A Troubling Global Phenomenon: An International Response to Human Trafficking Katie Vujea { FOR SALE }

What is Human Trafficking? Traffickers’ Methods Promise of a better life “Job” offers Kidnapping Target children  Tell parents they can take the children to people who can provide for them  Approach parents in dire economic straits and offer to buy children Causes Economics  Two-fold Subordination of Women  Cultural  Governmental Types of Trafficking Sex trafficking Forced labor Bonded labor Organ harvesting Child Soldiers

Global Governance Brussels Act: 1890  Established a monitoring mechanism to control slave trade Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic of Women and Children:1947  Calls for regulations, but weakened due to its vagueness

Global Governance Cont… GA Resolutions  49/166 (1995) De facto definition through condemnation  53/111 (1998) Established an ad hoc committee to combat organized crime. This committee drafted the Convention Against Organized Crime and three additional protocols: including the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons—Especially Women and Children

Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons 3 purposes  To prevent and combat trafficking in persons paying particular attention to the protection of women and children  To protect and assist victims of trafficking, with full respect for their human rights  To promote cooperation among State Parties in order to meet [the first two] objectives Source: Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Chapter I Article 2

Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Cont… Definition  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.

Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Cont… Detailed requirements/suggestions  Criminalization of the act (Ch I Art. 5)  Acceptance of responsibility to assist and protect victims’ rights (Ch II Art. 6)  Calls for policies, programs, and other measures to prevent trafficking (Ch III Art. 9) Provides a definition (Ch I Art. 3)  Issues during drafting of def.: “irrespective of the consent of the person” Prostitution as a separate endgame

Analysis of Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Cont… Good to have kept out “irrespective of the consent of the person”  Keeps morality out of the issue Document as a whole not as strong as it could have been—many recommendations rather than requirements  Uses phrases such as “shall consider,” “where appropriate,” “shall endeavor” Promotes sovereignty but renders many operatives useless.

Other Pieces of Governance Many pieces of governance that indirectly address human trafficking  Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women and its Optional Protocol (1979)  Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocol(1989)  Slavery Convention (1926)  The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998)

UN Global Initiative to Fight Trafficking Launched in March 2007 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Managed in cooperation with the International Labour Organization (ILO); the International Organization for Migration (IOM); the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR); the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Three Goals  Build Awareness  Broaden the knowledge base of data, facts and statistics on global trafficking  Step up technical assistance

UN GIFT—The Vienna Forum February 2008 Participants: IGOs, NGOs, governments, academia, the private sector and the entertainment industry Focus on factors that make people vulnerable to human trafficking, the impact of this crime on victims, and innovative ways to fight human trafficking.  The Role of the Media in Building Images  Corruption and Human Trafficking  Supply Management, Eliminating the Risks of Forced Labor and Trafficking

NGO Initiatives NGO involvement  Providing technical assistance/ implementation services  Disseminating information  Mobilizing people  Monitoring the current climate  (See chart)

Examples of NGO Efforts GAATW  GAATW applies a Human Rights Based Approach to address trafficking issues  Member Organizations meet every three years to review and analyze their work, and decide on priorities for the next three years  effecting change at the local level through its members and allies, and internationally through its secretariat

Examples of NGO Efforts The Ricky Martin Foundation—People for Children  Much smaller focuses on children Many efforts in Puerto Rico but does not ignore the international community  Helps to syndicate Public Service Announcements, and support other programs geared toward the elimination of sex trafficking, debt bondage, forced labor, and sex slavery through sponsorship

Other Initiatives Individual state commitment  New legislation—US Trafficking in Persons Act (2000) US Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report Collaboration between NGOs, governments, IGOs, individual officials, victims etc 4 tiers—check a state’s progress on trafficking

Conclusion Trafficking is still a huge problem Significant progress will be made if governments cooperate with NGOs and sign, ratify, and follow international documents