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Organisations Coming Together as One to Stop Human Trafficking
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11 February 2008,
By Damayanthi Hewamanna |
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Several companies and organisations came together as one in an initiative to fight human trafficking that is taking place in the country, region and globally. "Six hundred to eight hundred thousand humans are being trafficked and 80% of them turn out to be little girls and boys", USA Ambassador to Sri Lanka Robert O Blake stated.
USA Ambassador to Sri Lanka Robert O Blake addressing the gathering at the launch of National Initiative to fight Human Trafficking "I got into this initiative when I was invited for a launch of a Tsunami housing project, where I was able to witness first hand as to what the people had done for the community with the money given by private donors from USA. President George Bush when he first came into his seat made this a first issue to bring an end to."
The Sri Lanka Foreign Bureau stated that 60% of the women are sent abroad and 54% of them work as domestic workers and are subjected to abuse and sexual harassment. Domestic workers are the most important as they are ones who bring in a lot through foreign investment.
Sri Lanka has also signed an MOU with many countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to stop such harassment to women. The government also has brought out a lot of awareness programs to train the women who will be migrating to the Middle East to defend themselves as well as protect themselves if such abuse is committed by their employer.
"We will be launching a million dollar program to help the Sri Lanka government prosecute anyone caught or engaged in human trafficking and will train 50 trainers who will be able to set up a database to see what is taking place and to focus on the efforts where the need is greatest.", Mr. Blake added. "When speaking to people most of them don't know the meaning of human trafficking", United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Representative for South Asia Gary Lewis said. The United Nations has defined it as acts involved in the recruitment, transportation, forced movement and selling and buying of women and children within or across borders by fraudulent means, deception, coercion, direct threats for the purpose of purpose of placing a woman or child against their will with or without their consent in exploitative and abusive situations such as forced prostitution, false marriage, forced labour etc.
Of the 800, 000 people that are trafficked 225,000 are trafficked in Eastern Asia and the other highest regions turn out to be South Asia especially India and Nepal where little boys and girls are sold for sexual exploitation.
Sri Lanka is a source and destination country for men and women trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation and involuntary servitude. Sri Lankan men and women migrate legally to the Middle East, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and South Korea to work as construction workers, domestic servants or garment factory workers while many Sri Lankan men were trafficked into voluntary servitude in Iraq and children were trafficked internally for commercial sexual exploitation as well as for forced labour.
Sri Lanka is on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to address trafficking over the previous year especially in its efforts to punish trafficking for involuntary servitude.
Though the government began prosecuting two suspects under its April 2006 anti trafficking statute it did not convict anyone for trafficking crimes.
Sri Lanka did not demonstrate adequate efforts to monitor and take law enforcement action against labour recruiters believed to use deception to entice workers into voluntary servitude.
"One should keep in mind the 3 Ps, Prosecution, Protection and Prevention", Lewis added. These things start at a level where the government should govern well, in the sense when the government raises the cost of living and makes lives harder for people and they don't have any other way of living, some sell and sacrifice to pay for sustainable options.
Prevention can also improve if men are also made aware of what is happening to their loved ones or people they just meet then and there.
The Sri Lanka government's efforts to provide protection for trafficking victims improved slightly.
The police also encourage victims to assist in the investigation of their traffickers and allow foreign victims to obtain employment pending their testimony.
Sri Lanka does not have a formal procedure to identify victims of trafficking from among vulnerable groups such as women arrested for prostitution and as a result some victims of sex trafficking may have been jailed or fined for prostitution.
The government should take steps to ensure that victims are not punished for acts committed as a direct result being trafficked and should improve services offered to repatriated Sri Lankan trafficking victims.
This initiative was brought together by Community Concern Society and they have served the needs of over 1400 children and 600 adults in the year 2006. |
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