16 - Definition - Means/Approaches

Question 1

What is the UN Definition of People Trafficking?

Answer 1

“Trafficking in persons shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.” (UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, 2000)

Question 2

What is the UN Definition of People Smuggling?

Answer 2

“The procurement, in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material benefit, of the illegal entry of a person into a State Party of which the person is not a national or a permanent resident” (The UN Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, 2000).

Question 3

What are the elements of People Trafficking?

Answer 3

The Act
The Means
The Purpose

Question 4

The Act…

Answer 4

Recruitment

Transport

Transfer

Harbouring

Receipt of Persons

Question 5

The Means…

Answer 5

Threat or use of force

Coercion

Abduction

Fraud

Deception

Abuse of power or vulnerability

Giving payments or benefits

Question 6

The Purpose…

Answer 6

Exploitation, including:

Prostitution

Sexual Exploitation

Forced Labour

Slavery or similar practices

Removal of organs

Other

Question 7

What are the Approaches to People Trafficking?

Answer 7

Migration problem

Criminal problem

Human rights problem

Labour issue problem

Health/safety problem

Question 8

Trafficked victims?

Answer 8

Trafficked victims are identified as those persons who are exploited at the hands of their traffickers and victims of the criminality as defined by the Palermo Protocol. This definition is reflected in UK legislation.

Loss of freedom is a defining feature of trafficking. For example, trafficked victims are often not allowed to leave the premises where they are held or if they do, they are accompanied by a trafficker.

Victims suffer frequent and severe abuse, both physical and psychological. Violence and physical harm are the hallmarks of trafficked women, in particular.

Question 9

Is data accessible?

Answer 9

The lack of any systematic approach to the collection of international data makes the scale and nature of human trafficking difficult to access (see also International Organisation for Migration, 2001; Joint Committee on Human Rights, 2007).

Question 10

Global report on people trafficking…

Answer 10

Victims of 154 different citizenships have been identified in 124 countries worldwide (UNODC, 2014)

At least 510 trafficking flows have been detected (UNODC, 2014)

The majority of traffickers (64%) were convicted in their own country of citizenship (UNODC, 2014)

Question 11

Estimated profits of trafficking globally…

Answer 11

In a recent study, the ILO (2005) estimates that sexual and labour exploitation yields US$ 32 billion of profits a year to the actors involved.

This corresponds to an estimated US$ 13,000 of yearly profits for each forced labourer. Another estimated figure is the profit of criminal gangs from sex trafficking alone, which is conservatively estimated at US$ 5 to 7 billion a year, with Interpol giving a higher estimate of US$ 19 billion annually (ILO 2005, US State Department 2008).

Question 12

Links with other criminal networks…

Answer 12

Links may exist between international networks that conduct money laundering, trafficking of drugs, and trafficking of human beings.

Question 13

Key driving forces for the supply of trafficked people…

Answer 13

Poverty

Limited opportunities at home

Lack of education

Unstable social and political conditions

Economic imbalances

War and conflict

Cheap labour

Question 14

Theoretical Perspectives…

Answer 14

Rational Choice Theory - by Cornish & Clarke

Economic Theory – by Gary Baker

Note: Evidence suggests that traffickers operate according to rational economic business principles with complex profit and loss accounts, and that they treat victims as commodities (see Kelly and Regan, 2000; Salt and Stein, 1997).

Question 15

Internal trafficking?

Answer 15

Internal trafficking is characterised by the recruitment, grooming and sexual exploitation of young teenage girls in the UK by organised crime gangs. Investigations may arise in circumstances where a child has gone missing (often, but not limited to, children in local authority care). They may be sexually abused before being taken to other towns and cities where the sexual exploitation (prostitution) continues.

Question 16

Key Facts of People Trafficking in the EU/UK?

Answer 16

Between 100,000 and 800,000 people are trafficked into the EU each year

At a conservative estimate, there are at least 5,000 trafficking victims in the UK

About 8,000 women work in off-street prostitution in London alone, 80% of whom are foreign nationals

Over 1000 women trafficked into prostitution have been referred to the Poppy Project since March 2003

200-300 victims of trafficking for domestic labour register with the relevant NGO each year

It is estimated 330 child victims will be trafficked into the UK each year

About 60% of suspected child victims in local authority care go missing and are not subsequently found

There is long-term government funding for 35 places for victims in safe accommodation

92 people were convicted of sex trafficking and four for labour trafficking between 2004 and December 2008

There are only 100-300 prosecutions for trafficking across the EU each year
Each sex trafficker earns on average £500-£1000 per woman per week

Question 17

Routes for Human Trafficking

The Albanian Route

Answer 17

The trafficking route from Albania runs through Italy to France in order to end up eventually in Belgium. The victims leave Albania by boat to Italy.

This is the case for 85 per cent of the victims who come from Albania. Eventually they arrive by train or sometimes by car in Belgium.

Question 18

Routes for Human Trafficking

The Nigerian Route

Answer 18

The Nigerian trafficking route departs directly or indirectly through another Western African country, most of the time Ghana, by airplane or by boat to Italy, Germany, The Netherlands or Belgium.

The Nigerian route ran in 40 per cent of the dossiers through a neighbouring Western African country.

This is in most cases Ghana, but in some other cases it was Benin, Ivory Coast or Uganda., or they walk through the Sahara Desert into North Africa.

In other dossiers the victim travelled directly from Nigeria to Italy, the Netherlands or Germany.

Question 19

Routes for Human Trafficking

The Moldavian Route

Answer 19

The Moldavian route runs often through Romania to Serbia in order to arrive eventually in Belgium through the Albanian route.

Seventy-eight per cent of the victims leave from Moldova by car or by train to Romania. Then they go on by train, bus or in some cases on foot to Serbia.

From Serbia they go by car or in some cases on foot to Albania. Once in Albania they leave by boat to Italy and by train to France in order to finally end up in Belgium.

Question 20

Routes for Human Trafficking

The Russian-Ukranian Route

Answer 20

In this case one can trace two different routes.

The most important one runs via Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany to Belgium.

The alternative route runs to Serbia. The vehicles, which are mainly used during the transport, are train, bus and car.

Question 21

Countries ranked as very high and high origin countries for human trafficking, by region

Europe

Answer 21

Albania

Bulgaria

Lithuania

Romania

Czech Republic

Estonia

Hungary

Latvia

Poland

Slovakia

Question 22

Countries ranked as very high and high origin countries for human trafficking, by region

CIS

Answer 22

Belarus

Moldova

Russian Federation

Ukraine

Armenia Georgia

Kazakhstan

Uzbekistan

Question 23

Countries ranked as very high and high origin countries for human trafficking, by region

Africa

Answer 23

Nigeria

Benin

Ghana

Morocco

Question 24

Countries ranked as very high and high origin countries for human trafficking, by region

Asia

Answer 24

China

Thailand

Bangladesh

Cambodia

India

Laos

Myanmar

Nepal

Pakistan

Philippines

Vietnam

Question 25

Countries ranked as very high and high origin countries for human trafficking, by region

Latin America and Caribbean

Answer 25

Brazil

Cambodia

Guatemala

Mexico

Dominican Republic

Question 26

EU Strategy against trafficking 2012-2016

Answer 26

Identifying, protecting and assisting victims of trafficking;

Stepping up the prevention of trafficking in human beings;

Increased prosecution of traffickers;

Enhanced coordination and cooperation among key actors and policy coherence;

Increased knowledge of and effective response to emerging concerns related to all forms of trafficking in human beings.

Question 27

UK Strategy in combating people trafficking

Answer 27

Improved victim care arrangements

Enhanced ability to act early, before the harm has reached the UK

Smarter multi-agency action at the border

Better coordination of our law enforcement efforts within the UK

Question 28

Benefits of People Trafficking

Answer 28

Selling victims of human trafficking. The Home Office and the Scottish Executive (2007) report suggests that where victims are bought and sold in the UK, prices range from £500 to £8,000 per person, with an average of between £2,000 and £3,000. This average figure is not dissimilar to the figures noted in Webb and Burrows (2009), which state that women could be bought for between £3,000 and £4,000.

The earnings of trafficking victims. Webb and Burrows report a variable cost of between £150 and £1,000 earned per day for prostitutes in the off-street sex market, of which between 10 and 50 per cent would be kept by the prostitute – the remainder going to the operator. The same study notes that more money was seen to be gained from taking a cut of the prostitute‟s money rather than selling them, “as the margins between buying and selling would rarely exceed £500” (Webb and Burrows, 2009).

Debt bondage. A number of sources note the use of debt bondage by traffickers (Kelly and Regan, 2000; Somerset, 2001; Beddoe, 2007; Skrivánková, 2006; Home Office and the Scottish Executive, 2007; Webb and Burrows, 2009). The trafficker pays either part or all of the victim‟s expenses for travel and accommodation, and demands the money back from the victim on arrival in the UK. However, the debt is usually far higher than the cost and is impossible for the victim to pay back. Somerset (2001) reported that the size of the debt could be as large as £25,000.

Facilitating access to employment. Skrivánková (2006) quotes examples of agents charging people between £300 and £18,000 to arrange jobs in the UK (see also Webb and Burrows, 2009, p 25).

Rent and other expenses. Skrivánková (2006) quotes the example of Polish workers who were told they would have to pay £40 per week each to sleep on a kitchen or sitting room floor in the UK.

Question 29

People trafficking is a serious crime that can present prosecutors with challenges…

Answer 29

It is a crime that is clandestine; it is modern day slavery and victims may be physically or psychologically “imprisoned” in either residential properties (as domestic servants) or places offering sauna and massage services. They are not visible

Trafficked victims do not always wish, or are not always able to, co-operate with the authorities as they often fear the consequences of giving evidence against their traffickers

Victims of trafficking and slavery are by definition extremely vulnerable; the support required before and during trials to enable them to give evidence should not be underestimated

Victims of forced labour are reluctant to report; however bad their circumstances, they consider their situation here to be better than that offered in their home country.

People trafficking cases nearly always cross borders and jurisdictions, requiring investigations and evidence to be obtained from source and transit countries.

Question 30

Offences against People Trafficking in the UK…

Answer 30

Trafficking in prostitution - section 145 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002

Trafficking into the UK for sexual exploitation - section 57 Sexual Offences Act 2003 (These offences are amended with effect from 6 April 2013)

Trafficking within the UK for sexual exploitation - section 58 Sexual Offences Act 2003 (This offence is amended with effect from 6 April 2013)

Trafficking out of the UK for sexual exploitation - section 59 Sexual Offences Act 2003
(This offence is amended with effect from 6 April 2013)

Trafficking people for sexual exploitation - section 59A Sexual Offences Act 2003

Question 31

International and regional instruments against People trafficking

Answer 31

UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime

Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings

Question 32

Sentencing…

Answer 32

Rv Plakici [2005] 1 Cr.App.R.(S.) 19, Attorney General’s Reference (No 6 of 2004) dealt with a series of individual offences that amounted to an extremely serious case of trafficking. The offender had arranged for the illegal entry of women and young girls into this country in circumstances that involved both deception and coercion and forced them to work as prostitutes. Counts of illegal entry attracted sentences of five years, of living on immoral earning five years, of kidnapping ten years, and of incitement to rape, eight years. A total sentence of 23 years was imposed.

R v Maka [2006] 2 Cr.App.R.(S.) 14. Sentences totalling 18 years were upheld, on a guilty plea, in the case of a man who trafficked a 15 year old girl into this country and repeatedly sold her to others for the purposes of prostitution. The court endorsed the comment of the sentencing judge that human trafficking was a degrading activity producing untold misery around the world and that the case had echoes of slavery with the girl being sold from one procurer to another. It added that the offence was intended to embrace a wide variety of different forms of conduct, identified as trafficking for sexual exploitation.

Question 33

Combating People trafficking Globally

Answer 33

The Inter-Agency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Persons (ICAT) is a policy forum mandated by the UN General Assembly to improve coordination among UN agencies and other relevant international organizations to facilitate an holistic and comprehensive approach to preventing and combating trafficking in persons including protection and support for victims of trafficking.

UNODC

UNICRI

UNICEF

UNHCR

UNFPA

UNESCO

UNDP

UNAIDS

The World Bank

OHCHR

IOM

ILO

ICPO - Interpol

ICAO

DPKO

UN Women

Question 34

ICAT’s Objectives

Answer 34

To provide a platform for exchange of information, experiences and good practices on anti-trafficking activities of the partner agencies to share with Governments, international and regional organizations, NGOs and other relevant bodies.

To encourage, support and review the activities of the UN and other international organizations with the aim of ensuring a full and comprehensive implementation of all international instruments and standards of relevance for the prevention and combating of trafficking in persons and protection of and support for victims of trafficking.

To work towards a comprehensive, coordinated and holistic approach to human trafficking which is gender and age-sensitive and grounded in human rights based-approach

To draw on the comparative advantage of the respective agencies, promote effective and efficient use of existing resources, using, to the extent possible, mechanisms already in place at the regional and national level.