Sex Trafficking

How Conflict and Displacement Fuel Human Trafficking and Abuse of Vulnerable Groups. The Case of Colombia and Opportunities for Real Action and Innovative Solutions

Citation:

Nagle, Luz Estella. 2013. “How Conflict and Displacement Fuel Human Trafficking and Abuse of Vulnerable Groups. The Case of Colombia and Opportunities for Real Action and Innovative Solutions.” Groningen Journal of International Law 1 (2): 1-53.

Author: Luz Estella Nagle

Abstract:

Disaffected, impoverished, and displaced people in weak and failing states are particularly vulnerable. Human trafficking exploits social and political turmoil caused by natural disasters, economic crisis, and armed conflict. The exploitation and forced servitude of millions of trafficking victims take many forms. Women and children are trafficked into becoming child soldiers and concubines of illegal armed groups, men, women and children are trafficked into forced labor and sexual slavery, forced to sell drugs, steal, and beg money for the criminals controlling them, and thousands are coerced or forced into a growing black market trade in human body parts. The growth in illegal mining operations by illegal armed groups and organized crime is also fueling conditions for forced labor. Trafficking victims are dehumanized and suffer grave physical and mental illness and often die at the hands of their captors and exploiters. Colombia is particularly afflicted by the scourge of human trafficking. All the elements of modern-day slavery and human exploitation are present in this Latin American state that is struggling to overcome decades of internal armed conflict, social fragmentation, poverty, and the constant debilitating presence of organized crime and corruption. Women’s Link Worldwide recently reported that human trafficking is not viewed as an internal problem among Colombian officials, despite estimates that more than 70,000 people are trafficked within Colombia each year. This article examines human trafficking in its many forms in Colombia, the parties involved in trafficking, and the State’s response or lack of response to human trafficking. The article also presents innovations that might be effective for combating human trafficking, and proposes that Colombia can serve as an effective model for other countries to address this growing domestic and international human rights catastrophe.

Keywords: Colombia, human trafficking, trafficking of women and children

Annotation:

Quotes:

“Of the estimated 70,000 Colombian women and children who fall prey to human trafficking each year, many enter one of about 560 trafficking pipelines within Colombia, and about 254 of trafficking pipelines out of Colombia into Ecuador and Venezuela, and into Europe (Spain, Germany and Holland), Asia (China, Japan, and Singapore), North America and Central America, and the Middle East (particularly Jordan and Iran).” (26)

“Coincidentally, [the county/district] Sucumbios encompasses most of the 30 crossing points for weapons smuggling, drug trafficking and human trafficking, and establishes the link between the products trafficked and the routes used to transport different types of illicit goods and trafficking victims.” (28)

Topics: Armed Conflict, Corruption, Displacement & Migration, Economies, Poverty, Gender, Women, Girls, Boys, Post-Conflict, Sexual Violence, Sexual Slavery, Trafficking, Human Trafficking, Sex Trafficking Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Colombia

Year: 2013

Women, Brokerage and Transnational Organized Crime. Empirical Results from the Dutch Organized Crime Monitor

Citation:

Kleemans, Edward R., Edwin W. Kruisbergen, and Ruud F. Kouwenberg. 2014. “Women, Brokerage and Transnational Organized Crime. Empirical Results from the Dutch Organized Crime Monitor.” Trends in Organized Crime 17 (1-2): 16- 30.

Authors: Edward R. Kleemans, Edwin W. Kruisbergen, Ruud F. Kouwenberg

Abstract:

This paper analyzes the role of women in various types of transnational organized crime and tests the ‘gendered markets’ hypothesis by Zhang et al. (Criminology 45 (3):699-733 2007) for a wide cross-section of 150 cases from the Dutch Organized Crime Monitor. The main information sources for the Dutch Organized Crime Monitor are closed Dutch police investigations into criminal groups, often spanning a period of several years. Following four data sweeps, a wide cross-section of 150 cases was collected about various forms of organized crime (period 1994-2011): ‘traditional’ drug trafficking cases (cocaine, heroin, and cannabis), but also other—less frequently prioritized—phenomena such as synthetic drugs (production and export), human smuggling, human trafficking, and fraud and money laundering. The paper discusses several important theoretical perspectives from the organized crime literature: the gendered markets hypothesis; the social embeddedness of (transnational) organized crime: and the idea of brokerage. Furthermore, empirical data are presented on how often women play a (prominent) role in different types of criminal activities and which roles they play. These findings are related to the ‘gendered markets’ hypothesis and alternative explanations. Further qualitative analysis is presented on the transnational aspects which can be discerned in the studied cases: transnational marriage and transnational relationships; language and mediation; and migration and legal status. Finally, the main conclusions are discussed as well as their theoretical and empirical relevance.

Keywords: women, crime, organized crime, brokerage, social networks, theory

Annotation:

Quotes:

“In 102 cases, women were involved as suspects. Overall, we gained data on 247 women, their roles, and the context of the criminal groups and the criminal activities in which they were involved. This means that11% of all suspects (N= 2295) were female. Many of the criminal activities concerned various forms of ‘transit crime’: international smuggling activities, such as drug trafficking, smuggling illegal immigrants, human trafficking for sexual exploitation, arms trafficking, trafficking in stolen vehicles, and other transnational illegal activities, such as money laundering, fraud, and evasion of taxes (e.g. cigarette smuggling, oil fraud, and Value Added Tax fraud).” (8)

For human trafficking for sexual exploitation, 21% of the suspects were female. This is the largest percentage in the study. (9)

“Women are not absent and women play also other roles than victim roles, but still the picture of ‘men trafficking women’ prevails.” (11)

Topics: Corruption, Economies, Gender, Women, Sexual Violence, Female Perpetrators, Male Perpetrators, Trafficking, Drug Trafficking, Human Trafficking, Sex Trafficking

Year: 2014

HUMAN TRAFFICKING AROUND THE WORLD: HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT

Citation:

Hepburn, Stephanie, and Rita J. Simon. 2013. HUMAN TRAFFICKING AROUND THE WORLD: HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT. New York: Columbia University Press.

Authors: Stephanie Hepburn, Rita J. Simon

Abstract:

An examination of human trafficking around the world including the following countries: United States, Japan, United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Colombia, Iraq, Syria, Canada, Italy, France, Iran, India, Niger, China, South Africa, Australia, United Kingdom, Chile, Germany, Poland, Mexico, Russia, and Brazil. (WorldCat)

Annotation:

Table of Contents:

Introduction

Part I: Work Visa Loopholes for Traffickers
1) United States
2) Japan
3) United Arab Emirates

Part II: Stateless Persons
4) Thailand
5) Israel & The Occupied Palestinian Territories

Part III: Unrest, displacement, and Who is in charge
6) Colombia
7) Iraq
8) Syria

Part IV: Conflation
9) Canada

Part V: Conflicting Agendas
10) Italy
11) France

Part VI: Gender Apartheid
12) Iran

Part VII: Social Hierarchy
13) India
14) Niger
15) China

Part VIII: Muti Murder
16) South Africa

Part IX: Hard-to-Prove Criterion and a slap on the wrist
17) Australia
18) United Kingdom
19) Chile
20) Germany

Part X: Transparent borders
21) Poland

Part XI: Fear Factor
22) Mexico

Part XII: Poverty and Economic Boom
23) Russia
24) Brazil

Conclusion

*Each Chapter follows the following format with some variations:

Introduction
As a destination
Internal trafficking
Trafficking abroad
What happens to victims after trafficking
What happens to traffickers
Internal efforts to decrease trafficking

 

Quotes:

"Devestation from a natural disaster...creates a sudden high demand for low-wage and largely unskilled labor. Disruption of the traditional labor supply leaves room for illicit contractors to move in, and new workers can be brought in unnoticed." (19)

"There continue to be more criminal convictions of sex traffickers than of forced-labor traffickers [However, this number of individuals victimized by forced labor may be increasing]." (32)

"Many experts state that the yakuza (organized crime) networks play a significant role in the smuggling and subsequent debt bondage of women--particularly women from China, Thailand, and Colombia--for forced prostitution in Japan. Determining the exact extent of yakuza involvement is difficult because of the covert nature of the sex industry. Consequently, the yakuza are able to minimize people's direct knowledge of their involvement...The yakuza networks work with organized crime groups from other nations, such as China, Russia, and Colombia." (49-50)

Topics: Economies, Gender, Women, Men, Girls, Boys, International Law, International Human Rights, Multi-National Corporations, Rights, Human Rights, Women's Rights, Sexual Violence, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, Sexual Slavery, Trafficking, Human Trafficking, Labor Trafficking, Sex Trafficking Regions: Africa, West Africa, Americas, Central America, North America, South America, Asia, East Asia, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Europe, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Oceania Countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Niger, Palestine / Occupied Palestinian Territories, Poland, Russian Federation, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America

Year: 2013

An Analysis of the Coninutation and Expansion of Transnational Organized Crime: The case of Human Trafficking in Mozambique

Citation:

Devor, Camilla Pahle. 2013. “An Analysis of the Coninutation and Expansion of Transnational Organized Crime: The case of Human Trafficking in Mozambique.” Master's Thesis. Stellenbosch University.

Author: Camilla Pahle Devor

Abstract:

In 1992, warring factions in Mozambique put an end to 15 years of violence and instability. By signing the General Peace Accord in Rome, the civil war was officially over, and postconflict reconstruction could begin. The post-conflict state has been struggling with high poverty, weak infrastructure and the burden of returning refugees as well as internally displaced people (IDP’s) in the aftermath of the war. Moreover, in recent years, increasing domestic activity on the part of transnational criminal syndicates has become a major national and regional security dilemma.

In this study, Mozambique, as a post-conflict state has been examined to identify the most important factors that lead to the increase and continuation in transnational crime in terms of human trafficking. Using prevailing state theories and post-conflict theories within the field of Political Science and analyzing Mozambique from the conceptual theoretical lenses of Max Weber, Charles Tilly, Shmuel N. Eistenstadt, and several other scholars, it is argued that there are numerous elements present within the state that have led to an increase in crime. These are first and foremost the (neo) patrimonial features of the state, corrupt state-officials, the state’s pluralist legal-system and a general lack of public trust in the legitimacy of the government.  Incomplete post-conflict reconstruction efforts, resulting in lack of public goods, such as health-care, schooling and jobs along with a culture of exploitation and objectification of women and deep-rooted gender-inequality in Mozambique is argued to provide criminal syndicates with an opportunity to capitalize on organized crimes such as trafficking of humans.

In recent years, positive developments manifest themselves through the international recognition of human trafficking and domestic ratifications of international laws and protocols to combat human trafficking. While Mozambique has ratified “The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children” this study reveals state factors that make the elimination of the crime of human trafficking in Mozambique difficult. The findings of the study are symbolic of a globalized problem. Combating transnational crime does not depend solely on international, regional and domestic cooperation through laws and regulations; it also necessitates increased national efforts in dealing with the root-causes of trafficking and to increase the political and public awareness in the country towards this human rights violation.

Topics: Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Globalization, Governance, Post-Conflict Governance, International Law, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Rights, Human Rights, Trafficking, Human Trafficking, Sex Trafficking Regions: Africa, Southern Africa Countries: Mozambique

Year: 2013

Cross-Border Trafficking in Nepal and India—Violating Women’s Rights

Citation:

Deane, Tameshnie. 2010. “Cross-Border Trafficking in Nepal and India—Violating Women’s Rights.” Human Rights Review 11 (4): 491-513.

Author: Tameshnie Deane

Abstract:

Human trafficking is both a human rights violation and the fastest growing criminal industry in the world. This article examines cross-border trafficking of girls and women in Nepal to India. It gives a brief explanation of what is meant by trafficking and then looks at the reasons behind trafficking. In Nepal, women and children are trafficked internally and to India and the Middle East for commercial sexual exploitation or forced marriage, as well as to India and within the country for involuntary servitude as child workers, domestic servants, circus entertainment, and factory workers. Nepal and India are both signatories to international conventions and bound by domestic law to combat trafficking, and yet, this scourge continues. There are many laws in place, both in Nepal and India, which regulate the trafficking and prostituting of girls and women. This article looks at how effective these laws and regulations actually are and will look at the reasons for the continuation of trafficking. Despite the formal recognition of girl trafficking as a major problem and the existence of laws to curtail it, trafficking continues. The major problem with Nepal’s and India’s domestic laws is in the lack of enforcement. Finally, this article will look at ways to fight trafficking and make the governments of India and Nepal more effective in their fight against trafficking.

Keywords: Trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation, slavery, sale of humans, human rights

Annotation:

  • Article is mostly devoted to descriptive coverage of the specific international conventions, international and domestic (Nepal & India) laws, and protocols that relate to trafficking as well as penalties and the failures of the Indian and Nepalese governments to appropriately comply and implement international standards.

Topics: Corruption, Gender, Women, Girls, Governance, Rights, Human Rights, Sexual Violence, Sexual Slavery, Trafficking, Sex Trafficking Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: India, Nepal

Year: 2010

Shan women and girls and the sex industry in South Asia; political causes and human rights implications

Citation:

Beyrer, Chris. 2001. “Shan women and girls and the sex industry in South Asia; political causes and human rights implications.” Social Science & Medicine 53, 543-50.

Author: Chris Beyrer

Abstract:

The human rights abuses which occur during civil conflicts pose special threats to the health and lives of women. These can include rape, sexual violence, increased vulnerability to trafficking into prostitution, and exposure to HIV infection. The long-standing civil conflict in the Shan States of Burma is investigated as a contributing cause to the trafficking of ethnic Shan women and girls into the Southeast Asian sex industry, and to the subsequent high rates of HIV infection found among these women. The context of chronic human rights abuses in the Shan states is explored, as well as the effects of recent forced population transfers on the part of the Burmese Military Regime. Rights abuses specific to trafficked women may further increase their vulnerability to HIV and other STD. The need for a political resolution to the crisis in Burma is discussed, as are approaches aimed at preventing trafficking, empowering women already in the sex industry, and reducing the risks of HIV and other STD among these women and girls.

Keywords: Shan, Burma, Trafficking, human rights, HIV/AIDS, sex industry

Annotation:

Quotes:

“Given the chronic state of poverty, uncertainty, and threats to life and well-being, it should not be surprising that so many Shans have fled the Shan States, as refugees and as migrant or contracted workers to Thailand. Nor should it be surprising that trafficking networks have developed to move these workers from Shan areas into Thailand and onward to work sites throughout the country. (Beyrer, 1998?) The Thai government’s bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that 375,000 Burmese, at least 2/3 of whom are Shans, were working illegally in Thailand in 1997. The Thai government and NGOs all agree however, that the actual figures are much higher, and typical estimates ranged from 900,000 to 1.2 million in 1997. During Thailand’s long economic “boom” period, these workers were tacitly welcomed, and did a significant portion of Thailand’s manual labor, on construction crews, road building, as agricultural and forest workers, and for women, as domestics and in the sex industry. In all of these industries, including sex work, Shan workers are illegal, vulnerable to exploitation, and subject to harassment and arrest by the Thai authorities.” (544-545)

“Although abduction happens, as does outright sale of daughters among the poorest of the poor, the trafficking road usually starts with a job offer. A girl is offered work as a waitress, a domestic, or in manual labor. Her family usually gets some money as an advance payment charged against future labor…This payment is the start of the debt-bondage. There are a limited number of trafficking routes into Thailand and all require bribes along the way. The three principal trafficking routes have been established through interviews with trafficked women. They include the Kengtung-Tachilek-Mae Sai-Chiang Rai route, a river route from eastern Shan State on the Kok river, to Mai Ai at the northern end of Chiang Mai Province, and down to Fang, and a route slightly further south, which crosses from the Shan hills to the Thai Province of Mae Hong Sorn. The bribes required to cross these borders are added to the women’s debt.” (546) 

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Gender, Women, Girls, Health, HIV/AIDS, Rights, Human Rights, Women's Rights, Sexual Violence, Rape, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, Sexual Slavery, Trafficking, Human Trafficking, Sex Trafficking Regions: Asia, Southeast Asia Countries: Myanmar, Thailand

Year: 2001

Trafficking of Women in Nigeria: Causes, Consequences and the Way Forward

Citation:

Akor, Linus. 2011. “Trafficking of Women in Nigeria: Causes, Consequences and the Way Forward.” Corvinus Journal of Sociology and Social Policy 2 (2): 89-110.

Author: Linus Akor

Abstract:

The phenomenon of the trafficking of women, especially of young girls and women into exploitative sexual and commercial labor, has recently begun to attract local, national and international attention from world leaders, academics, the mass media, advocacy groups, the clergy and humanity in general. This is against the back drop of the fact that the trafficking of women has a number of far-reaching socio-economic, health and political consequences. Several factors, among them poverty, unemployment, ignorance and family size have been implicated as being reasons why women fall easy preys to the antics of traffickers. From available statistics, we can say that about 500,000 women are brought into the United States of America and Europe yearly for sexual and domestic servitude. Of the over 70,000 African victims of women trafficking, Nigerian women account for 70 percent of those trafficked to Italy alone. Fighting the menace requires a coordinated and concerted push from all stakeholders. This paper presents the causes and consequences of the trafficking of women from Nigeria to America and Europe. Empirical evidence indicates that the activities of traffickers, corrupt embassy officials, the country’s porous borders, poverty, refusal of victims to expose traffickers, delay in prosecuting apprehended culprits and biting youth unemployment have “conspired” to undermine the battle against the illicit trade. The paper makes far-reaching recommendations about how to mitigate the identified obstacles.

Keywords: trafficking of women, poverty, prostitution, traffickers, Italo, madam

Topics: Corruption, Economies, Poverty, Gender, Women, Girls, Trafficking, Human Trafficking, Sex Trafficking Regions: Africa, West Africa, Europe, Southern Europe Countries: Italy, Nigeria

Year: 2011

Gender, Labour and the Law: The Nexus of Domestic Work, Human Trafficking and the Informal Economy in the United Arab Emirates

Citation:

Mahdavi, Pardis. 2013. “Gender, Labour and the Law: The Nexus of Domestic Work, Human Trafficking and the Informal Economy in the United Arab Emirates.” Global Networks 13 (4): 425–40.

Author: Pardis Mahdavi

Abstract:

Based on ethnographic fieldwork with female migrants in the United Arab Emirates, the focus of this article is on the confluence of human trafficking discourses, gendered migration, domestic work and sex work in the UAE. I explore three main findings. First, domestic work and sex work are not mutually exclusive. Second, women choose to enter sex work in preference to domestic work because of poor working conditions in the latter. Third, global policies on human trafficking that seek to restrict female migration have inspired female migrants in the Gulf in search of higher wages and increased autonomy to look for employment in the informal economy. Employing a theoretical lens that emphasizes structural violence, the article chronicles the individual and macro social factors structuring the transition of female migrants from the formal economy of domestic and care work into the informal economy of sex work.

Keywords: sex workers, human trafficking, gulf countries, domestic work, middle east, informal economies

Topics: Displacement & Migration, Migration, Forced Migration, Economies, Gender, Women, Livelihoods, Sexual Livelihoods, Sexual Violence, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, Trafficking, Human Trafficking, Sex Trafficking Regions: MENA, Asia, Middle East Countries: United Arab Emirates

Year: 2013

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