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1. Trafficking in women from Iraq
Women
and girls are being kidnapped in Iraq and trafficked into sexual exploitation, according to a report in Time magazine.
The Organisation for Women's Freedom in Iraq estimates more that 2,000 women have gone missing
since 2003, though information is scarce due to the security
situation, and some of the women who managed to escape were sent to prison because they had false
passports, the article said. Setting up shelters for those trafficked is being hindered by the current security situations and bureaucratic
obstacles.The United States State
Department's Trafficking in Persons Report suggests Iraqi women are being trafficked
to Gulf states, Jordan, Syria and Yemen.
2. New
reports on slavery in Argentina and Paraguay from Anti-Slavery International
The new reports are part of Anti-Slavery International's research
into slavery in Latin America. They include an analysis of such issues as trafficking in people, the
commercial sexual exploitation of children, forced labour
of indigenous people, child domestic work and child soldiers. The reports on Argentina
and Paraguay
are available as PDF documents (see bottom
of page about reading PDF files) or for
sale.
3. ILO report on child labour
The International Labour Organization has published a new report on child labour under the follow-up to the ILO Declaration
on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. The End of Child Labour: Within reach, highlights various issues that need to
be addressed to end child labour, including poverty reduction, access
to education, provision of youth employment, and
the need for more emphasis on child labour to be included in
country poverty reduction strategy papers and the achievement
of the Millennium Development Goals. The report estimates that
126 million children are in hazardous work. Although there are no new
statistics for children in slavery, the ILO's 2005 report
on forced labour estimates at least six million children are in
forced labour worldwide.
Anti-Slavery International welcomes the publication of the
report and is encouraged by the fact that there has been a large
reduction in child labour worldwide. The comparative
statistics provided are particularly important,
as for too long there has been a lack of well researched data.
For this reason we would also welcome any update on figures
on the unconditional worst forms of child labour provided in
the 2002 report
4. Slovenia signs the Council of Europe
trafficking convention
On 3 April, Slovenia signed the Council of Europe's Convention on Action
Against Trafficking in Human Beings, bringing the number of signatories to 26.
5. Events
The exhibition Dignity at Work opened at the UN headquarters in New York.
The photographs displayed expose the new face
of child labour, forced labour and the cycle of exploitation
and poverty.
The exhibition was developed by the International Labour Organization
in co-operation with the UN Department of Public Information.
6. New publications and reports
The latest issue of Forced
Migration Review focuses on human trafficking (see bottom
of page about reading PDF files).
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime published a new
report: Trafficking
in Persons -- Global patterns.
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