries, armed conflict, and begging are some of the other frequent sites of extreme, illegal exploitation.

Not all trafficking is international. India, for instance, has an immense domestic network, with large numbers of children being sold and resold, for labor and household servitude and prostitution. No reliable numbers exist, though. For cross-border trafficking worldwide, estimates range from half a million people annually to several times that figure.

The article also takes time to point out the difficulties facing organizations trying to work with victims including domestic violence, psychological problems, risks of re-trafficking, mistrust of authorities, victim-blaming, etc. All of this comes out in detail through interviews with various people, organizations, and victims. As well, the article points out that awareness can only do so much to prevent people from becoming victims. Even is a victim is aware of the problem, they often feel it is somehow distant from them or that it won't happen to them personally. This is also the case with former victims who decide to go abroad again: they think they're smarter now and can avoid any such situation.

One victim's story is also quite important for breaking the notion that it is just uneducated, poor people who are tricked into trafficking:

Were all her beneficiaries from broken, violent, alcoholic, impoverished families?

"Not at all," she said. "We received a call from one of our embassies last year. A girl from a prominent family had been trafficked. They wanted to keep the case quiet, of course. So this tragedy happened to her, but she has good parents. Bright future. Not like most girls."

The only area the article doesn't really cover is labor trafficking, child trafficking or trafficking of men. Obviously, as the title suggests, the article is meant to explain more about women caught up in the global sex trade. However, organizations like the International Organization for Migration also deal with the growing field of labor and child trafficking. In fact, it has been found that sometimes the two areas are overlapping and people are trafficked for both sex and labor. Also, especially women and children, are at risk of sexual abuse if they are trafficked for labor.

One area that does graze the issue of child trafficking are the risks of "social orphans" or children who are missing parents because the parents have gone abroad. This is also a major issue for Ukraine. For the most part, no one knows what happens to these children once they leave the orphanages.

The article follows the trail and structure of organized traffickers, delving into areas of corruption and poor attitudes among law enforcement, courts, and government ministries that only fuel the problem.

If you do not have time to read the article right away, there is an audio clip interviewing the author about the article with some of the interesting pieces there.

Kangaroo Courts, Trafficking & Corruption

Leandro Despouy, the special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, seen here in 2006, expressed concern about the trial and sentencing in Bangladesh of a fellow UN expert on corruption charges.

UN investigator of human trafficking hit with corruption charges

From the Agence France-Presse:

Sigma Huda, who served as the UN special rapporteur on human trafficking, was sentenced to three years in jail by a Bangladeshi anti-graft court on corruption charges, along with her husband who was a former minister.

Leandro Despouy, the special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, said in a statement that he had "received information indicating that the right to legal representation and the independence of the (Bangladeshi) court were severely affected" during Huda's trial.

"The atmosphere during the trial was reportedly intimidating, with military and police presence both outside and inside the courtroom," Despouy added.

Read the full article