Sex trafficking overshadows forced labour

As awareness of human trafficking grows globally and governments, advocates and service providers push for prevention, protection and more support for victims, sexual exploitation continues to overshadow the more pervasive problem of labour trafficking.“People seem to clearly know what sex trafficking is, but have no concept of what labour trafficking is and what it can look like,” a senior attorney at the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST) in Los Angeles told reporters recently. Service providers working with trafficking victims say the laser focus on sex trafficking is undermining the fight against labour trafficking and exploitation, which requires addressing worker rights, immigration laws and other contributing factors. Research has shown that in Namibia, forced labour, including involving children, is prevalent.What does it look like?Special agent Kate Langston from the US Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service in the Houston, Texas warned that the myths about what trafficking looks like, perpetuated by the media featuring bruised females in chains, is a barrier to identifying and rescuing victims.“We can do all the education and awareness but I think there is still a misunderstanding of what trafficking actually is. If you look at all the posters out there, you see shackles and the women are beaten up. And yes, some are. But you have to remember that modern slavery is about a reusable commodity. So you don’t see a victim bound up, or else how are they going to look after your kids if they are in shackles?”She explained that to some degree, traffickers ensure that their victims are given a semblance of care, so that they are able to execute their duties and are not easily identified. The ways traffickers exploit modern-day salves is through a powerful cocktail of psychological abuse, threats, manipulation and intimidation, in addition to physical abuse on some occasions. Big numbersIt is estimated that globally, at least 25 million people, including children, are trafficked annually. Out of this number, an estimated 16 million people were subjected to forced labour in the private economy in 2016, and an estimated 51% were in debt bondage, where personal debt was used to forcibly obtain labour. An estimated 4.1 million people were subject to state-imposed forced labour, on average, in 2016. Comparably an estimated 3.8 million adults and 1 million children were victims of forced sexual exploitation in 2016. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) forced labour generates at least US$50 billion annually in illegal profits. The ILO report, Profits and Poverty: The Economics of Forced Labour, said two-thirds of the estimated total of US$150 billion, or US$99 billion, came from commercial sexual exploitation, while another US$51 billion resulted from forced economic exploitation.The ILO estimates that around US$34 billion is generated through forced labour in the construction, manufacturing, mining and utilities industries, and a further US$9 billion in agriculture, which includes forestry and fishing.It is estimated that private households save an estimated US$8 billion annually through forced domestic work, by not paying at all or underpaying domestic workers held in forced servitude. It is everywhereGlobally, trafficking survivors have been identified doing forced work in construction, restaurants, agriculture, seafood, commercial sex, strip clubs, housekeeping and business, door-to-door sales, carnivals, massage parlours, manufacturing and many other industries and sectors.Advocates and service providers say they have worked with trafficking victims in nursing homes, on the streets where they are forced to sell illegal contraband or legal commodities, in sport and many other areas that the public are not aware human trafficking exists in.In December 2016, the United States Diplomatic Security Service arrested a Texan whose company had brought workers into the country using legal work visas, but he had then forced them to work on farms in inhumane conditions for several years, before his arrest.Victims told law-enforcement they had been threatened with deportation and non-payment to keep quiet. It is estimated the trafficker owed the workers more than US$3 million in back wages at the time of his arrest. In another case, three people were found guilty of illegally recruiting, defrauding and exploiting 76 temporary workers on a farm, through debt bondage, threats and physical violence. A recent high-profile case in Texas involved a Nigerian woman who was lured to the United States to work as a nanny. She was forced to work almost around-the-clock, seven days a week, caring for the children and doing housework. She was forced to sleep on the floor and was only permitted to eat leftovers from the family’s meals. Cases involving diplomats exploiting domestic workers, who join their employers in new countries, are increasing around the world, experts say. A global problemIn September 2017, the Freedom Network USA - a coalition of 51 NGOs that provide services to and advocate for the rights of trafficking survivors in the United States - responded to the latest Trafficking in Persons (TIP) in the United States report with a serious concern.“There continues to be no systematic effort to identify and address labour trafficking, and government agencies continue to lack the knowledge and capacity to engage in effective outreach, education and investigation of the most egregious forms of labour exploitation,” the organisation said.Freedom Network USA further noted that the TIP report had highlighted “the continued failure of both congress and the federal government to give labour trafficking adequate attention.”Advocates further worry that only a fraction of trafficking cases in the United States’ federal criminal justice system are forced labour cases, compared to the majority that are sex trafficking cases. This despite the fact that legal service providers who work with trafficking cases consistently say the majority of their cases involve labour trafficking. But advocates agree the problem is not unique to the United States.National and international stepsLast year, Namibia deposited the instrument of ratification of the Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 with the director-general of the ILO, thereby becoming the 21st country to ratify the instrument. The protocol, adopted by an overwhelming majority by the International Labour Conference in 2014, reinforces the international legal framework for combating all forms of forced labour, including debt bondage, forced domestic labour and trafficking in persons.It calls on ratifying states to take measures to prevent forced labour, protect victims and ensure their access to remedies and compensation.The ILO has stated that ending modern-day slavery will require a multi-faceted response, but an important step is to implement and enforce stronger social protections to “offset the vulnerabilities that push people into modern slavery”.This includes stronger labour rights in the informal economy, where modern slavery flourishes. The ILO further emphasised that governments need to focus on gathering data on all forms of human trafficking, to help shape policies and other responses to combat human trafficking. The 2017 TIP report classified Namibia as a source and destination country for children, and to lesser extent women, who are subjected to forced labour and sex trafficking. Some victims of forced labour in Namibia are lured through offers of legitimate work for adequate wages, but are then subjected to forced labour in urban areas and on commercial farms. Critics have noted that Namibia lacks sufficient data and reliable information on the circumstances around trafficking and government’s response to the issue has been mixed, at times. Namibia’s deep-rooted social problems, including poverty, unemployment, housing, gender inequalities, discrimination of minorities and other issues, is fertile ground for human exploitation, experts say. *Namibian Sun journalist Jana-Mari Smith is in the United States on invitation by the US Department of State’s Foreign Press Centre. She has joined 19 other journalists from around the world to take part in an international reporting tour to create awareness and gain insight into combating human trafficking through prevention, protection and prosecution. JANA-MARI SMITH

Sex trafficking overshadows forced labour

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-15

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Sex trafficking overshadows forced labour

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-15

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