Combating Trafficking in Women and Children Should be High Development Priority, Experts Say

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia - Trafficking in women and children for forced labour and commercial sexual exploitation is a crime against humanity, and efforts to eliminate it should be an integral part of national policies addressing population, gender and reproductive health issues, an expert meeting agreed here today.

More than 60 parliamentarians, government officials and representatives of non-governmental organizations from over 25 countries from around the world gathered in Bratislava for the "Consultative Meeting on Trafficking in Women, Girls and Children". Various United Nations agencies were also represented at the international gathering, organized by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, with technical support from Kvinnoforum, a Swedish private organization that works on women's empowerment.

An increasing number of women and children, both girls and boys, are being trafficked in and outside of their countries every year, making trafficking the third largest source of profits from organized crime - after drugs and guns. The practice preys on poverty and exploits gender inequalities in poor communities, with desperation often leading parents into giving their children to traffickers - who may be men or women.

The largest source of externally trafficked persons is South-east Asia, where more than 225,000 people are trafficked each year. The region is also the major destination for sex tourism. The second largest source is the former Soviet Union and the countries of Eastern and Central Europe, which account for more than 175,000 trafficked persons annually. South Asia is the third largest source, followed by Latin America and Africa.

"We are here because of the victims and survivors of trafficking - the women, girls and boys who, for one reason or the other, are stripped of all their human rights and dignity and subjected to exploitation, neglect and abuse", said Mari Simonen, Director of the UNFPA Technical Support Division, at the meeting's opening. "If only our efforts contribute to the prevention of one more woman or child from being trafficked, or to the rehabilitation of one victim, then we shall consider our meeting successful."

Participants in the Bratislava meeting shared their experiences on the problem of trafficking and highlighted its detrimental effects on their populations. Special attention was devoted to the impact of trafficking on women's human rights and sexual and reproductive health, particularly in emergencies and crisis situations. Participants were also unanimous on the need to address trafficking as a development problem, closely dependent on the demand from the sex market.

The participants' three days of discussions led to the adoption of a set of proposals for UNFPA to pursue in its fight against trafficking. The recommendations are based on the Fund's comparative advantage in addressing gender equality, women's empowerment, violence against women and reproductive health and rights. The purpose is for UNFPA to boost awareness and understanding of the problem of trafficking and to contribute to its elimination. The recommendations focus on four specific areas of action, including prevention, services, advocacy and demand.

In order to prevent trafficking, participants recommended raising awareness and mobilizing individuals, families and organizations to monitor recruitment by traffickers and collect information on the practice within their communities. They also agreed on strengthening reproductive health services and rights education, especially for adolescents. That would contribute to the adoption of policies to prevent trafficking and sexual exploitation.

Participants also stressed the need for UNFPA to provide sexual and reproductive health services and education for trafficking victims and survivors, both in countries of destination and origin. Such services would include testing and counselling on sexually transmitted infection, particularly HIV/AIDS. UNFPA could also provide mobile services to deliver contraceptives and other reproductive health services to the affected groups.

As a way to boost advocacy for anti-trafficking efforts, participants recommended the establishment of regional networks to monitor and control trafficking activities. UNFPA can play a major role by promoting awareness of trafficking, both at the grassroots and the decision-making levels, and to develop early warning systems. The Fund could also encourage and help governments to develop the needed anti-trafficking legislation and to ratify existing international conventions and protocols on the subject.

Finally, participants agreed that the elimination of the demand for commercial sex should be viewed as a policy issue to be integrated in research and data collection.

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UNFPA is the world's largest multilateral source of population assistance. Since it became operational in 1969, it has provided more than $5 billion to developing countries to meet reproductive health needs and support sustainable development issues.

Contact Information:

Omar Gharzeddine
Tel.: +1 (212) 297-5028
Email: gharzeddine@unfpa.org