Child Trafficking

Trafficking in children and women has prompted the establishment of international laws against such practices. Sex trafficking in girls and women is a global problem and it is found in most countries. Some countries provide a transit route for the victims. International law through the efforts of the United Nations, the United States and other organizations, has sought to eradicate this problem.

Women can be trafficked for the sex trade. Children are trafficked as domestic servants and also for the sex industry. Many remain locked up in basements and warehouses while they are being abused. War is one of the biggest contributers to the exploitation of women and children and to their trafficking across borders. Poverty drives many into the claws of traffickers.

Children are the most vulnerable group in all cultures. They are unable to protect themselves when abused by relatives or strangers, in peacetime and in war. I am profiling a few organizations that deal with this problem on an ongoing basis.

Marilyn.

Terre des Hommes A Swiss global child advocacy organization: http://www.childtrafficking.com/Content/aboutus.php


Department of State, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons US Department of State
http://www.state.gov/g/tip/


http://www.humantrafficking.org/content/about_us The purpose of this Web site is to bring Government and NGOs in the East Asia and Pacific together to cooperate and learn from each other’s experiences in their efforts to combat human trafficking. This Web site has country-specific information such as national laws and action plans and contact information on useful governmental agencies. It also has a description of NGO activities in different countries and their contact information.

United Stated Department of Justice (DOJ) Trafficking in persons — also known as "human trafficking" — is a form of modern-day slavery. Traffickers often prey on individuals who are poor, frequently unemployed or underemployed, and who may lack access to social safety nets, predominantly women and children in certain countries. Victims are often lured with false promises of good jobs and better lives, and then forced to work under brutal and inhuman conditions.

It is a high priority of the Department of Justice to pursue and prosecute human traffickers. Human trafficking frequently involves the trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation, a brutal crime the Department is committed to aggressively investigating and prosecuting. Trafficking also often involves exploitation of agricultural and sweat shop workers, as well as individuals working as domestic servants.

The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution outlaws slavery and involuntary servitude. The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (VTVPA) supplements existing laws and establishes new tools and resources to combat trafficking in persons and to provide services and protections for victims.

http://www.usdoj.gov/whatwedo/whatwedo_ctip.html

Coalition Against Trafficking in Women The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW) is creating real and lasting changes in countries around the world by launching and supporting anti-trafficking projects in areas that few programs address: the links between prostitution and trafficking; challenging the demand for prostitution that promotes sex trafficking; and protecting the women and children who are its victims by working to curb legal acceptance and tolerance of the sex industry.

Please join CATW in putting a donation to work in our various campaigns and projects (See CATW’s campaign page). Your gift will support projects that prevent the sexual exploitation of women and children in 15 different countries.

The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW) is a non-governmental organization that promotes women's human rights. It works internationally to combat sexual exploitation in all its forms, especially prostitution and trafficking in women and children, in particular girls.

CATW is composed of regional networks and of affiliated individuals and groups. It serves as an umbrella that coordinates and takes direction from its regional organizations and networks in its work against sexual exploitation and in support of women's human rights.

CATW brings international attention to all forms of sexual exploitation, including prostitution, pornography, sex tourism, and mail order bride selling. Working with national and international policy makers, women's rights and human rights advocates, and the United Nations, it promotes the fundamental human right of women and children, in particular, girls, to be free from sexual exploitation.

CATW prevents trafficking by educating boys and girls in schools and communities in different parts of the world and by training teachers, professionals, police, governmental authorities and the public about the harm of sexual exploitation and ways to resist and combat it.

CATW testifies before national congresses, parliaments, law reform commissions, regional and UN committees and commissions, and holds Category II Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Members serve as consultants to governmental commissions drafting new legislation on prostitution and sex trafficking, and against the sex industry.

CATW researches and documents the situation of women who have been trafficked and are in prostitution; educates the public about the extent of harm sustained by women and girls in prostitution; and galvanizes change through legislation and working with governments and international agencies to create/change/amend policy and legislation that support the right of every woman and girls to be free of sexual exploitation; and helps create and support alternatives for women and girls who have been sexually exploited.

http://www.catwinternational.org/about/index.php


United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

Virtually no country immune from human trafficking, UNODC report shows
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/press_release_2006_04_24.html