Trafficking in Human Beings for the Purpose of Organ Removal – A Comprehensive Literature Review

Government, reports

Trafficking in human beings for the purpose of organ removal (THBOR) is prohibited worldwide, yet a growing number of reports indicate its increase across the globe. Many countries in and outside the European Union (EU) have implemented proper legislation against THBOR. However, information regarding the incidence of THBOR and the non-legislative response to it is practically non-existent and unavailable to judicial and law enforcement authorities in the EU member states. Transplant professionals, human rights NGOs and international organizations also have little knowledge and awareness of the crime. This knowledge gap hampers the development of a structured and effective action to this repugnant form of human trafficking, which brings physical and psychological harms to vulnerable individuals. This report’s objective is to gather information and increase knowledge about THBOR. It does so by describing the state-of-the-art of literature on the ethical aspects, causes and the actors involved in THBOR.

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Laws to Combat Sex Trafficking: An Overview of International, National, Provincial and Municipal Laws and their Enforcement

NGO, reports

This report examines current legislation, regulations and law enforcement issues relating to human trafficking for sexual exploitation at four levels: the international, national, state/provincial, and municipal. The report is part of on-going research for the Task Force on the Trafficking of Women and Girls in Canada, convened by the Canadian Women’s Foundation (CWF).

The overall purpose of the research is to analyze Canada’s legal framework for addressing sex trafficking, place Canada’s current legislative responses to sex trafficking at federal, provincial and municipal levels in the context of international obligations and recent developments in other countries, and to examine possible responses and innovative practices for the law and law enforcement. The report is intended to aid the Task Force in formulating its programming and policy responses to the significant problem of sexual exploitation of women and girls in Canada.

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An Assessment of Sex Trafficking in Canada

NGO, reports

The report answers diverse inquiries posed by the Canadian Women’s Foundation following their preliminary consultations with human trafficking stakeholders from 2011 to 2012. The purpose of the report is to provide a baseline from which the Task Force can work. The report gathers information on the prevalence of human trafficking in Canada in 2013, examines the profile of victims and the techniques of traffickers, and explores newer areas in the human trafficking discussion – such as the demand to purchase sex in Canada, the role of the internet in sex trafficking, and the social and economic costs of sex trafficking. More detailed reports in other topic areas, such as relevant laws, law enforcement and service provision will follow this report over the course of the year.

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Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking of Aboriginal Women and Girls – Literature Review and Key Informant Interviews

NGO, reports

This research was prepared for the Canadian Women’s Foundation’s National Task Force on Trafficking of Women and Girls. This research will form a comprehensive picture on the state of human trafficking for sexual exploitation of Aboriginal women and girls in Canada. The review will help to inform the work of NWAC and the Canadian Women’s Foundation’s Task Force and aid in the Task Force’s preparations to identify and suggest key solutions for a national anti- trafficking strategy effectively addressing sexual exploitation of Aboriginal women and girls in Canada.

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Report from the National Roundtable on Service Delivery for Trafficked Women and Girls in Canada

NGO, reports

On September 18th, 2013 the Canadian Women’s Foundation brought together 46 of Canada’s leading providers of services for trafficked women and girls. THE GOAL: To identify the services and system changes that could: prevent trafficking, respond to the immediate needs of trafficked womenand girls, and help women and girls leave exploitive situations andrebuild their lives. During this full-day roundtable, representatives from women’s, Aboriginal and immigrant-serving organizations, police departments, shelters, hospitals, community organizations and anti-trafficking initiatives generated hundreds of ideas, practices and recommendations. For many participants, this was their first chance to meet with their counterparts from across Canada. It was also a unique opportunity for police and nurses, shelter workers and women’s advocates to meet together as colleagues in the trafficking sector.

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“NO MORE”: Ending Sex-Trafficking In Canada – Report of the National Task Force on Sex Trafficking of Women and Girls in Canada

NGO, reports

The Task Force was created and funded by the Canadian Women’s Foundation to investigate the nature and extent of sex trafficking in Canada, and to recommend a national anti-trafficking strategy to inform the work of the Canadian Women’s Foundation.

The findings and recommendations contained in this report were developed to assist the Canadian Women’s Foundation in creating its own five-year national anti-trafficking strategy. It is also hoped the recommendations will inform and offer guidance to other stakeholders working in this area.

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FROM HEARTBREAKING TO GROUNDBREAKING: Stories and Strategies to End Sex Trafficking in Canada

NGO, reports

Girls, often as young as 13, are being lured, recruited and procured into sexual slavery by predators who profit from their endeavors, rob them of their dignity, and often wound them with lifelong scars, changing forever the trajectories of otherwise happy lives.

Poverty, violence and widespread gender inequity are the preconditions for trafficking, but not the only factors. Any one of the previously trafficked girls and women we have come to know could be our own daughter, our sister, our niece, our aunt. The diversity of those who are trafficked is sobering: Any girl, anywhere, at any time.

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Trafficking in Human Beings

Government

Includes statistical data from all 28 EU Member States and the following EU Candidate and EFTA/EEA (Iceland, Norway) countries: Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland and Turkey. This is a working paper looking at statistical data at EU level as gathered and submitted by national authorities. In this respect, it is a unique undertaking in this field at EU level. The data have been collected from official sources, and provide information on registered victims, suspects, prosecutions and convictions, as recorded by the authorities.

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Becoming Hope: Stories, Reflections and Recommendations about Trafficking and Slavery Aftercare in the UK

NGO, reports

Presents the stories of Kate, Amy and Natalie (not their real names). These survivors approached SHF for long-term aftercare support; in one way or another they had been let down by the system, and they wanted us to tell their stories. Demonstrates the challenges they have faced, the limitations of the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), and the insufficient support provided by many social and government services.

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Human Trafficking in the Cotton Industry

NGO, reports

Examines the link between cotton and human trafficking by analyzing: the different tiers in the fashion supply chain in which trafficking occurs; media coverage of countries involved in the fashion industry across the world related to the issue; how Non-Governmental Organisations drive media awareness and influence key initiatives for change; and, the role companies have to play in establishing a traffik-free fashion industry.

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Forced Labor in the Production of Electronic Goods in Malaysia: A Comprehensive Study of Scope and Characteristics

NGO, reports

Malaysia’s electronics sector workforce includes hundreds of thousands of foreign migrant workers who come to Malaysia on the promise of a good salary and steady work – an opportunity to make a better life for themselves and their families. But many are subject to high recruitment fees, personal debt, complicated recruitment processes, lack of transparency about their eventual working conditions, and inadequate legal protections. Unscrupulous behavior on the part of employers or third-party employment agents1 can exacerbate vulnerability to exploitation, but the system in which foreign workers are recruited, placed and managed is complex enough to create vulnerability even in the absence of willful intent to exploit. The conditions faced by foreign electronics workers in Malaysia have the potential to result in forced labor. In 2012, Verité received funding from the US Department of Labor to conduct a study to determine whether such forced labor does, in fact, exist in the production of electronic goods in Malaysia.

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U.S. Department of State Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report 2014

Government, reports

In addition to assessments of what almost every government in the world is doing to combat modern slavery, this year’s Trafficking in Persons Report takes a hard look at the journey from victim to survivor, making recommendations and highlighting effective practices that, if implemented, could ease the path forward for countless survivors around the world.

To make it easier to download, 2014’s TIP was broken up into sections.

The Geography of Trafficking in Tennessee 2013

Government, reports

Follow-up Report to the Tennessee Human Sex Trafficking and Its Impact on Children and Youth 2011. Profiles minor sex trafficking cases of Tennessee counties and provides statistical comparisons between cases reported from law enforcement and non-law enforcement responders. Additionally, this study analyzes data in counties that reported the highest numbers of minor sex trafficking. As of July 2013, twelve new anti-human trafficking laws have been created to address this epidemic. Domestic issues, the drug trade, poverty and other socio-economic factors serve as catalysts for human sex trafficking.

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Human Trafficking in North Carolina: Human Beings as a Commodity

Government, reports

Research has documented that human trafficking is a growing problem in this country (Richard, 1999). In fact the United States is listed as one of the leading destinations in the world for traffickers (Hepburn & Simon, 2010). The North Carolina Coalition Against Human Trafficking (NCCAHT) (2013) Web site notes that North Carolina ranks in the top eight states in the country for factors conducive to trafficking in persons. These factors include the state’s strategic location on the Eastern seaboard, the number of major interstate highways traversing the state, the large agricultural economy, the number of military installations and the number of ports located in the coastal region. These conditions make North Carolina a prime target for traffickers, whether the commodity is drugs, weapons or human beings (NCCAHT, 2013).

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Slavery at Sea: The Continued Plight of Trafficked Migrants in Thailand’s Fishing Industry

NGO, reports

Provides recent examples of problems that have long plagued the industry in Thailand. Since the late 1980s, Thailand’s increasing prosperity and low unemployment rate have led many Thai citizens to turn away from low-paid work in the country’s more labour-intensive sectors, including construction, fishing and seafood processing. At the same time, Thailand’s comparatively underdeveloped neighbours have provided a cheap and plentiful supply of migrant labour, which has acted to discourage businesses from investing in labour-saving production processes.22 Consequently, entire sections of the Thai economy have become strongly reliant on migrant labour. Workers from Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia now constitute up to 10 per cent of Thailand’s workforce, and as much as 90 per cent in the seafood industry.

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Sexual Exploitation and Prostitution and Its Impact on Gender Equality

Government, reports

Provides background information drawn from the international literature on sexual exploitation and prostitution and its impact on gender equality in relation to the report of the Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Committee. The study concentrates on the debate on whether prostitution could be voluntary or has rather to be regarded in any case as a violation of women’s human rights. It also presents an overview of the policies on prostitution in the Member States as well as four case studies: Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden. Conclusions are presented with the view to enhance the debate.

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Recommendations for Fighting Human Trafficking in the United States and Abroad

Government, NGO, reports

2008 Transition Report for the Next Presidential Administration by The Action Group to End Human Trafficking and Modern-Day Slavery. The Action Group is comprised of: the Alliance to Stop Slavery and End Trafficking, Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking, Free the Slaves, International Justice Mission, Not For Sale Campaign, Polaris Project, Ricky Martin Foundation, Solidarity Center, and Vital Voices Global Partnership. The Action Group is a U.S.-based, non-partisan group of complementary organizations dedicated to abolishing modern-day slavery and human trafficking.

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A National Overview of Prostitution and Sex Trafficking Demand Reduction Efforts

Government, reports

Provides a descriptive overview of initiatives targeting the demand for commercial sex in the United States. It describes the process of gathering the information in this (and other) reports, discusses specific initiatives, and highlights selected communities to illustrate how and why their members have endeavored to address prostitution and sex trafficking by combating demand.

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