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A DYNAMIC GLOBAL PICTURErecruiters and employers who deceive them, keeptheir identity documents and restrict their freedomof movement. Some have also reported sexual harassmentor threats of physical violence. 122 In 2003,the Turkish Government recognized the demand forforeign workers, including for the fi rst time domesticworkers, and introduced work permits that are nottied to a specific employer or “sponsor” as is the casein many Arab States.241. Deception and abuse of domestic workershave also been identified in the recruitment process.The current system of recruitment between manySouth-East Asian and Middle Eastern countrieshas become more “formalized”, but there are stillloopholes that make the recruitment tantamount totrafficking. Written contracts are often concludedbetween the recruitment agency and the employer.Some contracts impose penalties on domestic workersfor leaving their employment prematurely, which mayforce the worker to remain in an abusive situation.Furthermore, recruitment agencies are often involvedin the pre-migration training of domestic workers,where abuses are common.242. Employers’ attitudes also exacerbate the vulnerableposition of domestic workers. Employersprefer migrant domestic workers because they are lessdemanding and more flexible concerning workinghours.243. Unionization of domestic workers is fraughtwith obstacles. In some countries, legislation preventsdomestic workers from enjoying the right toorganize. Furthermore, trade unions face difficultiesin reaching out to domestic workers. 123 First, this isbecause the employer–employee ratio is the reverse ofthe normal pattern, in that there is generally one employeefor several employers. Second, working hoursvary from one situation to another and many domesticsdo not have a day off in the week when meetingscan be organized. Third, those most in need of supportare often confined to the household and have toresort to clandestine means of communication withthe outside world.Trafficking and forced sexual exploitation244. Many victims of forced sexual exploitationhave been deceived into this abusive treatment, afteroriginally contracting to undertake diverse economicactivities. In some countries it is commonplace forfemale migrants to apply for an “entertainment visa”.Such visa arrangements have come under strong criticismin recent years, as they often provide a legalcover for the trafficking of women into sexual exploitation.In Japan or Australia, for example, women haveentered the country legally under such visa arrangementsin the expectation of working in dance clubs,only to be forced later to provide sexual services aswell. Other common recruitment methods for forcedsexual exploitation are misleading media advertisements,individual traffickers posing as friends or relatives,or bridal agencies.245. Gender, age and racial discrimination as wellas the isolation of the work in hotels, private homesor brothels confined to certain districts are importantfactors that contribute to such sexual exploitationof women. On the demand side, a survey conductedwith 185 clients of prostitutes in countries includingItaly, Japan and Sweden found that demand formigrant and trafficked prostitutes follows a complexpattern. Certain groups of migrant prostitutesare viewed as working at the bottom end of the sexmarket, whereas local prostitutes are perceived asmore expensive. When asked how they would react iffaced with an unfree trafficked prostitute, only halfof the respondents would report the case to the police.Others openly admitted to a preference for young andunfree persons because they are more docile. 124246. The sex industry has become highly diversifiedand global in recent years. Technological developmentssuch as the Internet, as well as the proliferationof tourism, escort agencies, and media outlets thatadvertise sexual services, have all contributed to thegrowing demand for commercial sex. Some regions,such as south-eastern Europe, developed into a hubfor trafficking in women following war and steepeconomic decline. Many cases have involved a highdegree of violence, including abduction, starvationand locking up of victims. Recent reports suggest,however, that traffickers have adjusted their strategyto increased law enforcement by using more subtleforms of coercion that are difficult to identify. 125247. In Asia, the economic disparities in theGreater Mekong Subregion (GMS) fuel the traffickingof women and children from Myanmar, theLao People’s Democratic Republic and Cambodiatowards Thailand. Vietnamese women and childrenhave been trafficked to Cambodia for sexual exploitationand to China for marriage and domestic work. 126122. A. Içduygu; S. Köser Akçapar: The labour dimensions of irregular migration and human traffi cking in Turkey (unpublished document, 2004).123. ILO: Your voice at work, Global Report under the Follow-up to the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, ReportI(B), International Labour Conference, 88th Session, Geneva, 2000, pp. 31-32, para. 76.124. B. Anderson; J. O’Connell Davidson: Is traffi cking in human beings demand driven? A multi-country pilot study, IOM Migration ResearchSeries No. 15 (Geneva, IOM, 2003).125. Counter-Trafficking Regional Clearing Point: First Annual Report on Victims of Traffi cking in South-Eastern Europe (Vienna, Stability Pactfor South Eastern Europe Task Force on Trafficking in Human Beings (SPTF), International Organization for Migration (IOM), InternationalCatholic Migration Commission (ICMC), 2003).126. IPEC Mekong subregional project to combat trafficking in children and women, at www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/child/trafficking/index.htm .51
A GLOBAL ALLIANCE AGAINST FORCED LABOURMajor destinations for trafficking for forced prostitutionfrom Indonesia and the Philippines includeAustralia, Hong Kong, China, Japan, the Republicof Korea and Taiwan, China.248. Japan is a major destination country fortrafficked victims of sexual exploitation from allover the world. 127 Most have come from South-EastAsia, Latin America and recently also from easternEurope. Though illegal, prostitution is provided in“restricted sex-related business”. Powerful organizedcrime groups control the sex industry, and are alsoat the centre of human trafficking. ILO research hasshed light on the recruitment mechanisms and formsof coercion involved, in which victims have often respondedto seemingly legitimate job offers only to bedeceived about the real nature of their expected activities.Japan has recently embarked on a series of measuresto eradicate such exploitation, including strictenforcement of the rules for entertainment visas, financialassistance for victims to return home, and intensifiedcooperation with origin countries.Economic sectors, recruitment systemsand profits involvedEconomic sectors249. Rigorous work on the demand aspects ofhuman trafficking, including the economic sectorsand the profits involved, is still badly lacking.Labour shortages in particular sectors or areas in thedestination countries are one obvious factor behindthe growth in irregular migration. Other “pull” factorsinclude the existence of an undeclared informaleconomy where such migrants can easily find work.The instability of the jobs on offer can be a furtherexplanation. The trend towards subcontracting, withcomplex and often unregulated chains, is also a relevantfactor. Subcontracting can provide recourse to aflexible and cheap labour force without direct involvementin irregular employment practices. 128250. Most trafficked forced labour affects personsworking at the margins of the formal economy, withirregular employment or migration status. The sectorsmost frequently mentioned are agriculture orhorticulture, construction, garments and textilesunder sweatshop conditions, catering and restaurants,domestic work, entertainment and, of course,the sex industry. The more research is done, however,the more evident it is that coercive recruitment andemployment practices can affect migrant workers inother quite mainstream economic sectors, includingfood processing, health care and contract cleaning,mainly in private but also in public sector employment,such as the provision of health-care services.251. Much agricultural production has alwaysdepended on temporary labour during the harvestseason. Substandard housing and excessive workinghours have been longstanding problems. The bulk ofthe seasonal workforce is now comprised of migrants,some of them of irregular status, others comingunder seasonal work schemes negotiated betweengovernments and employers. Complex contractingand subcontracting chains are also a major feature,for example in the horticultural and food processingindustries. Changing consumer tastes, leading to anincreased demand from retailers for a year-roundsupply of much produce, have certainly had theirimpact on labour market trends. Groups of workerscan be required at short notice to work intensively forvery short periods. And with tremendous competitionover costs, there is a real risk that unscrupulouscompanies at the bottom of the supply chain can useforced labour.252. A feature of agricultural forced labour is that,at the upper end of these contracting chains, majorproduction and retail companies can be affected. Inthe United States, some of the farm labour contractorsaccused of coercive practices have supplied labourfor some of the largest citrus growers in the country.In the United Kingdom, major supermarkets havehad their reputations tainted by alleged links withcoercive gangmasters. This has led to concerns by employergroups to tackle the problem, either throughregulation or through seasonal work schemes to meetthe demand for temporary agricultural labour. Thespecial schemes themselves have been criticized, eitheron the grounds that applicants have to pay foraccess to such schemes, or because workers can be unlawfullyhired out to others by the company to whichthey have been supplied. But the schemes generallyprovide for some monitoring of working conditions,and thus build in a degree of protection against forcedlabour practices.253. The construction industry also displays characteristicsthat contribute to a demand for cheap andflexible labour. The major companies have either becomeinternational conglomerates or reduced theirlabour force through extensive outsourcing. Thus,the industry now tends to be organized aroundsmall and medium-sized companies that subcontractthrough a chain of multiple units. Large projectscan also be carried out by companies registeredoverseas, whose employment practices reflect conditionsin the home country, while labour contractorsplay an increasing role in hiring out short-termworkers to the companies. Construction cannot berelocated, and is notoriously subject to boom-andbusttrends. It also involves arduous and potentiallydangerous work, in which the small operator can127. The IOM estimates the number of foreign sex workers at 150,000. See: Traffi cking in Migrants: Quarterly Bulletin, No. 15, June 1997.128. For a review of these issues in Europe, see: G. Van Liemt: Human traffi cking in Europe: An economic perspective, Special Action Programmeto Combat Forced Labour, DECLARATION Working Paper No. 31 (Geneva, ILO, 2004).52
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A Global AllianceAgainst Forced Lab
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REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR-GENERALA glo
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ContentsIntroduction . . . . . . .
Page 8 and 9: Introduction1. Four years ago, the
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