Trafficking of women for sexual exploitation

Trafficking of women for sexual exploitation

Ângela Medina

Masters in Criminology

Summary:

The Human Trafficking

Trafficking woman for sexual exploitation

 Locate Portugal in the human trafficking map;

Small discription about the women victims

Ways of protecting these victims

The Portuguese Law

Assistence by NGO’s

2 Trafficking of women for sexual exploitation

The Human Trafficking

Warsaw Convention - article 4.

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“Trafficking in human beings” shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the treat 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.

Trafficking of women for sexual exploitation

The Human Trafficking

Portuguese Penal Code – art. 160.

Who offering, giving, recruit, solicit, accept, transport, harbors or receives a person for purposes of exploitation, including sexual exploitation, labor exploitation, begging, slavery, organ harvesting or exploitation of other criminal activities : a) Through violence, kidnapping or serious threat; b) Through deceit or fraudulent misrepresentation; c) With abuse of authority resulting from a hierarchical relationship of dependency, economic, family or work; d) Taking advantage of mental incapacity or of a position of particular vulnerability of the victim, or e) Upon obtaining consent from the person who has control over the victim;

4 Trafficking of women for sexual exploitation

The Human Trafficking

2 - who, by any means, recruit, solicit, transport, harboring or receipt proceed to the lowest, or deliver, offer or accept, for purposes of exploitation, including sexual exploitation, labor exploitation, begging, slavery, organ harvesting, adoption or operation of other criminal activities;

5 - Who, for payment or other consideration, offer, give, solicit or accept less, or obtain or provide consent for its adoption,

 6 - Who having knowledge of the commission of a crime provided for in paragraphs 1 and 2, use the services or bodies of victims;

 7 - Who withholds, hiding, damaging or destroying of identity and travel

documents in person a victim of crime.

5 Trafficking of women for sexual exploitation

The Human Trafficking

Annual Report of Human Being Traffic (2012) of the

Portuguese Human Trafficking Observatory (OTSH), have been identified:

23 crimes of trafficking in persons;

94 crimes of Pimping and child pornography;

10 crimes of association of aid to manpower illegal;

4 crimes of raising labor illegal;

85 crimes of marriage for convenience;

93 crimes of assisting illegal immigration;

1985 other illegal immigrants.

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Trafficking of women for sexual exploitation

 Portugal is one of the destination countries of Trafficking of women for sexual exploitation.

Factors for the occurrence of these situations

Reduced social visibility (favored by the social shadow of the victims and the use of means of domination);

Lack of collective consciousness of the problem;

Culture of fear (treats and physical assaults);

Document retention;

Fear of police;

Illegality situation.

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Trafficking of women for sexual exploitation

According to Kelly and Regan, there are different levels of victimization to which different types of victims:

1.º level: total coercion.Victims are abducted;

2.º level: woman deceived with promises of employment than prostitution;

3.º level: woman know they will work in the sex industry but not in prostitution;

 4.º level: woman know that they will work at prostitution but they end up exploited.

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Trafficking of women for sexual exploitation

Who are these victims?

In Portugal, most of the identified victims are from Brazil,

Eastern Europe (Romanian and Ukrainian), Africa, Nigeria end

Ghana.

They are young woman, under 35 years old.

 Come from vulnerable social contexts, with strong economic weakness and with dependents, especially children.

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Trafficking of women for sexual exploitation

In 2012, have been signalized

 81 cases of Human trafficking,

 with 125 potential victims,

25 of them for sexual exploitation and 3 for labor and sexual exploitation.

Have been confirmed 4 cases of Human trafficking for sexual exploitation.

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Trafficking of women for sexual exploitation

Principal Characteristics of the identified victims:

Woman,

 both married like unmarried;

 between 22 and 32 years;

Brazilian;

Most legal in the country;

Recruited by Brazilian;

Deceived with promises of work;

Controlled by direct and indirect threats and movement control.

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Ways of protecting these victims:

On the Portuguese legal system we have:

The protection law of witnesses in criminal process;

Residence permit to victims of trafficking in human beings or action to facilitate illegal immigration;

Granting of residence permits to foreign citizens identified as victim of trafficking in human beings;

System of declaration for future memory;

 Possibility for victim to be informed of the release or escape of the accused or convicted.

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Ways of protecting these victims:

In Portugal there is a Shelter and Protection for women victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation and their children (CAP), located in Oporto, adopting a system of

Rehabilitation,

 Repair, and

Reintegration of the victims.

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14 Trafficking of women for sexual exploitation

THE END