What is human trafficking?
Human trafficking is the trade of human beings for the purpose of forced labour, sexual exploitation or illegal profits. It usually involves the use of violence, fraud or coercion to recruit, hide and transport people illegally.
Fast facts:
- State departments estimate that there are 2-4 million people trafficked each year, and this is considered a conservative figure
- 800, 000 people are trafficked over international borders each year: 80% are women, 50% are children
- The UN's Protocol to Protect suggests that the number of victims of human trafficking at any given time is 12.3 million
Why are people still being trafficked?
1. People are often lured into an industry through false promises. They voluntarily enter the workforce but are deceived about the conditions of their work. Many have left their homes because they want to change their lifestyle. Political repression and lack of work drive them to try to find opportunities and a better life abroad.
2. Poverty also tends to fuel human trafficking. Family members will sometimes sell a female member in order to get cash. A woman or girl can cost anywhere from US$100–900. These women and girls must then work off the debt that they have acquired. This debt includes costs of food, shelter and other expenses and can take years to settle.
3. Children who may have been victims of family breakdown or homelessness are subjected to the sex industry as a means of economic survival.
4. Many women and children trust travelling visitors who promise a high paying job in a developed area. These women leave their home and families in search of opportunities and money, but when they arrive in a new city they find they don’t have a choice but to carry out an exploitative job that they are forced into.
Where is this happening?
Human trafficking is a global issue. No country is immune to this growing concern, including highly developed nations such as America and Australia. However, the problem is getting worse much faster in some areas, including:
- Central and Eastern Europe
- Russia
- Thailand
- Philippines
- Lebanon
- Saudi Arabia
- Nigeria
- Uganda
- Japan
Why don’t victims escape?
Many victims try to escape but it is very difficult for them to leave their situation. If caught, their punishment can be horrific: beating, rape or death. Also, victims often have no money, passport, family or friends—no way to escape and nowhere to escape to.
What happens to the victims of human trafficking
Victims can suffer on both a physical and psychological level which results in a decline in health. HIV/AIDS is very common because victims have no means of protecting themselves. A study showed that almost 40% of victims found in Cambodia are HIV positive due to forced and unsafe sex.
Trafficking in Australia
According to Humantrafficking.org, a small number of women and children are trafficked to Australia every year from regions in Southeast Asia, South Korea and China. Some women come voluntarily in order to work in both legal and illegal brothels, while others are forced or deceived into coming. Project Respect, an Australian non-government organisation, suggests that Australia is a trafficking destination is partly because of the lack of Australian women willing to go into prostitution.
What’s being done?
Domestically:
In 2003, the Commonwealth Government announced a $20 million package to combat human trafficking. Since 2004, the police have investigated 112 suspected cases of human trafficking and have successfully charged 22 people for the crime. During the prosecution process, the Australian Government provides the victims of human trafficking with support and some social services.
The Australian government has anti-human trafficking agreements with Cambodia, Burma, Laos, and Thailand. The government is also a chair and co-founder of the Bali Process of People Smuggling. More information can be found at
http://www.baliprocess.net/.
In 2002, the Minister for Foreign Affairs established an official position called the Ambassador for People Smuggling Issues. Today that role is held by Michael Potts, who works closely with the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs and other Australian agencies. His job is to lead Australia's efforts to improve regional cooperation against people smuggling and trafficking.
Internationally:
The challenge for all countries is to target the criminals who organise human trafficking schemes by exploiting desperate people. In March 2007, the
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) formally launched a Global Initiative to fight Human Trafficking. This means that UNODC help States around the world to draft laws and develop anti-trafficking strategies. UNODC also assists with resources so that the policies can be properly implemented.
The biggest international milestone to date has been the adoption of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking In Persons, Especially Women and Children. So far 110 countries have signed and ratified the document, but it is proving difficult to convert the theory into reality.
This page was updated by kate elise
How do I know this?
Anti-Slavery Project http://www.antislavery.org.au/solutions/policy.html
Armstrong, Luke, ‘Current human trafficking crisis’, 27 May 2008
http://internationalaffairs.suite101.com/article.cfm/current_
human_trafficking_crisis
‘The Bali Process’
http://www.baliprocess.net/
Humantrafficking.org,
http://www.humantrafficking.org.au
‘International organizations, legal and environment’,
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade http://www.dfat.gov.au/dept/annual_reports/04_05/
performance/1/1.1.7.html
‘Japan: Comfort Women’s Speaking Tour’,
Amnesty International http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/japan-%E2%80%98comfort-women%E2%80%99-european-speaking-tour-20071031
Project Respect,
http://www.projectrespect.org.au/
UNICEF, Trafficking and sexual exploitation,
http://www.unicef.org/protection/index_exploitatio...
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Trafficking in Human Beings,
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/trafficking_human_being...
‘UNODC and human trafficking’, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human- trafficking/index.html
Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia, Trafficking in human beings,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking
