TUESDAY FEBRUARY 9th 2010
by JUNE BURKE
Trafficking of women is a world-wide problem involving marginalised women, ethnic minorities, remote indigenous people and hill tribes, refugees and illegal migrants, illiterate women and run-away girls. In some places the traffickers enlist the help of local people to identify vulnerable families. Sometimes, women and children are sold directly to the traffickers by parents or other family members. The trade involves deceit, debt bondage, kidnap, false documents and bribery. The women and children are moved from country to country, from continent to continent, on foot, on motorcycles, mini-buses, vans and boats. Trafficking is inevitably allied to other forms of smuggling, including drugs and weapons.
Between 700,000 and 2 million persons are trafficked each year. Over 100,000 are trafficked from Russia, and the countries of the former Soviet Union, for prostitution and sexual exploitation. Over 225,000 come from South East Asia and a further 150,000 from South Asia; 50,000 from the African continent (in addition to extensive trafficking within Africa itself), 75,000 from Eastern Europe and over 100,000 from Latin America. The majority of these women finish up in the countries of Western Europe, North America, Australia, South Africa, Japan and the Middle East.
The Verona Conference wanted Governments around the world, and particularly the European Union, to take political action against the traffickers (and make ratification of the UN protocol against exploitation of women a condition of membership for new countries). The UK is a signatory, but needs to allocate more resources to provide help for the victims.
There are two main approaches to stamping out the trafficking. At source, Fair Trade would help to overcome the poverty of many peoples and thereby make them less vulnerable. Better, and more widespread, education (especially for girls) would enable the claims of the traffickers to be seen in a more realistic way by the communities at risk. We can aid this by supporting the charities working in these areas. At home we need to encourage our own government to provide safe houses where rescued victims can find secure accomadation, counselling and time to recover - and refugee status so that they can work with the police and not in fear of them.
