UNODC report on human trafficking exposes modern form of slavery
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.
Source:here
I'm willing to bet those general laborers are men and also I wouldn't be surprised if they were trafficking boys to be soldiers for some warlord.
5 comments:
Wow! Interesting read. Great post :D
You do get a point here. I have seen some recent TV programmes showing voluteer workers helping girls in impoverished areas. How about the boys? The point is, this shows that feminism is promoting the notion that males are not people.
I think the reason girls are often specifically targeted is simply that their position is more vulnerable in these cultures. Boys can find work, (and later own property) and move around looking for it, start a business -- a girl will quickly lose all her worth because the only legitimate role she has is being a wife, and nobody marries someone who isn't guaranteed to be sexually untouched. Poor girls are in grave threat of falling through these cracks in a culture that's rigged against them.
But yes, it's terrible that a third of traffickers can be women. Nothing new, though. As we know women often pass on unfair treatment that they themselves received (think of cruel mothers-in-laws taking it out on their daughter-in-laws, brothel's madames, or FGM for example). So it's important to cut the cycle. Nobody should have anything to pass on.
- Curious Female
A third? I think you better go back and reread that article again. You'll find MOST traffickers are women. Then that means a MINORITY of them are MEN.
Little boys have in rough as well. Look for the video on child soldiers.
"A third? I think you better go back and reread that article again. You'll find MOST traffickers are women. Then that means a MINORITY of them are MEN."
I stand corrected that it's not a third. It's not clear to me what exactly the overall proportions are, though. But if 30% of countries exceed 50%, that doesn't make women a majority. Well, it might, depending on the total figures. Either way, if the point is to prove that women can be greedy, lack empathy, maybe even be sociopaths/psychopaths (I don't know what the usual psychological make-up of a trafficker is), then yes of course they/we can be.
"Little boys have in rough as well. Look for the video on child soldiers."
Yes, I agree. There's also ungendered violence like child witches being killed out of supersticions. Indoctrination into extreme religious beliefs in cultish religious schools (like some of the worse Islamist schools) is a type of mental violence I imagine befall boys more often than girls because boys are sent to school more than girls. Or Russias boy prisoners. I'm all for battling all of it. And it is, not all charity is targeted at girls (Russias boy prisoners is a regular charity advertised in my country. Never occurred to me to shout "unfair" about it for forgetting girls). On the other hand charity is a business that uses strings that pull. I think a lot of Western women especially have a special guilt spot for all the women we've let go without rights in less developed countries. Without having stormed to the barricades for them. I think that's why especially women are drawn to girl charities. But that would be okay, wouldn't it, if you men instead were drawn to boy charities, and then things would be more even :).
Post a Comment