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Fact sheet on human trafficking

Over the past decade, trafficking in human beings has reached epidemic proportions. No country is immune. The search for work abroad has been fuelled by economic disparity, high unemployment and the disruption of traditional livelihoods. Traffickers face few risks and can earn huge profits by taking advantage of large numbers of potential immigrants.

Trafficking in human beings is a crime in which victims are moved from poor environments to more affluent ones, with the profits flowing in the opposite direction, a pattern often repeated at the domestic, regional and global levels. It is believed to be growing fastest in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. In Asia, girls from villages in Nepal and Bangladesh – the majority of whom are under 18 – are sold to brothels in India for $1000. Trafficked women from Thailand and the Philippines are increasingly being joined by women from other countries in Southeast Asia. Europol estimates that the industry is now worth several billion dollars a year.

Trafficking in human beings is not confined to the sex industry. Children are trafficked to work in sweatshops as bonded labour and men work illegally in the “three D-jobs” – dirty, difficult and dangerous. A recent CIA report estimated that between 45,000 to 50,000 women and children are brought to the United States every year under false pretenses and are forced to work as prostitutes, abused labourers or servants. UNICEF estimates that more than 200,000 children are enslaved by cross-border smuggling in West and Central Africa. The children are often "sold" by unsuspecting parents who believe their children are going to be looked after, learn a trade or be educated.

In many cases, trafficking patterns are also related to conflict situations as combatants (or even peacekeepers) create a market for the services of victims and the effects of conflict erode the capacity of law enforcement and other authorities to combat the problem. As a form of organized crime, trafficking can also threaten sustainable development and the rule of law, as illicit profits are used for corruption, other criminal activities and, in some cases, terrorism. The assistance, support and rehabilitation of victims is also a significant problem, particularly in source countries where resources are often limited, and in the case of trafficked children, where the need is most acute.

Additionally, the spread of HIV/AIDS among victims trafficked into prostitution makes victim support and repatriation a public health issue. The treatment of victims as a commodity is also a violation of their most basic rights to freedom, autonomy and human dignity. Although these violations are committed by traffickers, it is important for States to respond to alleviate the harm caused to victims by trafficking where possible and, at a minimum, to not cause further harm. Measures against trafficking should also respect the basic substantive and procedural rights of those accused of trafficking.



Trafficking is fostered, in part, by social and economic disparities that create a supply of victims seeking to migrate and a demand for sexual and other services that provide the economic impetus for trafficking. Deterrence and criminal punishments are important elements, but addressing the underlying conditions which drive both supply and demand are also necessary. Another important preventive measure is public information to mobilize support for effective laws, raise the awareness of key law enforcement and other officials, and to make the socially marginalized groups from whom victims are often recruited more aware of the reality of trafficking and less likely to be deceived when approached by traffickers.


Date: 2015-12-18; view: 771


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