Campaign: Human trafficking - stop the trade now!

The trafficking of people is a rapidly growing global problem that affects countries and families on every continent. Those trafficked may be forced to work as domestics, in prostitution, as labourers and in many other jobs.

Because of its hidden nature, statistics relating to trafficking are impossible to measure accurately. Some reports estimate that at least 700,000 women and children are trafficked globally each year.

How does trafficking work?

Traffickers seek out their victims in different ways. Children may be abducted or families (usually in rural areas) are approached directly by the traffickers with promises of money and better lives. Sometimes people are recruited through agencies that offer "well paid jobs", make the travel arrangements and help to obtain travel documents. The trafficker may initially cover these costs or money is borrowed from family, friends or loan sharks. Not all cases of trafficking involve debt bondage but trafficked people frequently become indebted. Once they arrive at their destination, they find that the job they were promised does not exist but they still have to pay a debt, which could be anything up to US$40,000. This amount can then be inflated through charges for accommodation, food and interest on the loan they borrowed. The trafficked person is not paid what they were promised; often they are not paid at all.

The debt itself, and the fact that they are in an unfamiliar place leaves the trafficked person in a vulnerable position. But if this is not enough to make them submit to the trafficker's demands, then their passport or other papers can be taken away and they will be subjected to intimidation, violence, torture or rape. Traffickers also make threats of violence against friends and family to ensure their victims continue working and do not try to escape.

Read Dinah's story

Smuggling or trafficking?

A smuggler will facilitate illegal entry into a country for a fee, but on arrival at their destination, the smuggled person is free and usually does not see the smuggler again. Trafficking is fundamentally different as it always involves the threat or use of violence, deception or coercion so that the person is forced to submit to sexual or labour exploitation.

Why are people trafficked?

People generally put themselves or their children in the hands of traffickers to escape poverty and discrimination. They are promised well-paid jobs, better lifestyles, further education, marriage and many think they will be able to send money back to their families. In reality, where trafficking occurs, people have been deceived or coerced into conditions of slavery, servitude or forced labour. While trafficked people think they have nothing to lose, traffickers stand to make huge profits from enslaving them. The UN estimates that trafficking in "human cargo" generates around US$7 billion per year.

Who are the traffickers?

Many different people are traffickers. Sometimes they run recruitment agencies, some are family members or friends, others encourage young women to believe they are their boyfriends. They might also be small groups of individuals from poor backgrounds who have recognised how profitable trafficking can be or even former victims of trafficking. There are larger scale organised groups which may or may not be connected with other forms of organised crime.

What can be done to protect people from being trafficked?

People have always needed to migrate to find work, but current laws make it difficult for people to do this legally. If the trafficking of human beings is to be prevented, its root causes such as poverty, gender discrimination and inequality need to be addressed and measures taken to provide more opportunities for people to find work at home and abroad.

Traffickers must be prosecuted and face sentences that reflect the serious nature of the human rights abuse committed. Sometimes prosecution is prevented because trafficked people refuse to give evidence about their trafficker for fear of reprisals. Furthermore, trafficked people are often treated as criminals rather than as victims, and prosecuted, detained or imprisoned for crimes relating to their being trafficked. It is the responsibility of governments to ensure that trafficked people are supported and not treated as criminals.

Protective measures should be taken, including providing trafficked people with appropriate shelter, financial and legal assistance, information about their human rights in a language they understand, counselling, health services and temporary or permanent residence status. This type of support and protection will encourage successful prosecutions.

Anti-Slavery's campaign

In November 2001, Anti-Slavery launched a two-year campaign against human trafficking. During the course of the campaign we aim to draw attention to this global problem and call for national and international policy changes that will penalise traffickers, protect trafficked people's rights and address the root causes. The campaign's first Action Briefing looks at trafficking in Bangladesh. Please go back to the campaigns home page and take action.