Part 14 - Human Trafficking: Causes, Consequences and Counter-Measures

Prevention In Countries of Origin

The prevention of trafficking in countries of origin should be a priority issue. Preventing people from becoming trafficked is better than arresting traffickers or assisting victims. Awareness-raising campaigns inform potential victims about the risks of responding to dubious job advertisements or of migrating abroad without valid travel documents and work permits.

Movies, TV spots, posters and leaflets have raised awareness particularly about the danger of forced prostitution. However, campaigns have faced several obstacles:

• Awareness-raising campaigns were at times perceived as efforts to prevent people from migrating to wealthier countries.

• Institutions launching campaigns have often failed to coordinate their activities, reflecting, among other problems, fierce competition for funding.

• Awareness-raising campaigns have not always targeted specific groups, undermining the effectiveness of campaigns.

A further challenge has been a lack of resources for the re-integration of trafficked persons into their countries and communities of origin. Now, there are more programs that provide social services, education and vocational training to trafficked persons and high-risk groups.

In order to find sustainable alternatives to irregular migration and trafficking, it is crucial to identify which skills are needed on labor markets. Preventive programs must address the socio-economic root causes of trafficking. They must mitigate discriminatory practices affecting women and minorities and improve the economic prospects of high-risk groups such as single mothers, orphans, drug addicts, victims of domestic violence and members of ethnic and religious minorities.

Given the difficult economic conditions in many parts of the world, preventing trafficking "at the source" is a long-term challenge and requires more attention and funding. Anti-trafficking objectives should be mainstreamed within development programs.

Part 13 - Human Trafficking: Causes, Consequences and Counter-Measures

Prevention in Countries of Destination

Destination countries can assist trafficked persons by providing them with residency and employment permits. Rapidly sending trafficked persons back to their countries of origin is problematic. Sometimes, criminals wait for a deported person and then re-traffick him or her. Moreover, a trafficked person, if sent back without receiving long-term assistance, faces the same socio-economic conditions that made him or her leave the home country in the first place. Assisting trafficked persons in countries of destination is a pre-requisite for the successful prosecution of traffickers as well since prosecutors need victim-witnesses. Destination countries have not provided sufficient incentives to trafficked persons to testify against traffickers.

Stopping trafficking at borders is another strategy. But simply strengthening border controls can have a counterproductive effect because migrants (especially those without valid papers) become more reliant on the services of human smugglers and traffickers. Moreover, identifying trafficked persons at border crossings is difficult because migrants often do not know that they are being trafficked during the migration process.

Human trafficking, as other forms of crime, relies on the interplay of supply and demand. To reduce the supply of services offered under conditions of coercion and deception, it is crucial to reduce the demand for these services. That means to tell buyers of sexual services, cheap labor or human organs that trafficking violates human rights and supports organised crime. However, relatively few programs so far have targeted the demand side of trafficking.

One of the most controversial questions of how to reduce trafficking for sexual purposes pertains to prostitution policies. There is a fierce debate over whether the legalisation or prohibition of prostitution is the best strategy against trafficking. Proponents of legalization argue that prohibition drives the sex industry underground, with harmful consequences for the health and safety of women. Proponents of criminalisation argue that legalisation increases trafficking and prevents the police from protecting women. They also believe that the distinction between voluntary and forced prostitution is a false one, arguing that prostitution is inevitably exploitative. A compromise between these two positions, now debated in several countries, is to punish clients who knowingly purchase services from trafficked persons.

Part 12 - Human Trafficking: Causes, Consequences and Counter-Measures

Protection

Protecting and assisting trafficked persons is a crucial element of anti-trafficking efforts. However, coordinating the various programs and activities that have been put in place has proven challenging. Efforts have tended to be project-based and fragmented, lacking an overall strategy and division of labour among stakeholders, who have often competed for funding and influence. Now, national action plans, referral mechanisms, standard operating procedures, and memoranda of understanding foster better cooperation and coordination between and among governments, government agencies, international organisations and NGOs.

Another shortcoming of anti-trafficking efforts in recent years has been, paradoxically, a focus on trafficking. Victims of domestic violence or various forms of exploitation have received relatively little support. In Southeast Europe, for example, some shelters protecting and assisting victims of domestic violence have had to close for lack of funding. Donors should address the root causes of trafficking, which include violence, gender discrimination, and poverty.

The prevention of trafficking in countries of origin should be a priority issue. Preventing people from becoming trafficked is better than arresting traffickers or assisting victims. Awareness-raising campaigns inform potential victims about the risks of responding to dubious job advertisements or of migrating abroad without valid travel documents and work permits.

Movies, TV spots, posters and leaflets have raised awareness particularly about the danger of forced prostitution. However, campaigns have faced several obstacles:

• Awareness-raising campaigns were at times perceived as efforts to prevent people from migrating to wealthier countries.

• Institutions launching campaigns have often failed to coordinate their activities, reflecting, among other problems, fierce competition for funding.

• Awareness-raising campaigns have not always targeted specific groups, undermining the effectiveness of campaigns.

A further challenge has been a lack of resources for the re-integration of trafficked persons into their countries and communities of origin. Now, there are more programs that provide social services, education and vocational training to trafficked persons and high-risk groups.

In order to find sustainable alternatives to irregular migration and trafficking, it is crucial to identify which skills are needed on labor markets. Preventive programs must address the socio-economic root causes of trafficking. They must mitigate discriminatory practices affecting women and minorities and improve the economic prospects of high-risk groups such as single mothers, orphans, drug addicts, victims of domestic violence and members of ethnic and religious minorities.

Given the difficult economic conditions in many parts of the world, preventing trafficking "at the source" is a long-term challenge and requires more attention and funding. Anti-trafficking objectives should be mainstreamed within development programs.

Part 11 - Human Trafficking: Causes, Consequences and Counter-Measures

Prosecution

Often in the past, trafficked persons were not treated as victims of crime, but arrested and deported for overstaying their visa, working without a permit or violating prostitution laws. Now, governments generally agree that trafficked persons must not be treated as perpetrators. Directing the focus of law enforcement against traffickers is not only a moral necessity, but also a precondition for successfully prosecuting traffickers: Trafficked persons must be given incentives to contact NGOs or the police and testify against traffickers as witnesses of the prosecution.

Another problem has been a relatively lenient treatment of traffickers. In many cases, traffickers have not been arrested or convicted. If the latter is the case, sentences have tended to be short. This is partially due to the perception that human trafficking is a crime less serious than the trafficking in drugs or weapons. In addition, corruption has allowed traffickers to avoid spending extended periods of time behind bars.

Numerous programs have strengthened the capacity of national law enforcement and criminal justice systems and raised awareness about the need to protect the rights of trafficked persons.

A perpetual problem of coercive anti-trafficking efforts is that traffickers respond innovatively to law enforcement operations. In Southeast Europe, for example, raids on bars and brothels have pushed the sex industry underground. Many women and girls are now forced to provide sexual services in private apartments. Moreover, traffickers now bring fewer women across international borders since internal trafficking reduces risks and costs.

Part 10 - Human Trafficking: Causes, Consequences and Counter-Measures

Legislative Measures

Over recent years, many states have passed laws that criminalise human trafficking and assist trafficked persons. Moreover, existing laws have been amended to harmonise national legislation with international standards.

The UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons signed in 2000 has served as a catalyst for the criminalisation of human trafficking around the globe and contributed to filling legal loopholes and harmonising national laws.

Enacting new laws and bringing existing ones in line with each other is important as traffickers have benefited from inadequate legislation as well as from a lack of coherence between laws in different countries and between different sources of law.

Part 9 - Human Trafficking: Causes, Consequences and Counter-Measures

Challenges to Counter-Trafficking Efforts

Human trafficking is a complex problem, and counter-efforts need to address causes and consequence in a comprehensive and balanced manner. Over recent years, governments, international organizations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have created a governance system that encompasses five distinct yet complementary approaches:

legislative measures

• prosecution of traffickers

• protection of trafficked persons

• prevention of trafficking in countries of origin and prevention of trafficking in countries of destination.

Although progress has been made, counter-trafficking faces numerous challenges. These five approaches will be described in Parts 10-14 of this series of blogs.

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Part 8 - Human Trafficking: Causes, Consequences and Counter-Measures

Human Trafficking and Migration

Human trafficking is often seen as synonymous with irregular migration. To be sure, many persons from poor countries who cannot migrate legally are lured to affluent countries by traffickers promising employment and other opportunities.

However, trafficking does not need to involve the crossing of international borders, and not all irregular migrants are victims of trafficking. When trafficked persons are treated as irregular migrants, there is a risk of double victimisation. The deportation of victims of trafficking to their home countries not only fails to take into account the interests and needs of trafficked persons, but also undermines efforts to prosecute traffickers. After all, victims refrain from contacting the authorities for fear of deportation and deported persons can no longer serve as witnesses for the prosecution.

Finally, a focus on irregular migration tends to put the blame on sending countries, obscuring the fact that the demand for sexual services and cheap labor in affluent countries is a major driving force behind trafficking.