Trafficking in human beings: human rights and ... - unesdoc - Unesco

Introduction
Traffi cking in human beings 1 is a process, with people being abducted or recruited in the
country of origin, transferred through transit regions and then exploited in the country
of destination. In the case of internal traffi cking, all three stages occur within the borders
of a single country. Coercive or deceptive recruitment methods vary, as do transport
modes. Further, the forms of exploitation differ, although for several years the focus has
been on sexual exploitation rather than on forced labour and other forms of exploitation.
Inadequate knowledge of this crime is often a consequence of failure to identify victims
as such. Among those who are identifi ed, adult women are most frequently reported to
be traffi cked, followed by children. The factors that make people vulnerable to traffi cking
and exploitation are complex and determined, in part, by the stage of the traffi cking
process the victim is in. Often there are vulnerabilities related to the conditions in the
country of origin. Also the transport itself makes people vulnerable, as they may not
have proper documents or fi nancial means and, therefore, depend on traffi ckers. The
exploitation phase produces additional vulnerabilities, for example, when victims have
irregular status in the country or are physically isolated. Far less information on offenders
is available than on their victims. Traffi ckers can be involved in various functions – such
as, recruiters, transporters or exploiters – and various activities during different stages of
the traffi cking process, including forging documents, corruption and the withholding of
their victims’ documents. Organized criminal groups can be heavily involved in human
traffi cking, at different operational levels. 2
The number of people globally traffi cked across international borders is between 600,000
and 800,000 per year. The main criticism of human traffi cking estimates is that the ranges
are often excessively wide, sometimes as much as 10 times that of the low estimate. ILO
has estimated that the minimum number of persons in forced labour, including sexual
exploitation as a result of traffi cking, at any given time is 2.5 million. Of these, 1.4 million
are in Asia and the Pacifi c, 270,000 in industrialized countries, 250,000 in Latin America
and the Caribbean, 230,000 in the Middle East and Northern Africa, 200,000 in
1 The Council of Europe Convention Against Traffi cking in Human Beings, May 16 2005, CETS
no. 197, and the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Traffi cking in Persons,
Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational
Organised Crime, G.A Resolution 55/25, Annex II, UN Doc A/55/383 (Nov. 25, 2000),
refer to traffi cking in “human beings” and traffi cking in “persons” respectively. Throughout this paper
the terms are used interchangeably with human traffi cking.
2 UN.GIFT Traffi cking an overview. UN 2008, p. 1.
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