In modern bondage: sex trafficking in the Americas Реферат

The trafficking of women and children for commercial sexual exploitation is not a new phenomenon to the Americas.

Despite its long history in the region, trafficking in persons has failed to receive government attention or be the subject of coordinated action toward its eradication.

The failure of governments in the region to acknowledge and/or respond to trafficking activity over the years has resulted in the near invisibility of the issue in policy, official records, and state action. None of the countries included in this study have mechanisms in place that permit trafficking activity to be accurately registered.

The lack of governmental response, particularly in the area of law enforcement, has allowed trafficking networks and individual traffickers to practice with impunity.

A myriad of factors enters into the existence of each of these characteristics, which has produced a wide range of sex trafficking scenarios and poses challenges to finding an adequate response. On the supply side: continuing gender stereotypes in the region limit the options for women and youth in the workplace; prevailing attitudes toward women and children contribute to their vulnerability; cultural tolerance of sexual abuse and domestic violence leave many women and children without protection or recovery services which can lead to exposure to sex trafficking. On the demand side: the legalization of adult prostitution and other commercial sexual activities in the region offers an open market for sexual services supported by local and foreign clientele; male migrants also contribute to the demand; and the existence of sex tourism in certain areas has generated new needs.

The International Human Rights Law Institute (IHRLI) has monitored the rapidly growing problem of trafficking of women and children for purposes of commercial sexual exploitation. Preliminary studies revealed a surprising paucity of reliable and comprehensive data available on the trafficking phenomenon, despite increasing international attention to the subject.

The study explores two distinct human rights concerns: first, the trafficking of women and children; and second, commercial sexual exploitation. The broader categories of trafficking in persons and commercial sexual exploitation have been the subject of recent international scrutiny and legislation, and many organizations have dedicated efforts toward looking at the problems individually.

This study undertakes to break the cycle of inaction, especially in light of the availability of new strategies to combat trafficking developed by the international community in partnership with human rights organizations in other areas of the world. It is an explorative work, with conclusions based on documentary research and extensive interviews with government authorities, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, independent experts, and individuals involved in the trafficking sphere.

The Trafficking Project included four key elements: 

1) collaboration with counterpart organizations in each participating country; 

2) initiation of public debate on the issue of trafficking through a National Consultation in each participating country; 

3) general assessment of the trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation; 

4) use of the study’s findings and conclusions to recommend concrete measures at regional and national levels to respond to trafficking.

The trafficking of women and children detected in the region occurs within the context of larger migratory movements and economic struggle. These characteristics form an important backdrop to trafficking activity, as they affect the supply of women and children, the demand for available sexual services, and the quality of the government response.

The countries, which share numerous economic, historical, social and political characteristics, enjoy a variety of regional inter-governmental bodies and forums, and have been negotiating toward economic and trade integration.

With the increased responsibility, women are seeking jobs and active earning lives. In all eight countries of the region, the participation rates for women have risen steadily since 1995 and are projected to continue along the same incline. Women continue to participate less in the marketplace and earn far less than their male counterparts.

Girls, too, struggle against lower earnings potential as a significant number assume roles of caretaker at early ages.

Women and girls in the region continue to be impacted by reduced educational opportunities and job access.

In the last ten years, the Central American states have experienced migration phenomena at all levels. A rural to urban transfer has largely resulted from a weakening agricultural sector and the move to larger cities in search of work. Intra-regional migration patterns also emerged.

The Central American Commission of Migration Directorates has estimated the Central American migrant population to be nearly five million. The income generated through these migrants has developed into an important source of wealth for the Central American countries.

Trafficking of women and children for commercial sexual exploitation in Central America and the Caribbean is an undeniable reality that is occurring within and without national borders. The following overview will explore the most salient features of the practice.

Throughout the region, government and private practitioners identify the same bundle of individual factors that contribute to making certain persons vulnerable to trafficking and sexual exploitation. None of these factors are determinative, but their existence in a field littered with demand for commercial sexual services and criminal networks functioning with impunity increases the risk of falling into a trafficking cycle.

For women, the pursuit of the basic needs of food, clothing, shelter, and the lack of employment alternatives at home are primary elements contributing to their vulnerability. Compounding economic need are other factors such as sole responsibility for children, illiteracy or minimal education, and lack of training or technical skills. A history of physical or sexual abuse also appears to contribute to a risk of being trafficked.

Many of the individual researchers and service providers consulted commented on the need for real employment alternatives to reduce the risk of women being trafficked and, especially, re-trafficked. Victims of sex trafficking are being paid, and while the level is poor, in many cases it remains significantly higher than other options. Where female labor training programs do exist, they have focused on beautician skills, sewing and cooking. Most advocates reported that these programs are largely ineffective.

For children, issues related to sexual abuse, physical abuse, family disintegration, school abandonment, teenage pregnancy, homelessness, gang participation and drug use appeared to combine with economic need to create a risk of being trafficked. Homosexuality, transvestitism and transsexuality among males are also risk factors.

The problem of trafficking remains almost completely hidden and largely ignored in the region. In terms of institutional responses, the Dominican Republic alone has effectively placed the trafficking of persons on the national agenda; no other government has directed resources to specific programs or policies on the issue. Initial steps have been taken against child trafficking for sexual exploitation, but concrete initiatives have not yet been developed and plans remain without funding. Within the ambit of their duties, consular missions and law enforcement have provided assistance to victims and prosecution of traffickers. Punishment efforts, however, can only be described as minimal. In some countries, Offices of the Human Rights Ombudsman have positively intervened in cases and have conducted minor investigations within the scope of their mandate. Finally, some encouraging developments toward articulating national and regional responses to trafficking were noted.

In an area where civil society has traditionally been strong, few groups have focused on sex trafficking for women and children or advocated the issue within a human rights framework. Nevertheless, region-wide efforts against child trafficking and other forms of commercial sexual exploitation of children are beginning, and many positive partnerships between non-governmental organizations and official agencies have resulted. These relationships are precarious, however, and are in need of further strengthening.

With special regard to children, the Convention on the Rights of the Child obligates States to take measures to prevent trafficking of children and to ensure their protection against all forms of sexual exploitation. Further, appropriate measures should be taken to promote physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of child trafficking victims.

Trafficking is a crime and a human rights violation that affects each country individually. Women and children are being trafficked into sexual exploitation within countries, within the region and internationally. Smuggling and trafficking networks readily exploit the most vulnerable citizens’ economic needs and ambitions of a better life. The behavior of these criminal networks existing at all levels of organization and sophistication remains largely unchecked, further fueling the trafficking trade. Children, many who have suffered past sexual abuse, have become particularly unprotected against domestic and international exploitation rings, encouraged by a growing child prostitution market.

Traffickers work primarily by means of deception, with false promises of decent and lucrative employment in restaurants, bars, hotels and homes, among others. Following these promises of prosperity, women and children are pressed into sexual servitude in order to work off transportation fees and additional debts. Control is maintained through violence and threats, debts and fines, a restriction of access to earnings, physical restraint and use of armed guards, and demonstrations of impunity through open collaboration with authorities.

In the course of trafficking, traffickers violate the rights of their victims:

- the right not to be held in slavery, involuntary servitude, or slave-like conditions;

- the right to be free from exploitation;

- the right to be free from cruel and inhumane treatment;

- the right to be free from violence;

- the right to be free from discrimination based on gender;

- the right to health;

- the guarantee of freedom of movement.

amount of money - количество денег

amortize - погашать

adjusted interest rate - переменная процентная ставка

advantageous terms - выгодные условия

anticipate - компенсировать

abandon - прекращать

acceleration - ускорение

account - счет

achieve - добиваться

acquisition - приобретение

adjust - приводить в порядок

advanced - прогрессивный

agreement - соглашение

allocation - распределение

annual - ежегодный

applicable - подходящий, приемлемый

appropriate - подходящий, свойственный

asset - актив

available - доступный

at preferential rate - по льготной ставке

average rate - средняя норма

advance - аванс

B

borrower - должник

bottom line - баланс доходов и расходов

breach a contract - нарушать контракт

balloon payment - конечный разовый платеж

balance sheet - балансовый отчет

bailout - помощь; срочный

balance roll - финансовые ресурсы

beneficiary - получатель дохода

bill - счет

boom - быстрое повышение цен

borrow - получать кредит

breakdown - кризис, спад

bust - спад