- What is " Trafficking in Persons "?
- According to the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, "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 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, 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.
- Trafficking in persons" is intended to include a range of cases where human beings are exploited by organized crime groups, where there is an element of duress involved and a transnational aspect, such as the movement of people across borders or their exploitation within a country by a transnational organized crime group.
- The process of trafficking takes place in three steps: Recruitment, Transportation & Exploitation of a person. It may also include a form of irregular migration, an organized crime, and a violation of human rights.
- Victims of trafficking frequently suffer rape, torture, debt bondage, as well as, other forms of physical, sexual and psychological violence.
2. What are the common forms of Trafficking in Persons:
- Labour exploitation (forced labour), Domestic servitude, all forms of sexual and commercial exploitation of human beings, Slavery and its similar practices (debt bondage, forced and underage marriage), forced organized begging, kidnap and sale of children, and trafficking in human organs.
3. Differences from smuggling of migrants:
- There are similarities and differences between smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons. Both are profitable business involving human beings and conducted by organized organizations, however there are differences:
· People can be trafficked within a country (domestic/internal trafficking) or across borders (international trafficking), while smuggling of migrants can only takes place across borders.
· Trafficking in persons is a crime against humanity, while smuggling of migrants is a crime against the state.
· Continuity of exploitation: The relation between the smuggled migrant and the smuggler ends after the process of crossing the international borders. In case of trafficking in persons, the relation between the trafficker and the trafficked person doesn't end. Victims are forced or deceived. The intent of trafficker to exploit them.
· Trafficking in Persons cases rarely include advanced payment, while the advances payment is a must in case of smuggling of migrants.
· Despite the clear distinction, a case of migrant smuggling can become a case of trafficking in persons. Smuggled migrants who are exploited at any stage of the process may become victims of human trafficking.