Session 1
What is Trafficking in Persons?
Facts and figures
 Broad estimates of annual cross-border trafficking
incidents as high as 4 million with half of them originating in
South and South East Asia.
 UNICEF reports1.2 million children trafficked every year for
prostitution, forced marriage, domestic service, exploitative
labor and begging.
 1999 Estimate: 20 million people are sold into debt
bondage. The current estimate for Asia-Pacific is 9.5 million.
 Debt bondage is a frequently used means to force labour
in Asia, and forced labour is a common purpose of trafficking.
 The precise numbers of internally trafficked are even more
difficult to obtain
More facts and figures
Sexxual
exploitati
on, 79%
Other,
3%
Force
Labour,
18%
Victim profiles in 61
countries 2006
More facts
• Trafficking for forced labour is less easily
detected than trafficking for sexual exploitation
for three reasons:
• 1) Insufficient legislation covering the
phenomenon.
• 2) The public bias towards trafficking dominantly
viewed as directly connected to sexual
exploitation.
• 3) Visibility bias: sexual exploitation is very
visible, while victims of forced labour are often
hidden from the public eye.
In the asia context
• Broad variations within the Asian continent:
• South-East Asia is world’s largest source as well as
destination region for victims of sexual and labour
exploitation.
• Trafficking in minors is more significant in some
Mekong countries (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand) and
in the Philippines
• A Third of all trafficking in women and children is in
South-East Asia
• One in three of those involved in prostitution in the GMS
are between 12and 17 years of age
• Forced Labour accounted for almost 35% of all
identified victims in East Asia, while in South Asia (some
Indian states) labour exploitation was reported as the
dominant purpose of trafficking
Asian and pacific context
• The highest number of forced labourers is found in the
Asia and Pacific region 77% of the total, followed by
Latin America and the Caribbean(11%). Industrialised
countries harbour an estimated 3% of all forced labour
victims, three-quarters of whom have been trafficked
Is this trafficking?
The Crime of Trafficking in Persons
Art 3(a): “Trafficking in persons”
shall mean:
…the recruitment, transportation,
transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons
…by means 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.”
3 key elements:
3 phases:
→ Mobilization
Recruitment,
Transportation
→ Means…
→ Purpose…
exploitation
Trafficking in Persons
How does trafficking work?
3 phases
Recruitment
Exploitation
Transportation
How does trafficking work?
Recruitment
Partially deceptive: victims may be aware
that they are
to be employed in a given activity but do not
know under
what conditions
Fully deceptive: victims are lured by
promises of employment and financial
gain and are fully deceived as to the true
intentions of the traffickers
Forcible: victims are forcibly taken
How does trafficking work?
Transportation
•
•
•
•
•
Origin, transit and destination countries;
Legally or illegally;
Travel by land, air or sea;
Often accompanied (documents retained);
Travel to where the demand exists for their
services and where the potential profit of their
exploitation is the highest.
How does trafficking work?
Exploitation
• Sexual exploitation (streets, bars, brothels,
massage parlors, saunas, call-girl, escort
agencies)
• Forced labor (agriculture, fishery,
construction, mines, sweatshops, catering)
• Domestic servitude
• Street begging or peddling
• Forced military service
• Organ removals
How do traffickers control their victims?
Coercion and Control Mechanisms
•
Debt bondage;
•
Isolation (physical, or linguistic);
•
Use of violence and fear;
•
Use and threat of reprisal against
victims’ families.
Trafficked persons usually..
1. Fear their traffickers
2. May not see themselves as victims
3. May suffer ‘‘Stockholm Syndrome’’
4. May have PTSD & memory loss
5. May not trust police
6. May feel responsible for a family debt
7. May not speak local language/cultural differences
8. May be confused with migrant smuggling……
Why are criminals in the trafficking “business”?
Personal Gain
•
•
•
•
One of the most lucrative crimes in the world;
Few risks for traffickers (lack of legislation,
corruption, lack of law enforcement);
Low cost of doing business;
Victims can be repeatedly exploited or sold.
Human Trafficking
vs
People Smuggling
Differences between trafficking and smuggling
Essential Elements of the Trafficking Definition:
•
Means:
Threat or use of force or other forms of
coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse
of power or a position of vulnerability or giving
or receiving of payments or benefits to
achieve the consent of a person having
control over another person
•
Activity:
Recruitment, transportation, transfer,
harbouring, receipt of persons
•
Purpose:
Financial or in kind profit through
exploitation
Differences between trafficking and smuggling
Essential Elements of the Smuggling Definition
•
Means:
No element of distortion of the free
will of the person, either by force,
deception or abuse of power. In
most smuggling cases, the
intending irregular migrants seek
and initiate the contact with
smugglers themselves to realize
their objective of crossing the
border into a third country illegally
•
Activity:
Transportation and transfer of
persons
•
Purpose:
Financial profit from the illegal
border crossing
Difference between Trafficking and Smuggling
3 Differences
Trafficking
Smuggling
1. How money is
made
Exploitation of victim
Helping people cross
borders illegally
2. The question of
consent (agreement)
Potential victim
agrees to travel on
basis of false
information
Client agrees to travel
with full information
about journey,
destination and costs
3. Relationships
 Trafficker-Victim
 Smuggler-Client
Trafficker-Victim
Relationship
continues in country
of destination
Smuggler-Client
Relationship ends
once border is
crossed in country of
destination
Differences between trafficking and smuggling
Remember:
Trafficking
is a violation of human rights and coercion for exploitation
Smuggling
is an organized illegal border crossing
Case Studies