Refugees International: Articles: 16 Days of Action Against Gender-Based Violence: Human Trafficking

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16 Days of Action Against Gender-Based Violence: Human Trafficking

Kosovo 2005: Woman in camp talking
11/25/2006

Refugees International joins the 16 Days of Action Against Gender-Based Violence to focus attention on how the effects of displacement are experienced differently by men and women. RI is dedicated to building greater awareness of GBV and incorporates a gender analysis of the situation of all displaced people and peacekeepers.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING

Trafficking of persons remains one of most disturbing and overlooked forms of gender-based violence. Human trafficking involves the recruitment and transportation of people, whether by force or deception, across international borders for exploitive purposes. Victims, usually women or children, are often lured by promises of job opportunities or new lives abroad. In some cases, family members or close contacts sell them to traffickers.

Once trapped in a new country, trafficking victims are forced into a number of fields—the sex industry, factories, domestic servitude, marriage, or organ donation. Human trafficking is essentially a form of modern slavery and a huge business which generates annual revenues of $9.5 billion. The U.S. Department of State estimates that annually at least 600,000-800,000 people are trafficked worldwide, of which approximately 80 percent are women and girls and as many as 50 percent are minors. Although men are not as frequently victims as women and children, there are regular reports of men being trafficked for farm, construction, or industrial labor.

The risk of human trafficking escalates in armed conflict and post-conflict situations. Poverty, large-scale population movements, and the breakdown of law and order make populations affected by armed conflict especially vulnerable to trafficker’s coercion. RI recognizes the risk of human trafficking in conflict situations and has advocated for a more concerted international response to the practice. In 2004, RI traveled to Liberia and highlighted the problem of trafficking and called for UN peacekeeping forces to develop a more sensitive approach to combating human trafficking.

Introduction	Domestic Violence	Rape & Sexual Violence
Reproductive Health & HIV/AIDS	Disarmament, Demobilization, Reintegration & Repatriation (DDRR)	Human Trafficking
Child Soldiers	Sexual Exploitation & Peacekeeping	Additional Resources