2002 Conference Abstract
A5: Human Trafficking: Raising Awareness
among Vulnerable Populations
Awareness of Human Trafficking Among Young People
in Latvia
Alison Y. Boak
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will be able to state the levels of interest in working abroad
among youth in Eastern Europe and the frequency with which young people
take appropriate precautions to prevent exploitation.
BACKGROUND
Young people in Latvia are often at risk of being trafficked or otherwise
exploited when working abroad. This research assessed awareness of human
trafficking and forced labor among youth in Latvia and investigated the
precautions taken to ensure the legitimacy and safety of job opportunities.
METHODOLOGY
Self-administered surveys in Latvian and Russian were distributed by trained
researchers to a sample of youth throughout Latvia. In-depth interviews
were conducted with homeless youth, orphans and victims of human trafficking.
PARTNERS
GENDERS Community Organization, Youth Health Center Council of Latvia.
RESULTS
Survey data was collected from youth (n=595) with a mean age of 18.1 years
(SD = 2.9). The sample was 51 percent Latvian and 38 percent Russian, and
about two-thirds female. Most youth were interested in working abroad, with
63 percent saying they would if the opportunity arose. Furthermore, 18 percent
had specific plans to work abroad in the next six months, and 13 percent
had worked abroad in the past. Although 84 percent had heard of trafficking
and 80 percent said trafficking is an important problem, only 55 percent
thought trafficking actually happens in Latvia. While 82 percent said they
had would have concerns about safety if going abroad to work, only 20 percent
thought they would be at risk for trafficking. Among those who had worked
abroad in the past, about 61 percent had left a copy of their passport with
a relative or friend and 54 percent had reviewed and signed an employment
contract. However, only 58 percent had checked to see if job opportunity
was legitimate.
CONCLUSIONS
While youth in Latvia are largely aware of human trafficking, most don't
believe it really happens in Latvia. Furthermore, while the majority of
youth are interested in working abroad, many don't know how to take basic
precautions to ensure their safety. These findings suggest that awareness
of the reality of trafficking needs to be raised among youth in Latvia and
that young people need instruction on how to take appropriate precautions
if they seek to work abroad.
ADDITIONAL AUTHORS
Kenneth W. Griffin, Debra Jones, Vita Karklina |
Trafficking of Women and Children: A Human Rights
Crisis
Rukhsana Gazi
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will recognize the local dynamics of the trafficking problem
in Bangladesh in terms of magnitude, mode, underlying factors, trafficking
routes and prevention activities.
PROJECT
In recent years, trafficking of women and children in Bangladesh has increased
significantly. Women and children are traded and exchanged for sexual slavery
and bonded labor across borders from Bangladesh to India, Pakistan and the
Middle East. The Family Health Research Project (FHRP) of International
Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh conducted a comprehensive
review on trafficking problem in Bangladesh identifying the research gaps
and program needs.
SETTING
Both government and NGOs (130) are involved with anti-trafficking activities
in Bangladesh. The ongoing activities are targeted research, anti-trafficking
networks, capacity-building, protection and prevention. In-depth interviews
of key informants (program managers), rescued women and children and convicted
prisoners were conducted. Newspaper clippings, research reports, journals,
inventories, booklets and newsletters were reviewed.
PARTNERS
USAID, Bangladesh, ATSEC Bangladesh (NGO network).
RESULTS
Estimate shows that 300,000 and 200,000 Bangladeshi children work in the
brothels of India and Pakistan, respectively. In Bangladesh, there are 66
refuge camps, cross-border families and 162 pocketed lands by neighboring
countries, all common sites for collecting victims. To procure victims,
traffickers use strategies such as false-marriage, false-parenting, false
love affair and allurement of job opportunities. The underlying factors
are categorized into two groups: 1) "push" factors support the supply side
and refer to conditions of the "sending" communities (low employment opportunities,
women's low status and vulnerability, including dowry payment and unregistered
marriage, broken family, urbanization, migration, etc.); and 2) the "pull"
factors support the demand side: wage employment, labor migration and prostitution.
The present findings are contrary to the common notion that prostitutes
are mostly forced; rather, circumstances such as divorce, desertion, deception
by men, allurement by pimps or sexual abuse in the workplace or the street
compelled them to join this business.
CONCLUSIONS
Gender discrimination, unemployment, unawareness and well-organized networks
of traffickers are the critical factors. A uniform plan of action, including
a mass media campaign on anti-trafficking issues involving the governments
and NGOs of this region, under a common legal framework needs to be developed
so that a coordinated approach toward the conviction of traffickers is possible.
ADDITIONAL AUTHORS
Ziaul Haque Chowdhury, S. M. Nurul Alam |
Addressing Trafficking Through Laws and Conventions
Susan Bloodworth
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will be able to: 1) define trafficking in persons; 2) identify
several international, regional and national anti-trafficking laws and conventions;
3) describe how these laws and conventions can be both helpful and harmful
in terms of human rights; and 4) name two Internet-based resources for keeping
up-to-date on trafficking laws and conventions, controversial issues, news
and events.
PROJECT
Trafficking in persons for sex work and other involuntary labor is a large-scale
international public health and human rights problem that requires recognition
and response from the public health community - international, regional,
national and local. PATH has been active for several years in raising awareness
of the scope and consequences of trafficking and building commitment among
the public health community to reducing trafficking and mitigating its harm.
SETTING
Worldwide.
PARTNERS
PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology in Health), Population Council,
the Initiatives against Trafficking in Persons Program of the Human Rights
Law Group, other groups concerned about trafficking.
RESULTS
This presentation will permit public health students and professionals participating
in this session to learn about significant international, regional and national
laws and conventions that define, outlaw and punish trafficking. It will
describe how some of these laws and conventions, while well intended, can
violate human rights and even worsen the situation of trafficked victims.
It will also suggest minimal guidelines for appropriate programs. Resource
materials will be distributed, including information on two anti-trafficking
listserves - Stop-Traffic and Vital Voices - as well as the proceedings
of a consultative meeting on anti-trafficking programs in South Asia, cosponsored
by the Population Council, UNIFEM and PATH. |
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