human trafficking 101 outlining the problem: module a play in slideshow mode
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Human Trafficking 101
Outlining the Problem:Module A
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Trafficking and Migration
1
Vulnerable Community
Person Seeking
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Person Seeking
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Person Seeking
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We begin with a community in a less developed country that
has people seeking job opportunities
Within this community, some people may remain and do whatever they can to find
work, while others may seek opportunities elsewhere
This could be within their own country or within another country that is considered
more prosperous
Successful Migration
Vulnerable Community
Person Seeking
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Person Seeking
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Person Seeking
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Those who leave, are called migrantsWhat motivates a person to migrate differs from individual to individual
It could be out of need, a desire to improve one’s life or simply a desire for adventure
If the migrant is lucky enough to be associated with people who have no intention of exploiting him/her, the outcome can be very positive
In the best of circumstances, the working conditions are good, compensation is fair, there is no exploitation or abuse, and the migrant is happy with the terms and conditions
This is one potential outcome at one end of the spectrum
Factors such as the migrant’s understanding of the migration process, their type of work and their ability to access help if needed will influence the process
Slavery Successful Migration
Vulnerable Community
Person Seeking
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Person Seeking
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Person Seeking
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However, if the potential migrant is ill-informed or being influenced by criminals whose intent is to exploit, the outcome can be devastating
This represents the other end of the spectrum The person can’t leave, does not get paid and loses control of his/her life….. In other words he/she is in a slavery-like condition
It is important to note that in addition to these end points, there are many people who migrate and fall somewhere in between these two extremesFor example, a person might be exploited, but not enough to be considered trafficked
Not all exploitation is trafficking or slavery….
Three Examples of Human Trafficking Outcomes
Fishing Boat
What is it like to be a victim of slavery on a Thai fishing boat? In this case, the victim works up to 19 hours a day, every day, eating
nothing but fish and rice twice a day for years. If he gets sick, injured or if he complains, the captain throws him off the boat into the
ocean. He is beaten if he doesn't work hard enough, or even if he does. Days go by with only a few hours of sleep. To keep him
working, they drug him with strong stimulants that destroy his health. At the end, sometimes up for four years at sea, he is not
given any pay because as an illegal migrant, he has no one to turn to. Having no way to communicate with his family while on the boat, he is often assumed dead and the family moves on -- wife remarrying,
children not knowing their father.
Sex Trafficking
What is it like to be a victim of sex trafficking? A twelve-year-old girl is tricked into a situation where she is taken away from her family and
transported to another country. Once there, she is sold like an animal to a brothel owner. From this point on, the scenario is very much the same -- she is gang raped and tortured for days until she finally agrees to sleep with up to 10 men a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year,
for several years until she eventually acquires an illness that deteriorates her body – she dies.
Labor Trafficking
What is it like to be a victim of a labor trafficking? The victim accepts of a job with a negotiated salary of $50 a month but is told she can’t leave the factory. After working 18 hours a day, seven days a week for two months, she goes to the employer and asks for her pay. He explains to her that it cost $54 a month for her to stay there so she
actually owes him money. Until she pays it back, she is not allowed to leave. So the more she works, the more in debt she becomes,
creating a situation where she can never leave. The hours are excessive, the living conditions horrid and the life devoid of anything
but hard work, hopelessness and despair.
The Criminal Element
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Slavery Successful Migration
Vulnerable Community
Person Seeking
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Person Seeking
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Person Seeking
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Person Seeking
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Vulnerable Community Person Seeking
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As a person begins a migratory process, the conditions differ from individual to individual
Point of Origin Border Crossing Inside 2nd country
Sometimes the migrant makes the journey alone or
sometimes with other migrants, including family
members
The process can be through formal, legal channels or
through informal channels that might include smuggling
WorkSituation
It is important to note that while many trafficking cases
happen cross border, there are also significant trafficking cases
that take place within a country, known as internal
trafficking
Person Seeking
work
Point of Origin Border Crossing Inside 2nd country
WorkSituation
EnforcersExploitersTransportersRecruiters
There are four criminal categories associated with
human trafficking
In some cases, potential migrants are targeted by unscrupulous people from
within a community……
…or from along the migration routeThese people, who are known as “recruiters,” influence a migrant’s choices
If the recruiter does this with the intent to exploit, then this person is part of the trafficking chain
The recruiter controls the migrant through fraud, deception and the establishment of some form of debt
Person Seeking
work
Point of Origin Border Crossing Inside 2nd country
WorkSituation
TransportersRecruiters
Some recruiters can also act as transportersA transporter’s role in the criminal chain is
to assist in transporting and moving migrants to an exploitative site
The transporter’s involvement can begin at any point along the migration path: inside the village, at the border, or within the
community where the exploitation takes place
If he/she does this with the intent to exploit, then this person is part of the
trafficking chain
Smuggler
Note: The difference between a smuggler and a transporter is that the smuggler simply offers a service – to move a person
from one place to another. The intent to exploit is not a motivating factor
The crimes transporters commit often include fraud, deception, kidnapping, or illegal border
crossing
Point of Origin Border Crossing Inside 2nd country
WorkSituation
TransportersRecruiters
It is the transporter who often sells the victim to the exploiter. This, in itself, is a crime
Exploitative Worksite
Person Seeking
work
The difficulty with both recruiters and transporters is that it is not always possible to know that they are involved in a trafficking event until after the victim
has been moved to the exploitative site
Intent is nearly impossible to prove until after the fact
Exploitative Worksite
Both recruiters and transporters are considered minor players in the human
trafficking chain
Inside Village Border Crossing Inside 2nd country
WorkSituation
TransportersRecruiters
Exploitative Worksite
Person Seeking
work
Exploitative Worksite
Trafficking outcomes often include forced prostitution, forced labor including domestic
workers, and the like
There are basically two categories of people who act as criminals within the exploitative
outcome
EnforcersExploiters
They “break in,” enforce and maintain a person in a slave-like situation
Inside Village Border Crossing Inside 2nd country
WorkSituation
TransportersRecruiters
Exploitative Worksite
Person Seeking
work
Exploitative Worksite
EnforcersExploiters
Exploiters are the managers and owners of exploitative sites. They are the ones that put in place
a situation where slavery flourishes
They are also the ones that buy trafficking victims. While they might not be the ones that actually abuse victims with
their own hands, they manage the processEnforcers are the ones that break in and
maintain trafficking victims
Their crimes often include: rape, torture, assault, threats, coercion, force, and debt bondage
Despite their brutality, the criminals that carry out these heinous acts are seldom sought after in most trafficking cases
Inside Village Border Crossing Inside 2nd country
WorkSituation
TransportersRecruiters
Exploitative Worksite
Person Seeking
work
Exploitative Worksite
EnforcersExploiters
All play a role in the traffickingprocess
All would beconsideredTraffickers
All are involved
in acts that arecriminal in
nature
All should be Included when
carrying outcriminal
investigations
Addressing the Exploitation
3
Inside Village Border Crossing Inside 2nd country
WorkSituationExploitative
Worksite
It is important to note that most counter trafficking programs focus on the relationship between the
victim and the recruiter or transporter
But while recruiters, middlemen, and transporters are part of the problem, they are not nearly as
threatening and damaging as those who actually keep the victim in the
slave-like situation
The exploitative businesses should be the main focus of counter trafficking sector
This is where most of the human rights violations take place. It is also where the main abuse -- the enslavement -- takes place
To effectively address the human trafficking problem, more emphasis must be placed on
eliminating the most exploitative sites
This will reduce demand and also send a powerful message to those who might chose to traffic or
enslave others
No ExploitationSlave-like
Exploitation
Within all business sectors, there is a continuum from fair/non-exploitative businesses
to those that seriously exploit
Garment
Agriculture
Fisheries
Mining
At some points along this continuum, a business crosses
over a line into slavery
Those businesses that are the most exploitative can be targeted and
eliminated using any number of existing laws in any country
In the absence of addressing the exploitation sites, trafficking will continue unabated
What is the main point?
It is the enslavement aspect that gives life to the trafficking sector…..
Not merely the “movement of a person with intent to exploit” (trafficker’s role)….
Thus, to truly address the trafficking problem, the
exploitation site must be better targeted within the response
equation
Understanding the Post Exploitation Process
4
TraffickingOutcome:
Slavery
Escape Rescue Contractover
ThrownOut
Used up Death
Most trafficking victims remain for a period of time in
the slave-like condition
Depending on the circumstances, this can last for
months or years
There are basically six ways in which a person leaves this
environment
Some victims simply run away on their own, often at great
risk to themselves
Some victims are rescued through police raids
For others, they are returned to their country of origin after years of service, but without much
(sometimes any) remuneration
Some victims are thrown out after receiving an injury or
becoming diseased
For some, the person is simply let go to make way for a new person once his/her
profitability is lowered through attrition, e.g. a sex worker who no longer attracts clients
Finally, some victims do not survive the experience
TraffickingOutcome:
Slavery
Escape Rescue Contractover
ThrownOut
Used up Death
VoluntaryInvoluntary
Person remains in the “harm”
environment (e.g. brothel)
Person stays in the country/
community of destination (but
outside the harm)
Person goes to a
third country
RepatriationPerson
ends up in a jail or a remand center
In this case, the victim has the ability to leave, but he/she
stays
The person may have started benefiting in the
environment or feels that he/she has no other options
Instead of returning to their country of origin, the person stays in the location where
he/she was trafficked to
In this case, the person feels as if he/she benefits more by staying than returning, e.g. more opportunities to
improve his/her status
In this case, the person feels as if he/she benefits more from going to a third country that perhaps
offers more opportunitiesPerson leaves and voluntarily decides to return to their country/ community of origin
State authorities in a country sometimes force a trafficked person to repatriate to their country of origin
Once out, where do most victims end up going?
VoluntaryInvoluntary
Person remains in the “harm”
environment
Person stays in the country/
community of destination (but
outside the harm)
Person goes to a
third country
RepatriationPerson
ends up in a jail or a remand center
For most victims, the recovery process begins at this pointBut how does the recovery
process work?
Trafficked person outside
of the exploitative site
Self-recovery Facilitated recovery
With self recovery, the victim recovers from the experience with no outside help from NGO or Government partners
Most people who have been trafficked fall into this category, but we know little about their experiences
While some people are able to successfully start a new, productive life, others are still vulnerable and susceptible to being re-trafficked again.
In this case, an NGO or Government facility provides support to the trafficked person
Services often include: provision of a stable, secure environment; a psycho-social assessment; counseling; food, shelter and medical care; a peer environment; and legal representation and advice
Services can be provided through an number of different facilities including: safe haven sites, drop in centers, short term stay facilities or long term stay facilities
Lessons learned about recoveryNot all support provided to a trafficked person is beneficial
For example, not all shelter homes offer a quality of care that would
meet international standards
Likewise, some shelters hold victims in place for extended periods instead of
mainstreaming them back into society
The main purpose of the recovery process should be to help to return a person back to society in a manner that does not contribute
to their future vulnerability
Programs which detain victims in closed shelters or give no option to return to the country of origin are not only potentially
harmful to victims, but can provide a major disincentive to victims coming forward
Self-recovery Facilitated recoveryAs part of the recovery process, the trafficked person needs to
eventually reintegrate into society
Reintegration options fall into threecategories
Family Community Workplace
This transition can be done either with or without help
Some victims reintegrate back into their family
While some families take them back, this is not always
the case
For example, if the family knows that their daughter was forced to be a sex
worker, the shame associated with this outcome might cause them to
shun her, even though she may have been victimized
Some victims reintegrate back into their previous community
or a new one
Once again, community acceptance is key to them
being allowed to return
The final option is a workplace situation where a live-in
employment opportunity is offered
In the past, success was often judgedbased on whether a person was
reintegrated back into their family
But if the family was involved in thetrafficking process, this could resultin the person being exploited again
Some victims decide not to go home because they fear the stigma associated with their experience or feeling of shame due to having failed to have achieved their goals (i.e. supporting their family with money)
First, a person achieves an amount of agency that is
comparative to those who are not in a trafficking episode
In this case..AGENCY = Control
over life options
So what do we mean by this term agency in this
context?
So what is successful reintegration?
FULL AGENCY
NO AGENCY
DURING TRAFFICKING
EVENT
AFTER TRAFFICKING
EVENT
“AGENCY RANGE” OF A PERSON NOT IN A TRAFFICKING HARM
Trafficked Person
Ordinary Person
Lets begin with anordinary person
who has not been trafficked
Now lets look atthe difference
one would see with a trafficked person
Successful reintegration occurs after a trafficking event, when the person has comparative control over his/her life choices
During a trafficking event, the person has very little control over his/her life
Note that this person has the ability to make choices and determine the general direction of his/her life
What does this mean?
1) Successful reintegration occurs when a person achieves an amount of agency (choice over life options) that is comparative to those who
are not in a trafficking episode
2) The person’s needs/motivations to migrate do not force him/her to return to a situation where
they are vulnerable to be re-trafficked
In other words, if the person has not sorted out the needs/motivations that got him/her into
trouble in the first place, he/she will continue to be vulnerable to being re-trafficked/re-exploited
What is successful reintegration?
Resilience and Empowerment
But having “agency” and “not re-migrating out of desperation” must
also be complimented with something else -- resilience and empowerment. These factors
represent a positive and healthy aspect to the recovery process.
Empowerment include the following……
It is important to remember
A person’s trafficking experience does not end once he/she leaves the slave-like condition
This ensures that all of the needs of the trafficked person are taken into
consideration as part of the protection process
If you have any questions, please forward them to Matthew Friedman –
UNIAP, Bangkok, Thailand
or our website
www.no-trafficking.org