No End in Sight: Human Trafficking in Nepal

According to UNICEF, as many as 7,000 women and girls are trafficked out of Nepal to India every year and around 200,000 are now working in Indian brothels. New York Times journalist Kate Orlinsky recently opined on the subject, observing that the world tends to think of Nepal as the country with the earth’s tallest mountain and breathtaking natural beauty, not one where the business of buying and selling women is profitable.

In discussing her trip to Nepal last year, Orlinsky focused on an interview with a woman who shared herstoryof being kidnapped and sold into prostitution:

{One of the women I talked with was Charimaya Tamang, who 19 years ago went out to the fields to cut grass in her village in Nepal. Typically she would have gone with other women from her village, but that day she was alone. A group of men grabbed her from behind, tied her hands and made her swallow “a powder.” When she woke up she was in a city in northern India. “I had never seen tall buildings before,” she recalled. It was a lot hotter than her village and the men offered her a soda. “I didn’t want to drink it but I was so thirsty,” she said. The heat and soda were her last memories before finding herself in a Mumbai brothel under the care of a woman she called “Auntie,” where she remained in forced prostitution for 22 months.}

According to the latest figures, human trafficking in Nepal is a growing issue– as in, not an occurrence we can conveniently blame on the shady morals of an ancient civilization. While Nepalese authorities have allegedly attempted to staunch this flow of unwilling migration across the Nepal-India border, the underpaid border officials are believed to be susceptible to bribes that persuade them to look the other way.Realizing that support from their government can’t exactly be counted on, women in this country are beginning to call this injustice to attention and do what they can to protect themselves and their loved ones.

Tamang eventually filed charges against her attackers, becoming the first woman in Nepal to do so and win.  She has since moved on to raise a family of her own and serve as an advocate for those who have gone through similar horrors of forced prostitution. However,many Nepalese women who become ensnared in this web of human trafficking (and are lucky enough to be rescued)have a difficult time getting back on their feet. Similar to the rape culture* prevalent in south Asian countries, many women are shunned after attempting to resume their old lives – even told,after reporting their kidnap and sexual assault,that they somehow deserved it.

Before a group of15 Nepalese trafficking survivors started a coalition to empower trafficking victims,they each experienced this ostracizing from their families, communities and government.It would seem that the police raid that eventually rescued them from their captors essentially released them into a world that no longer knew what to do with them or how they fit into society.

As if to show determination to carry on with their lives, these 15 women named their advocacy organization“Shakti Samuha”,which is symbolic of the fortitude they possess in being able to overcome their own physical and psychological turmoil to reach back a helping hand for future trafficking survivors. In English, “Shakti Samuha” means “Power Group”.

*CNN recently ran an opinion article written by Ruchira Gupta, president of ApneAap Women Worldwide, an Indian organization dedicated to ending sex trafficking, with a strong account of what the rape culture is like in India.

By Sabrina Willard

[News] Human Trafficking Update

By TOM RAGAN

LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

There was a time when the term “human trafficking” stirred images of Third World immigrants working their fingers to the bone in sweat shops, sewing the latest fashions at a warehouse in the garment district of some major American city.

They worked in cramped, deplorable conditions, for hours on end, for little or no pay, and were kept beyond their will.

Over the past decade or so, however, the definition of human trafficking has been evolving to include the women working the bars, strip joints, dance clubs, outcall or escort services, massage parlors and street corners in search of tricks or johns.

And now a modern-day abolitionist movement that includes Las Vegas law enforcement officials, the state attorney general’s office, legislators and grass-roots activists — supported in many cases from local pulpits — wants to reclassify the pimps who dominate the world’s oldest profession as modern-day slave traders.

READ MORE: http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/nevada-movement-draws-line-human-trafficking

[News] Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is a growing concern throughout the nation, and Ohio is at the center of the problem. Ohio Governor John Kasich has identified nurses working in the school setting as a key group to prevent and identify human trafficking among their students. At the Governor’s direction, the Ohio Department of Health School Nursing program collaborated with the ODH Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Prevention Program and others to develop a new protocol for Ohio school nurses (the first of its kind in the nation) to provide guidance to nurses on how to prevent, identify and appropriately intervene when trafficking of students is suspected.

The introduction of this new protocol will be done at a summer 2013 ODH conference Human Trafficking: An Update for Nurses Working in Ohio Schools. This day-long training will provide nurses working in the school setting with information about the prevention, identification and intervention for students who are trafficked. It will include a presentation by a human trafficking survivor, introduction of the new protocol, definition of human trafficking, information about the national hotline and other resources available to help you understand human trafficking in Ohio.

This conference is free and 4.25 nursing contact hours will be awarded to nurses who attend all sessions. Further information may be found at in the attached flyer or by going to:

http://www.odh.ohio.gov/~/media/ODH/ASSETS/Files/chss/school%20nursing/Human%20Trafficking%20Conference%20Save-the-Date.ashx

Fight trafficking

Human Trafficking is still a thriving phenomenon because of these “clients” who keep the practice going because of their “needs”. Coupled with the proclivity for the hedonistic ideology is the astounding degree of ignorance that blinds most of society, leading them to believe that girls “want” to be a part of a brothel, and are “voluntarily” a part of brothels. The United Nations estimates that 700,000 to 4 million women and children are trafficked around the world for purposes of forced prostitution, labour and other forms of exploitation every year. Trafficking is estimated to be a $7 billion dollar annual business.

Even as we read and write articles and op-ed stories on Human Trafficking, women are subjected to wanton exploitation for sexual work. Children are found to be the easiest means of labour, be it manual or sexual- they needn’t be paid, and they can be beaten into submissiveness with ease.

The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, or the Trafficking Protocol, was adopted by the United Nations in Palermo, Italy in 2000. It is the only international legal agreement attached to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime that targets Human Trafficking exclusively. The Trafficking Protocol is one of three Protocols adopted to supplement the Convention. The law is in place, no doubt, denouncing sexual slavery and human trafficking in harsh terms. But the enforcement of the law is an embarrassment. The dirigible implementation of a piece of legislation needs to be steered in favour of the pursuit of altruistic concerns, acceptable and expected results. The current state of frugal- nay, next to nought legal enforcement does no good whatsoever. The practice still runs amok as women and children are still being actively bought off by brothels, slave traders and pimps. 

A sneak peek into the world of Trafficking of Women

A recent newspaper article talks about a situation challenging women in a few villages of a rather well developed state in India - Madhya Pradesh, where female foeticide has increased. The article not only portrayed the hike in foeticide cases but also highlighted the consequences thereafter. My idea of writing this blog is to bring forth the condition of women in a few underdeveloped areas of India which needs attention and appropriate measures on an urgent basis. 

Trafficking of women is being practiced rampantly. Young girls/women and teenagers are sold at cheaper rates as families have no money to feed themselves and their dependents. This seems an easy resort for them to release a burden and have access to money. Women are being exchanged for cattle as well. Since the female population is lesser because of various reasons including foeticide, a simple way out for people by utilizing women as a commodity. Shocking but true, it is a fact that only very few women are being given the respect due to them as wives. This is neither ethical nor moral.

Women do not complain against such crimes. Women are trafficked from other states through agents. The trafficking racket is graver than it seems. Teenagers are either forced to marry because of their family conditions or they are abducted. No one bothers to find out if the women themselves are interested in marrying or otherwise. Their personal and professional desires hold no meaning. They are required to follow the rules of the society and are not allowed to make demands or have expectations. It is sad to see that their wishes have been suppressed under the load of unethical men’s desires. We need to address such issues severely. Female foeticide and trafficking practices need attention.

-          Written by Dr. Aakshi Kalra  

Child trafficking – Made me dirty and profane!

Child trafficking is a publicly criticized issue world over. It not only breeds devilish tendencies but also destroys the life of the child involved. Her childhood and adolescence are curbed and she is forced to succumb to her miseries. Though statistics regarding trafficking are difficult to gather, the International Labour Organization estimates that 1.2 million children are trafficked each year. Children who are being trafficked are exploited in various ways; forced labor, begging, drug trade, sexual exploitation to name a few. It has an enormous impact on the families of the child as well. Appropriate measures need to be initiated in order to curb this crime. Here’s a story among the millions of stories about a school going girl (story in her own words) who unfortunately became a prey of these evil doers. 

I was 16 years old then and wished to become a doctor in future. I belong to a simple family. My father works as a security guard and my mother is a housewife. I am the only child. 

It was a usual day, that day. We had an exhibition in school next morning for which my friend was making a model. I planned to visit my friend’s place in the evening after school so as to help her in making the model. I took her address while coming back, ate lunch and informed my parents that I would be back in 2 hours. My parents asked about my safety and I told them that I was well acquainted with the roads so they need not worry. Their concern was relieved. 

I was trying to locate her house but I wasn’t able to find it. I took the help of a lady who approached me herself. She seemed to be residing in a nearby house, I saw that she held shopping bags. She said convincingly that she knew the way and this address was near her place so she could guide me. I went along with her being pleased by her gesture. With the excuse of drinking water, she took me at her place and tied me with a rope forcefully. I was beaten by her badly. At midnight, she took me to a distant place.

Meanwhile, my parents were worried and approached the police. They approached to my school also but all in vain. I was ‘sold’ to another woman as I was a virgin who could gather enough money for them. I was being showcased to many men who stared at me salaciously. I was dying minute by minute. They decided to send me to beg on the roads in other states if a good buyer didn't turn up. Finally, they got a man who wished to ‘buy’ me so that I could give him a ‘son’. He took me to his home. He exploited my honor almost every day. I felt disgusted and insulted. I was beaten up if I didn’t work. I was in pain- both physically and mentally. I was made to do household chores like a servant. I was not even considered a human. I was completely devastated as apart from all this, I was not even allowed to step out of the house. I was literally being used as a chattel. 

Fortunately after a month, a brighter dawn rose. I got a chance to use the phone and call my father. I didn’t know the place I was at but I told him the name of the man and through the mobile number, police traced me. Alas! I was rescued from that hell but I was made dirty and profane! 

The whole racket of child trafficking was in the police’s hands. There were many women involved. Ironical but true, a woman was selling a woman. I cried a lot and it took me years to overcome this. My parents are still in shock. I am going to continue my schooling now. 

This story brings out the courage of a girl but what about other girls who are entangled in this trafficking. Every girl isn’t lucky enough to get an opportunity and free herself. Under whose negligence such incidents occur? Who is to be blamed? What appropriate actions are required to be taken globally in order to prevent trafficking or what steps are being taken to fight against it? Such questions are unanswered. Strict and stringent actions are required against such culpable doers. In fact we need to prevent trafficking instead of waiting for more such incidents to take place and then taking actions.


By Aakshi Kalra

THE RISE IN HUMAN TRAFFICKING

There is weight of evidence that more Nigerians are engaged in human trafficking. There is need to tackle the menace

There seems to be no end to the humiliating act of human trafficking in our country. It is even more unfortunate that some of the victims, especially young ladies, are trafficked to smaller West African countries that look up to Nigeria. Only recently, the Nigerian Ambassador to Mali, Mr. Iliya Nuhu, had cause to lament that the problem of human trafficking had grown in magnitude and sophistication to the extent that a good number of Nigerians in his country of posting seemed to be thriving on it. He described the development as akin to modern day slavery with some unscrupulous Nigerians now recruiting from their villages and towns young girls between the ages of 10 and 15 which are then sold into lives of misery. According to the ambassador, about 20 to 30 girls are trafficked to Mali daily, with the promise of securing for them good jobs only to turn them to prostitutes.

There are chilling statistics which suggest that human trafficking has become one of the biggest money making businesses after drug trafficking today. It is therefore rather shameful that our country is regarded not only as a transit route for this illegal trade but also a source as well as a destination with children and young adults, especially of the womenfolk, now becoming merchandise for what has become a cross-border crime.

It is instructive to note that to combat this challenge, the federal government had in 2003 enacted the Trafficking in Persons Law Enforcement and Administration Act. It was amended in 2005 to prescribe more severe penalties for offenders as well as prohibits all forms of human trafficking. Despite that, human trafficking remains a major challenge in our country today while the non-domestication of the Child Rights Act by many states has only compounded the problem.
In what is clearly an organised crime involving international syndicates, human traffickers move their victims to Europe through North Africa by caravan, most often forcing their victims to cross the desert on foot. In the process many die even as the survivors are subjected to all forms of indignity, in the bid to repay the heavy debts owed their “benefactors” by way of travel expenses. But the trade is thriving because while in the past NAPTIP had been able to secure convictions for trafficking offences. That is no longer the case as most of the people involved wield powerful influence with which they circumvent the law.

To tackle the menace, families, voluntary organisations and other stakeholders should join governments, at all levels, in the efforts to provide adequate framework for the protection of the Nigerian child. Even when our country took the right step in establishing the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and related matters (NAPTIP) in 2004, the agency has been downgraded to Tier 2 status because of its inability to maintain its vigour. NAPTIP has been handicapped by influential Nigerians who seek the release of human traffickers and a lack of an ECOWAS framework to collaborate with transit countries.

While we condemn human trafficking, we are of the strong belief that a demonstration of political will to diligently prosecute offenders would serve as deterrent to those engaged in the nefarious trade, irrespective of their social status. There is also a need for a sustained sensitisation of Nigerians, especially in rural areas, on the dangers posed by ‘good Samaritans’ who offer better lives for children away from the watchful eyes of their parents and guardians. A culture where little children are expected to provide for, or supplement, their family upkeep should also be discouraged while the authorities must put in place guidelines on the hiring of domestic household staff through certified agencies

Source: Thisday 06 Dec 2012

 

Fighting Human Trafficking one case at a time

Pamela Brown, an Emmy nominated Sunday-evening anchor and special projects reporter with ABC7/WJLA-TV and News Channel 8 in Washington D.C., spoke to Delta Women on working on Human Trafficking. Besides being one of the few local journalists to travel to earthquake-ravaged Haiti, Pamela has also reported on President Obama's signature healthcare reform legislation, the end of the Iraq War and the East Coast Earthquake. Committed in fighting against human sex trafficking, Pamela has generated several reports on the widespread problem in the U.S. and abroad. In fact, federal authorities credit one of Pamela's exclusive reports with helping to put a child pornographer behind bars.

Pamela is on twitter as @ABC7pamela.

What made you take to handling Human Sex Trafficking?

It was something that happened a couple of years ago. I went to watch a movie, called Taken, which traces the story of a father who sets about tracking down his daughter after she is kidnapped by human traffickers while travelling in France. It was an eye-opener, watching that film. When I came out of the theatre, I wanted to know if it was real, or if they were just trying to sell a movie. So I began digging and reading, and that was when I found that this isn’t something that happens abroad, alone, but right in our own backyard. I found that all kinds of girls were victims, hailing from all kinds of socio-economic backgrounds. It was simply frightening, and I couldn’t just sit back and do nothing about it.

Take us through some of your experiences while working on this issue.

In the most recent case I studied, which involves North Virginia, I came to understand that gangs have turned to sex trade. It has become something of a new line of business for these gangs, to traffic girls as young as 12! I spoke to a girl who was 16. She told me her story – telling me how she was lured into it all. She met a member of the gang at the Springfield Metro Station, and said that he acted charming and used a lot of flattery to lure her in. This young girl wound up servicing countless men, tolling nearly 40 men a day, earning as much as $2,000 a day! It was unbelievable – how can this happen, right? It is a terrible thing, the power of control that these gangs have even over girls from the upper middle class!

Do you face any challenges or threats, while working on this issue, being a woman?

I don’t think it has anything to do with being a woman. In essence, it is a very, very difficult topic. It took me 10 months to get all my information – victims obviously don’t want to talk about it, they don’t want to relive their experiences. It needs a lot of persistence and digging to get information. I have spoken to people on the streets, I even spoke to the manager of a motel where girls were often sold. I’ve spoken to people in Law Enforcement to study the issue from their perspective. In my most recent story, I spoke to a convicted member of the gang, himself. He gave me his side of the story, explaining the way would lure girls. He said that they would force girls to lure other girls into prostitution. To me, the way I see it, it is incredibly difficult to work on something like this issue. But, it is ultimately rewarding when you inform and educate people about the issue, and you can actually bring about change through awareness.

Having studied the field, what do you believe, are the most common ‘tricks’ or ‘ways’ traffickers use, to lure girls?

They do not walk right up to a girl and ask her directly. They lure the girls by making themselves charming, special, and flattering the girls entirely. They are pretty clever in targeting girls with a low self-esteem, and those that don’t have shelter. They build relationships with these girls who are otherwise ostracised or not accepted, or have a difficult life, and then make them feel cared. After a point, they begin to take advantage of the girls, sometimes putting them on drugs. It isn’t easy at this point for the girl to run away to get help – it is a trap through and through.

Where in the USA does this happen more frequently?

Everywhere, literally! I did my last story on North Virginia – where it is pretty much rampant. The thing is, it can happen in the most unsuspecting areas. In a nice neighbourhood, there was no reason to believe that trafficking thrived. But one of the folks on that street were running a trafficking circle right out of his basement. It isn’t only girls within the USA that are vulnerable, there are also a couple of girls who are brought in. For instance, there was a girl from Ukraine who came to the USA with hopes of working and sending her family money, and then perhaps get a student visa and go to school. But before she knew it, she was taken by the touts into a circle of prostitution.

Delta Women has done some research on the issue and has found Houston, Texas, to be a hub of much activity of this sort. Have you perhaps had the chance to study this region, too?

While I haven’t worked in depth on Texas, I do know that the phenomenon is rampant all across the United States.

What would your advice be, to parents and girls alike, and perhaps even to victims?

To a parent, my advice is to be communicative and talk to their children about the issue. It is important to be involved all the time. Get on social media, and monitor your child. Invade your child’s life, literally, so you can be absolutely sure of everything that is happening in their lives. As for the girls, I’d say that they have to be aware of the issue, in turn. It is absolutely important that they be aware and be strong enough to say no, and to nip such tendencies in the bud. It is also important for girls to build their self-esteem. Girls bullied at school have low self-esteem, and are often vulnerable to the showering of attention and flattery by the trafficker. That needs to change. As for the victims themselves, I think they need to take law enforcement into confidence. Law enforcement actually wants victims to come out with their story and to speak out. Victims are very afraid of law enforcement, and tend to believe that they might face harder issues when they come out with it. But that’s not true – it is crucial that victims reach out. There are so many services to help victims.

As told to Kirthi Jayakumar

Chicago-area sex trafficker gets life

Published: Nov. 26, 2012 at 7:44 PM
CHICAGO, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Former suburban Chicago massage parlor owner Alex Campbell was sentenced Monday to life in federal prison without parole for sex trafficking and related crimes.
In addition to his prison term, Campbell, who operated the Day and Night Spa in Mount Prospect, was ordered to pay about $124,000 in restitution, the U.S. Justice Department said in a release.
"They [the victims] have a life sentence -- all of them ... and their life sentence at your hands compels a life sentence for you," U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman told Campbell.

READ MORE: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2012/11/26/Chicago-area-sex-trafficker-gets-life/UPI-22921353977053/#ixzz2DR1mq37Q

Human trafficking victims freed in U.S. prostitution bust

By Peter Rudegeair | Reuters - Tue, Nov 20, 2012

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Authorities on Tuesday broke up a $7 million three-state prostitution and money laundering ring, rescuing two human trafficking victims and arresting more than a dozen people, New York's attorney general said.

The crackdown was the result of a 16-month investigation into Somad Enterprises Inc., an advertising agency with offices in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania that placed classified ads for five escort services, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said at a joint news conference.

In a 180-count indictment, 19 people and one corporation were charged with enterprise corruption, money laundering, falsifying business records, narcotics sales and prostitution. In addition, three prostitution clients have been charged.

READ MORE :http://news.yahoo.com/human-trafficking-victims-freed-u-prostitution-bust-183229717.html

The prayer of a sex trafficked child

Jerome Elam

DALLAS, November 8, 2012 - I could feel my life slipping away as I lay down among the neatly arranged rows of flowers that populated my mother’s garden. I had chosen a place on top of her favorite bed of antique roses, and the smell of their fresh bloom flooded my senses like a blanket of serene comfort as the dew of an early June morning drifted across my face.

I smiled as I thought of how my mother would be angry with the damaged flowers she so cherished and how the passing of my life would pale in comparison to their destruction. That through her actions or lack thereof she had laid waste first to my innocence and then my last glimmer of hope in this life would have no bearing on her perspective whatsoever.

A shadow passed over my body as it clung to a whisper of its former vital force. I felt the cold touch of the ground as my body struggled to hold on to the warmth that sought an exodus in response to the sleeping pills and vodka I had just ingested. It was all growing dark now and the wind drifted across my face as its arms reached out to carry me away from the pain that had defined my life for so long. A peace that I had never felt before began to settle into my body and I prayed for the others who had suffered beside me to escape the darkness that had held us all prisoners for so long.

For the previous seven years I had been the “property” of a pedophile ring that had trafficked me sexually since the age of five. My attempts to find an escape from their enslavement had only met with severe physical retaliation and death threats.

The child sex trafficking ring disguised itself as an organization for boys and girls called the “Kids in the saddle” that touted exposing children to horses as a therapy for “behavior problems.” How I had become trapped in this web of dark perversion and sadistic domination that exploited young girls and boys as objects for the pleasure of paying customers is a painful story of forces that vandalized the very core of my soul.

At seventeen my mother had become pregnant. Ill equipped to manage even the direction of her own life, she had lived within a whirlpool of chaos that with my birth dragged her into its darkest depths. Throughout her life my mother had desperately sought to escape her own past, filled to its brim with a history of physical and sexual abuse.  Her father had molested her since a very young age and she eventually became pregnant at his hands, giving birth to a boy who would be referred to as my “uncle” for most of my life.

My mother was extremely bright and aspired to become a nurse after High School as she fled the abusive environment of her youth to attend college. In the middle of her freshman year, however, she met my father and under the spell of romance became pregnant. My father lacked the life skills to support a family and joined the army to help pay for my birth and upbringing. 

To fully set the scene of my parents’ relationship, they were possessed of such diametrically opposing personalities that the two could not have sat next to each other on a cross country bus trip. It was only through the lens of romance and the distance created by my father’s deployment overseas by the army that their relationship lasted three years.

Once they were reunited their divorce was inevitable as late night arguments that turned physically violent became routine. The divorce propelled us into darker circumstances as my mother moved back in with her parents whose abusive tendencies included severe beatings to encourage good behavior.

In the midst of this quagmire of torment and pain there was one person that I am convinced is the reason I am still alive today. My great aunt had separated herself from the rest of her family. She had never married and had no regrets about this decision. She would physically remove me from the environment of my grandparent’s home and keep me with her for weeks at a time. She is the person who saved my life not only by her actions but also by showing me the depths of her heart and the meaning of unconditional love.

My great aunt took me fishing and swimming at the beach, she allowed me to be a child and have fun. She showed me a world without pain or hatred. She fought for me when I needed it most and years later, after her death, I found that she had tried desperately to adopt me but my mother would not allow it. All of her efforts were to be in vain, however, as my life became the materialization of an even darker reality.

My mother had flirted with alcoholism since an early age, and as her circumstances became unstable she embraced drinking as a full time escape from reality. She had developed a proclivity for disappearing for days at a time since we had moved back in with her parents, which left me at the mercy of the abusive practices of her parents and brothers.

During her love affair with being inebriated she met someone who shared her affinity towards life inside of a bottle. Early one morning the front door burst open and my mother staggered in after being gone for a week. Following a string of profanities, my mother announced she had married the man with whom she had fallen in love, and she and I were moving out immediately.

I was soon transported far away from the place I had known so many years, and in the beginning there seemed a genuine possibility that my life would improve. In the beginning my stepfather showed me kindness that I had not seen in many years.

His demeanor began to change, however, after a month passed as his hugs and back rubs took a darker turn and he began molesting me. I can still remember the smell of his cologne and the sound of his breath as he held me down in my bed as my mother slept in the next room.

At first my stepfather was apologetic and showered me with gifts after molesting me, as he realized my mother cared only about the infinite depths of the alcoholic haze she dwelled in. It was then things began to spiral into darkness. As detached as my mother had been from my life there still existed an unbreakable bond between us that my stepfather exploited for his own benefit. It was with threats of ending my mother’s life that he gained my ultimate submission. My stepfather’s family was wealthy and influential and there was no distance I could travel as a child that could ensure my escape from his control.

This is Part I of a four part Series. Read Part II here.

A Dangerous Journey - Animated Film on Trafficking

A Dangerous Journey is a new six-minute animated film based on true stories of women trafficked from West Africa to the UK. The film was produced by FPWP Hibiscus and Animage Films and was funded by various UK charities.

The animation is based on the true-life story of a young girl who fell victim to the techniques used by traffickers. The film tells the story of Grace, whose dream of a better life turned into a nightmare when she was lured by false promises and lies.  Her ‘Dangerous Journey’ began when she accepted a free flight to the UK. Instead of freedom she was locked up, instead of an education she was forced into prostitution and instead of a better life she ended up frightened and alone.

‘A Dangerous Journey’ was commissioned by Olga Heaven, founder of the Hibiscus Foundation as part of a new campaign, which will use the short animation to educate women and girls in Nigeria about the dangers of people trafficking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVYqlUU_u2I

A Nefarious Tragedy

Nefarious: Merchant of Souls is a sobering documentary about the victims of human trafficking around the globe. The film takes a shocking look at how millions of women are stolen, deceived, betrayed, and seduced into becoming sexual tools. Benjamin Nolot, writer and director, takes you on a journey across four continents where you witness the horrible and ultimately fatal plight of modern day slaves.

The film looks at three major epicenters of modern day slavery. The first location they examine is Moldova, a country with a GDP of just over 2000$ per person, where it is estimated that as much as 10% of the population has been trafficked. After Moldova declared independence in 1991 the country was hit with a harsh economic crisis. Organized crime syndicates quickly took advantage of this instability to set up lines of exportation for the women they abduct. These lines involve dozens of people; everyone from the taxi drivers that ship them from location to location, to the men who brutalize them, who break their spirits, to government workers and even employees of the UN.

The women who are abducted are often from poor villages. They head to the larger cities, hoping to find work to support their poor rural families. They are seduced by the promises of fake modeling agencies or hotel owners, or by men feigning romantic interest. They get into a taxi, one they believe will take them to their photo shoot or a training center, and they are lost. They are taken to a small room, where they are beaten viciously. They are starved and refused sleep. Often they are given drugs to force dependency. They are tortured until they are meek and willing, and then they are displayed like meat in a butcher-shop to illegal brothel owners and rich businessmen.

The documentary then shifts to Thailand. Shocked by the state of prostitution in Bangkok and the surrounding area, they expand their definition of trafficking to the exploitation of any vulnerability. They examine the women who come from equally poor rural villages (financial power being a common theme) to become prostitutes in a society that openly condones it. This isn't nearly as shocking, however, as the hell-hole that is Cambodia. Here families treat their children as if they are prized pigs at the county fair. They hand their children over to unscrupulous business men, not for food but for luxury items, for televisions and beer. Fathers sit on dingy couches  smoking cigarettes and talking listlessly while their children play in the dirt until dusk starts to settle. Then these innocents are shuffled off to dark and dingy “Karaoke Bars”, where they are forced into small rooms with disturbed men who pay less for their time than they do for a drink.

The last location the directors of Nefarious explore is America's own city of sin: Las Vegas. Here they show women with the illusion of choice. The women are generally of legal age and they often have men who are there for their “protection”. But these men are masters of manipulation. They start by telling young women that they love them. They take them out, buy them flowers, offer them narcotics and show them all that the wonderful city of Las Vegas has to offer. Then, suddenly, the men are a little short on money. They need the cash to pay off a gambling debt, and all she has to do is one little favor, amuse one man, just for a couple of hours. That favor turns into another, and then another. These men, these “protectors” are masters at tearing these women down. They force the women to live two different lives, one where they are they kind and sweetly self, and another where they are a sexual servant. They men even go so far as to force these women to use different names when they are at home from when they are on the job, demanding to see Tiffany when there is a man that wants their service and speaking to Sarah when they pretend to be sweet. The average age of death for these women is 34 years old. 95% of them have experienced some form of sexual abuse as a minor.

Nefarious is a terrifying glimpse into a terrifying world. It is a succession of what if's: What if I had been born into this situation? What if this happened to my family? What if I they had the chance to be free. The movie currently on tour world wide, and the dvd can be purchased online. You can also donate at their website http://nefariousdocumentary.com/. One small warning, Nefarious is a bit religion heavy, so you secular types searching for more information on human trafficking may want to look for alternate sources.

Visit http://nefariousdocumentary.com/ for more info.

By Matthew Ariss

Albania and Sex Trade

Albania was an economic ruin when it emerged 12 years ago from the ironfisted rule of communist dictator Enver Hoxha. High rates of poverty and unemployment, a crumbling infrastructure, and corrupt elected officials made the nation fertile ground for smuggling in drugs, weapons, and women. Albania’s government has estimated the number of Albanian women and girls trafficked to Western Europe and other Balkan countries between 1991 and 1999 for sexual exploitation at 100,000. Criminal organizations based in the capital Tirana and the cities of Vlora, Bekat, Shkodra, and Fier rely on speedboats for transporting victims across the Adriatic Sea to Italy, a trafficking stronghold. Albania’s northern regions were more sheltered from the trade thanks to the prevalence in rural communities of a traditional code that dictates revenge killings for traffickers who lay hold of a female family member. However, by the late 1990s, lack of economic opportunity had undermined even this traditional safeguard as thousands of Albanian men and boys went abroad to work. Today, trafficking victims come from all parts of Albania; in particular, from rural areas where poverty is higher, education levels lower, and familiarity with traffickers’ ploys less extensive

Albania not only supplies women and girls for the international sex trade, but also acts as a major hub through which women from countries further East are taken to Western European markets. Albanian women and girls are either lured by false promises of marriage or offers of legitimate employment or kidnapped to work as prostitutes. Ranging in age from 14 to 35, girls trafficked from Albania are among the youngest victims worldwide, with as many as 80 percent of them younger than 18, according to a 2000 Save the Children report. They are brought to work primarily in Italy as street prostitutes, the most dangerous and unpredictable form of prostitution. Some Albanian girls are trafficked to other countries such as Belgium, Greece, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. In Italy, according to a 2001 Save the Children report, Albanian pimps reportedly expect their teen-aged prostitutes to earn between $200-$550 a night. Most of the women never receive a cut of the money they make.

Foreign women and girls, the majority of whom are from Moldova and Romania, are also trafficked through Albania for sexual exploitation. Brought in via Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, or Macedonia, they are bought and sold in Albania before being sent to the port cities of Durres or Vlora for passage to Italy.

Albanian children, both boys and girls, are trafficked to Greece and Italy to beg, wash car windows, and deal in drugs. Most of those trafficked come from Albania’s ethnic Roma minority, a traditionally disadvantaged group. Often in exchange for a monthly stipend, very poor families give their children to traffickers, who take them across the border to Greece by foot or by boat to Italy to work as forced laborers. The children’s parents only receive a small fraction of what they earn, which may average almost $1,000 per month, according to the 2001 Save the Children report “Child Trafficking in Albania.”

After years of denying that trafficking was a problem, Albania has recently reversed course. Driving the bid for change is the country’s desire to enter the European Union — an ambition that could be undermined by international criticism of the government’s response to the trafficking problem. In 2001, Albania made trafficking in women and children a criminal offense and adopted a national plan to fight human trafficking. In conjunction with the National Action Plan, TV programs are broadcast to raise awareness about traffickers’ methods and the government has paired with NGOs to train teachers to educate students about the trafficking issue. Albanian police have patrolled the Adriatic since 2002 together with Italian law enforcement in a successful attempt to curb the speedboat traffic that ferries victims from Albania to Italy. Much work still remains for Tirana, however. Corruption among police and elected officials is high — a situation that can interfere with the successful prosecution of traffickers. Though prosecutions have increased, conviction and sentencing rates remain low.

Written by Sreejesh Kaipully

IT’S LUCRATIVE...AND SO IT THRIVES

Human trafficking has become innovative over the years. With classified advertising websites like Backpage.com, traffickers were afforded a channel to peddle their “commodities” in the safety of their hideouts while their victims stayed locked in a hotel helplessly waiting for their customer, and the next, and the next, and the next.  So it’s no wonder that Backpage.com earns more than $22 million annually from prostitution ads in the United States, as reported by AIM Group, a media research and consulting company.

You can imagine my shock as I went through several articles on human trafficking and read a 2008 article about “baby farms” or “factories” in Nigeria where babies were “bred” to be eventually sold.

Teenagers with unwanted pregnancies were reportedly lured in illegal or unregistered  maternity clinics or hospitals then locked up until they gave birth. They were then forced to give up their babies for a fee of around 20 000 naira ($170). Some were raped while detained there. There were some who had been staying there for years and allowed themselves to be impregnated to later sell their babies. Dire poverty and need to survive pushed some of these girls to be “breeders.” The babies were sold to buyers from 300 000 and 450 000 naira ($2 500 and $3 800) each. Some were sold to legitimate couples who wanted children. Other babies weren’t as lucky. They were sold as offering in rituals to later be killed.     

In the U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report in 2009, Nigeria was described as a “source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labour and commercial sexual exploitation.”  Like other countries where poverty is prevalent, Nigerians were trafficked to destinations outside Africa like Italy, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom (recent news from a high ranking British government official acknowledged the growing problem on human trafficking in the U.K.).It was reported that an increasing number of young girls claiming asylum in the United Kingdom were trafficked. The UNICEF estimated between 50,000 and 70,000 African females trafficked to Italy for prostitution, of whom 70 percent were from Nigeria.

It’s amazing that thousands of these trafficked children reach other countries as unaccompanied minors. I wonder what the immigration people ask the unaccompanied minors or the adults meeting them before they were allowed entry into the country. The children probably didn’t even speak the country’s local language.  

Trafficking has been so organized over the years that criminals can systematically recruit people, often involving relatives or persons already known to the victims. Traffickers resort to deceit with promises of education, training, and pay, only to have all these promises taken away once the victims leave their families.

As I continued to go through more articles, the answers to the common causes of trafficking are all too familiar - victim of war, poverty, gender inequality, lack of information, high demand for cheap labour, or lack of opportunities where they live.  

The victims are clearly denied their basic human rights and become exposed to serious health hazards because of the sex trade they are trapped in. They risk getting inflicted with infectious diseases, tortured into submission, drug and alcohol addictions, depression and other mental health problems as a result of their traumatic experience.  And because some have an illegal status, reported cases and convictions of traffickers either do not prosper, or never get reported at all.

However, the growing international awareness that human trafficking is a global problem crossing borders has moved governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the United Nations to take broader and tougher action against human trafficking.

Several agencies and NGOs in Nigeria related to anti-trafficking were organized to address the problem:

• The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women – International (CATW)  which promotes women’s human rights by working internationally in the fight against sexual exploitation
• The National Council of Women Societies (NCWS)

• Women Trafficking and Child Labor Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF)
• National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), a 585-employee agency nationwide with 109 investigators and 27 prosecutors dedicated to anti-trafficking
• NPF, established in 2005, staffed 22 units in states with the worst trafficking problems
• The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) also has anti-trafficking units to monitor illegal entries
• National Plan of Action (NPA) on Trafficking In Persons, covers research, prevention, prosecution, and protection of victims through collaborative actions with government, law enforcement agencies, the legislature, and NGOs.

Much-needed collaboration across countries was recognized to combat the growing problem.

With this international collaboration among law enforcement agencies in place, there had been more successes in getting a clearer picture of the systematic mobilization of trafficked victims across borders. This aids the enforcement agencies in determining key locations of contact points where trafficked victims are “handed over” (The illustration below shows how human trafficking crosses some borders), and apprehending the culprits.

(Trafficking in Women from Nigeria to Europe)

(http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?ID=318)

In closing, it is a known fact that human trafficking is an old trade. It thrives because it’s a lucrative business for people who engage in it regardless of the mental, emotional and physical trauma inflicted on the victims. But with strict imposition of the law, collaborative cooperation of agencies and NGOs across borders, and as importantly, availability of programs to educate and make them self-sufficient enough not to want to venture or send children to unknown places, or programs to rehabilitate and reintegrate victims, we can make this world a better and more secure place to live in.

Sources:

1. Human trafficking in Nigeria and its implications for food security (http://www.vri-online.org.uk/ijrs/April2010/human-trafficking-in-nigeria-and-its-implications-for-food-security.pdf)
2. Babies bred for sale in Nigeria - ENUGU, NIGERIA - Nov 09 2008 09:13 (http://mg.co.za/article/2008-11-09-babies-bred-for-sale-in-nigeria)
3. The Lawyers Chronicle (http://thelawyerschronicle.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=65:women-trafficking&catid=41:gender-issue&Itemid=54)
   
   
   
   
   
   
   By Lylin Aguas