Trafficking Monitor is a blog I created and curate. It offers posts highlighting the multifaceted nature of human trafficking and forced/indentured labour. I draw on a diversity of sources for my posts. You are invited to recommend materials for posting.
Showing posts with label Sexually transmitted disease. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sexually transmitted disease. Show all posts
Human
trafficking inflicts significant physical, mental, and emotional harm
on its victims. The health consequences are dramatic and, in some
cases, even life threatening. Victims and survivors of human trafficking
confront a range of health issues from physical injuries and sexually
transmitted infections to PTSD, depression, anxiety and other
illnesses.
Although human trafficking has received increased attention in recent
years, responses to the problem remain rooted primarily in criminal
justice frameworks. Law enforcement is necessary but not sufficient.
Health care professionals can play a key role in addressing human
trafficking.
Victims of human trafficking present at a wide range of health care
facilities, including hospital emergency departments, community health
centers, primary care clinics, school clinics, specialty clinics (e.g.,
obstetrics/gynecology, psychiatry), health department clinics, dental
clinics, and other service providers. In an article on sex trafficking of children and adolescents published last month in the New England Journal of Medicine,
Ellen Wright Clayton and I wrote that health care professionals can
help identify at-risk and exploited youth, provide needed treatment to
survivors, and ensure that these individuals are connected with
appropriate services. These roles apply not only to assisting
individuals trafficked into the sex trade but also in identifying and
responding to labor trafficking victims. Recent research has reinforced
the need to recognize and respond to all forms of trafficking. Labor
trafficking, which frequently has been overlooked, implicates numerous
industries and businesses, including hospitality and tourism,
agriculture, construction, mining, fisheries, domestic service, hair and
nail salons, and many others.
It is critical that health care professionals and health law
attorneys recognize that the health sector provides an important
opportunity for early intervention and even prevention. For example, a
pimp who is exploiting a teenage boy or girl might still take that child
to an emergency department for treatment for various ailments.
Likewise, a rural community health center or pharmacy might be able to
identify trafficked agriculture workers who otherwise are housed in
remote areas that make it difficult to identify them. Health care
facilities must develop evidence-based protocols to respond effectively
in these and other situations. They must ensure that clinicians and
others who might come into contact with human trafficking victims are
trained to identify victims and respond appropriately.
Finally, this area is one in which medical-legal partnerships could
offer significant benefits. Many human trafficking victims confront a
host of legal issues and need assistance navigating systems and
accessing services. Where partnerships exist already, health lawyers
and clinicians would do well to explore how their medical-legal
partnership could expand to account for human trafficking. Where
partnerships have not yet been formed, the pressing needs of survivors
of human trafficking might provide the impetus to forge collaborative
working relationships among health care professionals and lawyers to
better serve vulnerable populations.
- Professor Jonathan Todres
Thousands of Afghan girls and boys are trafficked into neighboring countries and sold into slavery each year. Though it is taboo, prostitution is alive and thriving - at the cost of those forced to work in it.
It is the oldest trade in the world and exists in probably every country in the world. Yet prostitution is not a dream job. Most female sex workers are forced to make a living through prostitution.
In conservative Afghanistan, prostitution is illegal. But that doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. Human trafficking is booming - young women are being sold and sent over to neighboring countries, mostly to Pakistan.
Heather Barr says the government has a number of other issues to tackle as well
Many people are unaware of just how many women are forced to work as prostitutes, according to Heather Barr of Human Rights Watch's Asia Division.
"HRW did a report that was released in March this year about women in prison for moral crimes. And one of the things that I found really surprising by doing those interviews, was how many women I met, had been forced in prostitution often by their husbands and in-laws."
Women sold as commodities
The reason, she explained, that women were forced into the sex trade by their families was due to poverty and drug addiction - usually of a husband or brother or both. The families often saw women as a source of money and take advantage of it.
Women from Pakistan are also been bought and sold to Afghanistan. Poor or practically non-existing security at the border means criminals smuggling and trafficking goods and people can easily get away with it. When the trafficked people arrive on the other side of the border, they are fully at the mercy of their pimps.
One woman from Pakistan who wished not to be named is now in Jalalabad - far away from her home in Karachi.
"We are poor and helpless. What are we supposed to do? We don't have anything to eat. That's why the "big man" brought us here from Karachi. No one likes doing this work, but I don't have any other choice," she told DW.
The young woman speaks neither of Afghanistan's official languages - Dari and Pashtu. She said she didn't know who to turn to and was afraid of the consequences she would face should she run away and the authority of her pimp, the "big man," as she called him. But he himself also cited poverty as a reason to force women into prostitution.
Sahar Gul, 15 years old, was tortured for months by her in-laws for refusing to prostitute herself
"I do this because I am poor and I want to be able to feed my children. I am aware that there are dangerous consequences, harsh punishments for this kind of work - for instance death or being ostracized and other things."
But he insisted he did not force anyone to work - that the women who work for him prostituted themselves because they wanted to.
Prostitution, whether out of one's own will or not, is illegal according to Islamic law. The cleric Nek Mohammad works for the court in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar and offers consultations on Islamic law. All forms of position are illegal, he told DW.
"At least four people have to bear witness to the crime. And should the prostitute or the person who buys her be married, his or her spouse will have to be stoned. If there are no married people involved, then they receive lashings."
Disease
But punishment is not the only thing to worry about. Most of the prostitutes are unaware of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) such as HIV and do not use condoms. The number of cases of STDs had sharply risen in the past few months, according to Dr. Baz Mohammad Sherzad, head of Nangarhar province's health ministry.
Prostitutes pose as beggars on the streets of Afghanistan
"Our doctors confirm that many young men who have come to us recently have had urinary tract infections and sexually transmitted diseases. If prostitution is allowed then it is no wonder there is an increase in such problems in Nangarhar."
Nonetheless, doctors should promote educational campaigns, said Sherzad. The government should tackle the problem. Yet the government had a whole set of other problems: "Think about child marriage, forced marriage, domestic violence, the sale of women for marriage and other purposes, forced prostitution, self immolation - honestly the government hasn't been dealing very effectively with any of those issues," said Heather Barr.
She said it was unfortunate that there was a lack of political will to solve these issues. Progress was only made very slow.
As of recently, it is now illegal to lock up women for running away from home, which is just a further symptom of the violence and forced prostitution women continue to face in Afghanistan.
Human trafficking could be described as a practice in which a person or group of persons convey other human beings (mostly children and women) with or without their consents, or of their parents from one destination to another for one’s own economic benefits. It could also be described as transportation of persons through the use of force, threat, harassment etc. for the purpose of exploiting such persons economically.
Experience has shown that most of the victims of human trafficking are children, young girls and ladies, including women. They fall victims of this illegal practice because they were deceived into believing that they would provide better educational opportunities, quality life, job opportunity, overseas adventures etc. The unsuspecting group of people ignorantly falls for the tricks, and ended up their lives in miseries. Some of them (victims) are forced into prostitution adventures overseas, some died of ritual killings, some contracted sexually transmitted diseases, some continued to live in permanent slavery while a host of others completely lost touches with their homes, thus wandering from one place to another without any hope of living a meaningful life.
Factors that are responsible for Children and Women Trafficking
(i) Poverty – Many people fall victims of human trafficking because of their inability to afford basic needs of life such as good food, decent housing, shelter and security. As a result of the nature of growing poverty level in different parts of the world, many could not take care of themselves; talk the least of their immediate family as they continue to live in penury. Unfortunately, most of the people in rural areas are the worst hit of the problem of human trafficking.
(ii) Illiteracy – Illiteracy is the inability to read or write. Some victims’ level of ignorance accounted for their inability to resist temptation of human trafficking. Some parents have been deceived so easily by human traffickers because of their inability to read and write.
(iii)Greed – Greed is another factor that is responsible for human trafficking. Because of the untamed desire to acquire the good things of life, many people are desperate to go to any extent to achieve their desire. For instance, many victims consented to their trafficking because of their greediness.
(iv)Parental negligence – Some parents are the main cause of trafficking their children. It has been observed that many parents try to dodge their responsibility thereby leaving their children to fend for themselves. On some occasions, some parents give their consent to trafficking their children with the hope of getting returns from such dealings.
(v) Weak legislation – It is quite unfortunate that many perpetrators of human trafficking have been getting away it, while those caught in the act have not received commensurate punishment to the offence committed. This situation has made it difficult for the perpetrators to desist from this inhuman act.
(vi) Connivance of law enforcement agents – Children and women trafficking is also brought about as a result of connivance of law enforcement agents with human traffickers. Some law enforcement agents have been working hand in gloves with human traffickers and shielding them from prosecution, especially when such perpetrators are influential or because they benefit from the proceeds of such inhuman practice.
(vii)Peers Influence – Peers influence could also be said to be another cause of human trafficking. Many friends have been lured into the waiting hands of human traffickers by their friends. Sometimes, their inability to resist bad advice from their friends has ended them in the hands of traffickers.
(viii)Loss of hope and societal values – As a result of lost of hope in the social system emanating from moral decay and decadence in the society, there is total collapse of societal values, a resultant effect of which is the desperation of people to acquire material things at all costs. People are always eager to do anything for money regardless of the consequences.
(ix) Discrimination against women – As a result of the weak nature of the feminine gender, people have always taken such advantage to exploit them. The female gender has always being the major victim of human trafficking.
(x) Political instability – The perceived nature of political instability especially in the developing countries of the world has provided an avenue for people to perpetrate series of evil and inhuman acts, this has invariably provided a cover under which human traffickers perpetrate their evil.
Members of the Christian Medical Association (CMA) are preparing for a trip to Nicaragua to help victims of human trafficking.
Dr. Jeff Barrows (CMA)The team will work with a Christian outreach to help prostitutes find shelter and provide an alternative to prostitution for women in Managua. Dr. Jeff Barrows, who will lead the team, tells more about the upcoming trip.
"A medical team that is going to come in in approximately a week and work with the local group, they're called the House of Hope," he explains. "It was started by a woman who was the wife of a pastor down there.... She started it about five years ago because she became aware of a lot of young girls [and] young women who were trapped in prostitution and trafficking, and they needed a place to live in order to get out."
Dr. Barrows also reports that the women often do not have basic medical care. "So we're going to take a team in. We're going to be screening them for various sexually transmitted infections, such as HIV, and render any kind of medical care to them and to their families they need," he says, noting that there needs to be a more concerted effort to recognize and eliminate human trafficking both internationally and nationally.
President Barack Obama has proclaimed January as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. In that proclamation, the president notes that victims of human trafficking find it hard "to imagine that there might be a place of refuge" for them from their suffering and abuse.
Mitchell introduces bill targeting clandestine industry
By Robert W. Dalton
bob.dalton@shj.com
Published: Sunday, December 6, 2009 at 3:15 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, December 6, 2009 at 12:40 a.m.
It's a multibillion-dollar industry with thousands of units sold each year.
By the numbers
- It is estimated that at least 27 million people are enslaved around the world.
- About 800,000 people annually are trafficked across national borders. About 80 percent of these victims are women and girls, and up to 50 percent are minors. The majority of females are trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation.
- It is estimated that human trafficking is a $32 billion-a-year industry, making it the second most lucrative crime in the world, behind only the sale of drugs.
Every 10 minutes, a woman or child is trafficked into the U.S.
- Forced labor is most prevalent in five sectors of the U.S. economy: prostitution and sex services (46 percent); domestic service (27 percent); agriculture (10 percent); sweatshop/factory work (5 percent); and restaurant and hotel work (4 percent).
Source: Not for Sale
ON THE WEB
Not for Sale South Carolina: www.notforsalesc.org
The Polaris Project:
www.polarisproject.org
But it's not houses or cars that are being moved. The products are human beings.
Human trafficking victims are most often forced into prostitution. But they also are a source of cheap labor for sweat shops, farms and restaurants.
"There's a market, and that's the sad thing about it," state Rep. Harold Mitchell said. "A lot of people don't realize it's a problem, but it's something we need to nip quickly. We don't need to let it grow."
Mitchell, D-Spartanburg, has introduced a bill he hopes will do just that. If approved, the legislation would require a minimum sentence of five years and raise the maximum penalty to 30 years -- up from the current maximum of 15 years -- for anyone convicted of human trafficking.
Mitchell learned about the scope of the problem while attending the Clinton Global Initiative's annual conference in September. Founded by former President Bill Clinton in 2005, the initiative's goal is to partner governments with private-sector groups to confront pressing issues worldwide.
One of CGI's "commitments to action" is to halt human trafficking. Mitchell said he was happy to get on board.
"You can spend money and create programs, but I wanted to deal with it from a policy standpoint and see if we could make a dent in it," he said.
Mitchell's bill still might not be enough. The current law has been on the books since 2006, and the next human trafficking case tried in state court will be the first.
Seventh Circuit Solicitor Trey Gowdy said the problem of charging someone with human trafficking is twofold. First, law enforcement might not be aware that such a charge is an option. Second, suspects might be charged with other crimes, such as kidnapping, because the penalties are greater.
"If all (Mitchell's bill) does is raise awareness that it is either an issue or a potential issue and puts law enforcement on notice that while considering charges they have an additional arrow in their quiver, then it's a good thing," Gowdy said.
Maryse Gartner, the state director of Not For Sale South Carolina -- an organization whose mission is to raise awareness and assist law enforcement and victim's groups in combating human trafficking -- said the crime is largely underreported because people don't know what to watch for.
"People may see something fishy going on, but they don't know how to identify it or who to call," she said.
Gartner said the ribbon of interstates 26 and 85 that made the area a popular route for running drugs and guns between New York and Miami also make it attractive for human traffickers.
"It's just blossomed in the state because of where we are located," she said.
Gartner said many victims are Hispanic or Asian, but authorities are starting to see more Eastern Europeans.
But it's not just people from other countries who are victims of trafficking. U.S. citizens, especially runaways, also are susceptible. Anyone younger than 18 who is forced into prostitution is, according to the law, a trafficking victim.
Karen Stauss, legal counsel for the Polaris Project, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that provides direct services to human trafficking survivors and assists law enforcement, said an estimated 100,000 children become trafficking victims in the U.S. each year. The hidden nature of the crime makes hard numbers difficult to come by, but she said trafficking has increased over the past 10 to 15 years because of globalization.
"People have the ability to cross borders," Stauss said. "They are seeking a better life, but it makes them more vulnerable. They don't know where to turn for help when people are exploiting them."
Stauss said more than 40 states have laws specifically dealing with human trafficking. About 95 percent of all trafficking cases are prosecuted at the state level.
"Local law enforcement are the eyes and ears," Stauss said. "For them to be engaged and understand what the crime is, we need to have that law on the books in states."
Gartner said it's important to raise awareness of trafficking "in all constituencies," including law enforcement.
"It's kind of like a dirty little secret," she said. "It's awful, and people don't want to think about it. But we have to make the general public aware."
Mitchell's bill is a good start, Gartner said.
"We're thrilled that he's realizing how important it is to increase the penalties. We're not going to be able to abate the problem without the traffickers realizing that we're not going to put up with it in this state," she said.
U.S. Attorney Walt Wilkins has prosecuted two human trafficking cases in South Carolina, one in Columbia and one in Greenville. Wilkins said the cases were "casually" connected.
Wilkins said putting together a trafficking case that results in a successful prosecution requires a great deal of law enforcement resources. Undercover work is nearly impossible because of language barriers and the tight ranks of the traffickers.
"Unless there's a tip, law enforcement is not going to know about it," Wilkins said. "It's very clandestine."
In the Columbia case, a 16-year-old Mexican girl was forced into prostitution. She was moved around to different brothels in several states and forced to see about 10 men a day.
She was able to slip away from her captors and call family in Mexico. Her family got in touch with authorities, who were able to find her by using a series of informants.
In the Greenville case, a john contracted a sexually transmitted disease. He told the nurse treating him the locations he had frequented and the nurse reported it. Law enforcement interviewed the john, who was willing to help.
Wilkins said another issue is what to do with the victims, who are breaking the law.
"If they are truly human trafficking victims, you don't want to incarcerate them," he said. "But you have to do something with them."
Gartner said trafficking victims often blame themselves for their circumstances.
"When law enforcement goes in to investigate, the victim will not identify as a trafficking victim," she said. "They may think they are responsible and may not understand that they've been abused and battered until after a conversation with a victim's advocate."
Wilkins has put together a coalition of victim's assistance groups -- Gartner is one of the members -- and law enforcement officials. Their goal is to have a process in place to deal with all aspects of a trafficking case.
"This is really a strong group that has gotten together," Wilkins said. "If another case comes along, we'll be prepared to handle all the issues that come up."
HIV/AIDS has been multiplying human misery across the world. It obstructs development efforts. The infected become a burden on their country. In Bangladesh, Haiti, India, and Nepal - no more than half of the women population has heard of AIDS. Out of ignorance, people indulge in risky behaviour, increasing the risk of infection. A comprehensive awareness drive can ensure better protection from infection.
Trafficking and gender violence increase the risks of AIDS infection as do dowry, early marriage and polygamy. According to a research done by Bangladesh Extension Education Services (BEES), poverty, illiteracy, food insecurity, lack of healthcare, and disempowerment of women can be contributing factors in the spread of HIV infection. Addressing these social issues requires integrated training programmes to suit the needs. Life skills training for the underprivileged should ensure that the message is conveyed to the target groups in the way they understand it. They should be encouraged to participate in training programmes for prevention of HIV/AIDS. What is more is that there should be enough efforts to provide timely life-skills training to prevent infection.
Social mobilisation is important to make HIV/AIDS prevention training programmes effective. It makes the programmes cost effective and helps achieve the desired outcome. Social mobilisation stimulates the people in a community to participate in reproductive health awareness. It can strengthen the programme by generating interest among the participants. Utilisation of local resources would make the prevention programme more effective.
Case studies would motivate the trainees on how to gain from the life-skills training programmes to overcome social disparities. HIV positive person could be invited to training sessions as resource persons to share their experience. Advocacy sessions would be useful for the training programmes. Doctors, teachers, marriage registrars, social workers, community-based organisation leaders, local government representatives and other influential persons can be local policy makers. The HIV prevention programme will gain from their involvement. They should be properly oriented on the social issues to contribute to prevent the spread of HIV infection and reduce the vulnerability of the people in local communities.
The vulnerable people could be turned into potential human resources by raising their awareness on reproductive health and HIV/AIDS. Motivation and awareness would develop their coping ability to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections. According to a research on reproductive health literacy done by Rainbow Nari O Shishu Kallayan Foundation in 2008 both in rural and urban areas of Bangladesh, awareness of AIDS is, by and large, lower among rural men and women than among urban men and women.
Awareness of AIDS is poorer among men and women with little or no schooling and training than those with more schooling and training. That is why, there is an urgent need to improve the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of the disadvantaged community people especially in rural areas. In this regard, behaviour change communication (BCC) should be brought about through integrated training activities. BCC can encourage the core groups in a community to leave their bad practices and gather and update knowledge and information needed to prevent HIV/AIDS.
The writer, a deputy director, Bangladesh Extension Education Services, can be reached at e-mail: anirudhaalam@yahoo.com
... the TED India summit which concluded in Mysore November 7.
... Dr Sunitha Krishnan's talk on human trafficking.
... the pictures of the three and five year olds who had been subjected to unimaginable abuse. Who had been burnt and brutalized beyond belief.
.. about the little girl dumped on the street after being gang-raped so violently that her intestines had come out.
... how we as a society punish and ostracise the victim, instead of the perpetrators of such perverse acts.
Sunitha should know. She was a social activist in her teens, working for the upliftment of the Dalit community, when she was gang-raped by eight men.
"The rape itself was not so much of an issue for me," she says. "For some reason I was never too traumatized by that. But what happened afterwards is what made me think. The way my family treated me, the way the world treated me, the way people around me treated me. We as a civil society victimize victims - stigmatize victims of rape and sexual slavery."
"I was angry. Knowing that thousands and millions of children and young people are being sexually violated every day. And that there's this huge silence about it, it angers me. This huge normalization of that angers me." she says. "I was angry, and then I did something about it."
So in 1996, after receiving a doctorate in social work, she co-founded Prajwala, or "eternal flame," with Brother Jose Vetticatil, (who passed away in 2005).
Since then, she has rescued some 3,500 girls from brothels and pimps, risking her own life and limbs. She has been threatened, pushed around and beaten (She has difficulty hearing from one ear owing to one such assault). One of her close aides was murdered. The brothel owners and traffickers have put a price on her head. As she admits: "In another two or three years I'll be gone."
She has tried to give these youngsters she rescues a new lease of life through education, rehabilitation, training, and most importantly, compassion.
Like the three and five years olds whose pictures Sunitha brought to the TED conference, most of them eventually succumb to sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS. And life is not easy for those who survive, either.
As Sunitha explains, whenever my girls go somewhere seeking a job, and admit they are from Prajwala, doors are shut in their faces.
"It's nice to talk about human trafficking in an AC hall. But it isn't nice when a child who has been rescued wants a place in your community," she says, pointing out that a friend of hers refused to accept a girl from her shelter as a domestic help, because she feared that she might have AIDS.
And to add insult to injury, the landlord of the little shelter she runs in Hyderabad for rescued children with HIV has served her notice, ostensibly because he wants to build a multiplex instead. The real reason: the neighbourhood is uncomfortable with the presence of such children there.
Special: Child Abuse
"Even though I am willing to pay twice the market rates, I am unable to get a place," says Sunitha. "My biggest problem," she says, "is not the mafia, it's civil society."
According to Wikipedia, "Human trafficking is the fastest-growing criminal industry in the world, with the total annual revenue for trafficking in persons estimated to be between USD$5 billion and $9 billion. The Council of Europe states, "People trafficking has reached epidemic proportions over the past decade, with a global annual market of about $42.5 billion. "
And if you thought this was something that happened only to the less privileged sections of society, Sunitha points out that one of the recent victims was an IAS officer's teenage daughter, lured over the Internet by someone who promised to turn her into a movie-star. What that someone didn't tell her was that it was a real life horror-movie.
When Sunitha finished speaking, there was a minute of stunned silence before the entire audience erupted in a standing ovation.
Mukul Deora, the young musician who was up next, admitted that he was so shaken by Sunitha's tale that he needed a few extra minutes to get his act together.
Now for the good news: Before the day ended, Sunitha had raised some $100,000 for her cause. And perhaps for a new shelter.
Before the day ended, Google had pledged to hire and train 10 of her students and children.
The bad news? All that is just a drop (a very precious drop, no doubt) of good in an ocean of slime.
Human trafficking for sexual exploitation is a huge criminal industry. And like all industries, there is a demand and supply chain. Sunitha and many others like her try to deal with the supply side of it, by attempting to stem it.
But as long as there is a demand, there will always be a supply.
Excuse me while I sharpen my axe.
To contact Prajwala, click here. To support or just thank Sunitha, mail her at sunitha_2002@yahoo.com
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