Human Trafficking – An
Overview
A Human Security Crisis of Global Proportions
One of today’s biggest human rights crises is the international
trafficking of women, girls, men & boys into slavery.
Human trafficking is the third largest criminal industry
in the world, outranked only by arms and drug dealing. The
United Nations estimates that trafficking in persons trade generates anything up to $32US billion annually for traffickers.
The number of people trafficked each year is estimated by
most experts to be in the millions.
Given its current growth rate, which is fuelled by its high
profitability, low investigation rate and low prosecution
rate, human trafficking is expected by some to take over drug
trafficking as the second largest criminal industry in the
world within the next decades.
FAQs
Question 1: What is trafficking?
Human trafficking is the criminal and illegal trading of
human beings for the purpose of exploiting their labour. It
is defined by a movement (or migration) into a non-consensual
situation of exploitation (or harm) that results in the loss
of control by an individual over his or her situation. Trafficking
can occur within a country or across national borders.
The UN Trafficking Protocol of the Transnational Convention
on Organized Crime (known colloquially as the “Palermo
Protocol”) defines trafficking as:
| • |
(The movement) "The recruitment,
transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons". |
| • |
(The means) "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
or 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". |
| • |
(The purpose) "For the purpose
of exploitation". |
The Protocol notes that "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."
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Question 2: What is the difference between people smuggling and human trafficking?
People smuggling and trafficking in persons both involve the movement of people. In principle, trafficking in persons and people smuggling are distinctly different. Trafficking does not require an illegal border crossing, nor is it necessarily transnational, such as in cases of internal trafficking, whereas people smuggling always involves an illegal border crossing. While victims of people trafficking are regarded as commodities, individuals who are smuggled across borders are more like clients who pay for the service. It is the exploitative purpose that is at the core of trafficking and distinguishes it from other crimes.
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Question 3: What happens to the victims of human trafficking?
Because trafficking in humans has an element of force, abduction, fraud or coercion for an improper purpose, such as forced or coerced labour, servitude, slavery or sexual exploitation it can involve actual or threatened physical and psychological violence to the victims or their families. It usually means little or no recompense for labour - what ever that might mean in the individual cases. Trafficking removes freedom to come and go at will. Women, men and children are trafficked/exploited and enslaved for forced labour in the construction, agriculture and domestic sectors as well as for begging, prostitution, soldiering, bodily organs and in many other ways.
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Question 4: Does physical violence have to be involved in
human trafficking cases?
Answer: No. Under the federal law, an individual who uses
physical or psychological violence to force someone into a
labor or sex industry is considered a human trafficker. Therefore,
while some victims experience beatings, rape, and other forms
of physical violence, many victims are controlled by traffickers
through psychological means, such as threats of violence,
manipulation, and lies. In many cases, traffickers use a combination
of direct violence and mental abuse.
It is important to note that for minors force, fraud, or coercion
are not required elements of the crime, meaning that anyone
under the age of 18 in the commercial sex industry is a sex
trafficking victim.
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Question 5: How are the victims recruited?
The traffickers are well-organized, often in large international
and mafia criminal organizations. They can recruit through
newspaper ads offering opportunity and work abroad and through
a network of local recruiters who lie and cheat to catch the
victims. The recruiters can also be friends or community members
the victims have come to know and trust. They are often women
who easily build trust with their desperate countrywomen.
Each criminal network can employ up to 40 people, who deal
with everything from housing to travel arrangements. They
often include phony employment, travel and modeling agencies,
passport forgers, truckers in human cargo and brothels.
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Question 6: Why don’t victims escape?
Many victims try to escape but it is very difficult for them
to leave their situation. If caught, their punishment can
be horrific: beating, rape or death. Also, victims often have
no money, passport, family or friends—no way to escape
and nowhere to escape to. They very often do not speak the language of the country to which they have been trafficked.
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Question 7: Do victims always come from a low-income or poor
background?
No. Trafficking victims can come from a range of
backgrounds and many may come from middle and upper class
families. Poverty is one of many factors that make individuals
vulnerable to exploitation and trafficking.
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Question 8: Who is at risk of becoming a victim of human trafficking?
Since trafficking victims can be rich or poor, men or women,
adults or children, and foreign nationals or Australian citizens,
everyone is at risk for being trafficked. However, traffickers
typically prey on individuals who are vulnerable in some way
because they are easier to recruit and control. Some examples
of high risk populations include undocumented migrants, runaways
and at-risk youth, and oppressed or marginalized groups.
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Question 9: Trafficking in Australia?
Australia is a country of destination for trafficked persons. Women have been trafficked into Australia for sexual exploitation, domestic service, mail-order brides, sweat shops and manufacturing. Men have been exploited into working in slave like conditions in the construction and agriculture areas as well as hospitality. There have been some young children who have been trafficked for adoption. Child sex tourism involves Australian men travelling to Asian countries. The government has very strong laws in relation to this and there have been Australians prosecuted for this crime. People are trafficked into Australia from countries in south east Asia.
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Question 10: Do victims of trafficking self-identify as a
victim of a crime and ask for help immediately?
Often no! Victims of trafficking often do not see themselves
as victims and seek help immediately, due to lack of trust,
self-blame, or training by traffickers.
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Question 11: Does human trafficking only occur in illegal
underground industries?
While human trafficking occurs in illegal and underground
markets, it can also occur in legal and legitimate settings.
For example, common locations of trafficking include private
homes, large fancy hotels, nail salons, restaurants, bars,
and strip clubs.
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Question 12: Why is it important to have better estimates
of numbers of trafficking victims?
Even after nearly ten years of attention to human trafficking,
estimates of the number of human trafficking victims are very
limited and generally lack empirical merit. Trafficking is
a complex issue and it is reasonably argued that accurately
estimating the extent of such underground criminal activity
is a difficult task. Therefore, the counter-trafficking community
has yet to come up with reliable methodologies for getting
those numbers.
Without reliable numbers it is difficult to know if counter-trafficking
policies and interventions are making a difference. In addition,
limited resources are being allocated with little understanding
of the scale and scope of the issue. This lack of understanding
has significant impact on the efficiency and progress of counter-trafficking
interventions.
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Question 13: How can I submit a tip about a suspected trafficker
or trafficked person?
Contact the Australian Federal Police Transnational Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking Teams (TSETT) in your State:
| Canberra: |
02 6246 2348 |
| Sydney: |
02 9286 4294 |
| Melbourne: |
03 9607 7461 |
| Brisbane: |
07 3222 1490 |
| OR: |
1800 333 000 |
| |
1300 237 677 |
WEB: www.afp.gov.au
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Question 14: This website is excellent. How can I help spread
the word about it?
If you are a non-governmental organization, local law enforcement
agency, international company, or run your own website, you
can become a partner. Just follow the "Take Action"
icon and refer to the most appropriate advice. Join the growing
number of partners who are backing the effort to combat child
sexual exploitation internationally. Contact us to be added
to the list of partners and download banners for use on your
website.
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Question 15: What’s being done?
Domestically:
People trafficking is a complex crime and a violation of human rights. The Australian Government is committed to combating this crime and providing victims with Appropriate and humanitarian support.
Australian ratified the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime in 2004 and its supplementary Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children in 2005.
Australia’s anti-people trafficking strategy was established in 2003, with initial funding of $20 million over four years. A further $38.3 million over four years was allocated in the 2007-08 budget, including $26.3 million for new initiatives. Overall, Australia’s anti-trafficking strategy addresses the full trafficking cycle, from recruitment to reintegration, and lends equal weight to the critical areas of prevention, detection and investigation, prosecution and victim support.
From 1 July 2009, changes to the Support for Victims of People Trafficking Program (the Program) and the People Trafficking Visa Framework (the Visa Framework) will mean that victims of trafficking in Australia have access to a more flexible support framework for themselves and their families.
The Australian Federal Police work closely with State Police, Department of Foreign Affairs, the Office for Home Affairs, Department of Immigration and citizenship (DIAC) and other relevant government departments and NGOs.
The Australian Government works closely with our Asian and Pacific neighbours.
Internationally:
The challenge for all countries is to target the criminals who organise human trafficking schemes by exploiting desperate people. The United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime recognises that this is an international crime and therefore needs the cooperation of all countries. Up to date information can be obtained from the websites in the Key Links section of the Learn page of this website.
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