On Monday 27th June US Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, released the Trafficking in Persons Report 2011. In releasing the report Secretary Clinton commented that the report comments on 184 countries and is the result of collaboration with ambassadors, embassies and NGOs.
Click here for information on how to access a copy of the report.
Anti-Human Trafficking Newsletter Vol 9 No 6The June 2011 issues focuses on situation were foreign students have been exploited in labour settings. There is also a report on the progress taking place in the campaign to involve the corporate sector in fighting human trafficking.
Click here to read the June 2011 issue
Campaign to Stop the Traffik – London 2012Stop the Traffik have called on the hospitality industry to make sure there is no room for trafficking of human beings in their establishments during the London 2012 Olympics.
Further information about their London 2012 campaign can be read here.
An update version of the video Beneath the Surface has recently be released on YouTube. The video provides information on human trafficking and on how to identify and support victims.
Click here to view the video. Alternately a link can be found on this website in the video section of the multi-media resources.
Ihor Hnat is a man on a mission. He recently founded the “Ukrainian Mission for the Rescue of Human Trafficking Victims in Europe”, an organization devoted to the rescue and support of Ukrainian trafficking victims.
To read more about his fight against human trafficking click here
Human Trafficking Forum – 30th June 2011Presented by:
Michaela Guthridge (Good Shepherd Mission & Justice Unit),
Prof. Jennifer Burn (Anti-Slavery Project)
Christine Carolan (ACRATH)
This forum will look at the illegal trade in human beings for the purposes exploitation and forced labour.
Thursday 30 June, 7.30 pm
Study Centre, Yarra Theological Union,
98 Albion Rd.,Box Hill.
Best entry via 34 Bedford St. Click here for directions.
Contact SPC: 0432 991 085, admin@socialpolicyconnections.com.au;
Entry by donation. Tea/coffee afterwards.
The Swedish Example – trafficking laws in Sweden have evolved from the belief that the demand for sexual services is a contributing factor towards trafficking for sexual purposes. Click here to read Kajsa Claude’s report on the laws promulgated in Sweden in 1999, their implementation and the steps being taken to protect and support victims of human trafficking, and national and international co-operation to fight against human trafficking.
World Day Against Child Labour - June 12A 9-year-old girl toils under the hot sun, making bricks from morning to night, seven days a week. She was trafficked with her entire family from Bihar, one of the poorest and most underdeveloped states in India, and sold to the owner of a brick-making factory. With no means of escape, and unable to speak the local language, the family is isolated and lives in terrible conditions.
On this World Day Against Child Labour let us make a resolution to put an end to this exploitation of children.
(Photo by Kay Chernush, used with permission - the US State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons)
Over 100 people attended a recent public forum on the issue of human trafficking. Participants were informed about the forms that human trafficking takes today – sexual servitude, forced labour and organ trafficking. A sale of Fair Trade goods took place at the forum. Sr Louise Cleary, chairperson of ACRATH gave suggestions on how those present might be able to take action to help i the fight to eradicate this modern day form of human slavery.
(Photography by Fiona Basile)
In a recent report to the United Nations Human Rights Council, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, warned that “trafficked persons are often seen as ‘instruments’ of criminal investigation, rather than as holders of rights.”
“In many States, trafficked persons do not receive remedies in a holistic manner as a matter of right, but are only provided with ad hoc measures which are predominantly aimed at facilitating criminal investigation,” said Ms. Ezeilo during the presentation of her report of the right to an effective remedy for trafficked persons to the UN Human Rights Council. The independent expert was critical of such ad hoc measures as temporary residence permits contingent upon cooperation with law enforcement authorities and recovery assistance which is in turn tied to temporary residence permits.
“Trafficked persons are rarely known to have received compensation, as they are often not provided with the information, legal and other assistance and residence status necessary to access it,” the Special Rapporteur said. “At worst, many trafficked persons are wrongly identified as irregular migrants, detained and deported before they have an opportunity to even consider seeking remedies.”
The full report can be accessed here.
Trading Lives
"In a new country there will be
no slavery & hence no slaves."
Captain Arthur Phillip said this in 1787 before leaving England to become the 1st Governor of the new colony of Australia. Phillip landed at Sydney Cove in 1788 after an 8 month sea voyage.
ACRATH acknowledges and respects the Indigenous Peoples of Australia both past and present.
As caretakers of the land and custodians of the stories their culture has survived for thousands of years and is now recognised as the oldest living culture in the world.
