Human Trafficking: A Thriving Industry

Children and women are particularly vulnerable for many reasons. They experience, more acutely, the compound effects of poverty, dysfunctional families, discriminatory social and cultural practices (i.e. gender discrimination, marginalising specific castes/tribes/communities), conflicts and natural disasters. Their aspirations and mobility are restricted by others. Constrained by circumstances, they become easy targets for the intelligent trafficker who knows how to lure them. These structural reasons and socio-cultural vulnerabilities represent challenges for the successful reintegration of survivors of trafficking as well.

Focus Reintegration

In India and Nepal, Terre des hommes has developed a programme focusing on repatriation and reintegration of trafficked children into society. For Tdh and its Indian partner Sanlaap, a survivor is considered reintegrated when she is able to cope with her past trauma and can live in the society as an independent human being and citizen of the country.

About the Document

Tdh and Sanlaap wanted to review their strategy of reintegrating trafficked survivors. It was particularly important to learn whether the reintegration of survivors of sexual exploitation had really been effective, taking all the social issues into account. Each experience is significant and provides vital clues for improving interventions on community reintegration and enhancing their impact.

Ten survivors who had stayed at the Sanlaap shelter and continued to receive support to facilitate their reintegration in the family and community, agreed to voice their reintegration experiences for this learning document.

This document tells their stories. It is about their situations, capacities, needs and concerns, dreams and aspirations. It contains information on the improved reintegration of the survivors and presents various recommendations (final chapter).

The example of Pinky, “Where there’s a will…”

Pinky, a clever and communicative young woman, was married off as a teenager. Her husband left her a few months later, forcing her to return to her parents, who, however, did not have even enough income to feed their other two daughters. Pinky then met a man who promised to find her a job. But he drugged and took her away to another town: to a brothel. Two years later, she was spotted by Sanlaap, Tdh’s partner, and taken in at their centre. There, she received support for her recovery and was able to do job training, before being reunited with her family three months later. Although her parents were very happy to see her again, she was remarried after a year. The marriage went well until the day her new in-laws found out about Pinky’s past and repudiated her in spite of her expecting a child. Helped by Sanlaap, Pinky and her father finally managed to open a tea-shop which today is the greatest pride of the young woman. Her father works with an organisation fighting the sexual exploitation of youngsters, and helps families in their village to find their children who were either missing or found to be trafficked.

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Started in 2010, this project has now been able to recruit 15 volunteer families to take the children under their wings. Terre des hommes and the Ministry of Social Action previously carried out social inquiries on the families so as to be sure that they can offer real guarantees of protection for the youngsters.

In collaboration with the same Ministry and the DGPE (General Board for Planning and Education), Tdh then offered training courses to the 15 host families last 16th and 17th February. They were then made especially aware of child rights and protection. The families learned about and became fully involved in the help given these youngsters, thanks to Tdh and each of their partners. They were informed about what the children had gone through, taken away from their own families to work in conditions that were sometimes extremely tough. The host families undertook to offer protective surroundings to the youngsters staying with them, to help them get their dignity back and to gradually become reintegrated in society. They also learned how to receive them, get their confidence and to set up rules, educational punishments and rewards, without ever resorting to any kind of violence.

The talks were rich in exchanges. It was a chance for the host families to express their fears and expectations, and together to consider, with their training leaders, the best ways to cope. Thanks to these discussions, the families designed their own code of conduct, ‘the rules of the house’. In these rules are listed all the questions and their solutions for taking care of these children in the most beneficial manner.

The families will be monitored by Terre des hommes and will get new training courses in the coming months. But the delegation already believes they are now prepared and equipped to take the children in and help them. The next step consists of placing the first of the youngsters in these families, after they have officially received their letter of accreditation and signed the contract of collaboration.

Child begging in a public park, outside a mosque or church, at traffic lights, along busy streets and bus-stops, next to your home, in our cities. Although a sad and evident reality of basic child rights violations, this phenomenon is little understood not only in Albania, but also in Europe.

Therefore, in order to develop a sound understanding of this phenomenon’s nature, causes and patterns, in January 2011, the European Commission (EC) and DG Home Affairs commissioned the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) for a research project on child beggin. Covering the area of 13 member countries of the European Union, as well as Albania and Kosovo, the study aims to develop an empirical and evidence-based understanding using a specific methodology that combines literature reviews, direct street observations and interviews with children, families and other stakeholders.

For Albania and Kosovo, Tdh has been entrusted by ICMPD with carrying out this research which will help develop appropriate policy responses at the national and European levels. The 1st research phase consisting of the national literature review and set of interviews with key institutional representatives from public and non-public authorities was completed in May, 2011. The 2nd phase which included direct street observations in the city of Durrës and Tirana; interviews with over 20 children, parents and families affected by the phenomenon; and interviews with various key local stakeholders were completed at the end of September, 2011.

A comprehensive report providing valuable insight into the nature and root causes of child begging in Albania was submitted to ICMPD in mid November. The composition of a set of policy recommendations for EU action in the fields of child protection and the fight against crime is to follow next. (FG)

<CENTER> Further information on Tdh’s interventions in Albania and Kosovo

For many years the authorities in Nigeria and Benin were distrustful about Tdh’s work of prevention and child protection. However, Tdh always upheld its advocacy on the issue of political-economic interests taken despite the interests of the children. In fact, the resumption of cotton growing by westerners and the slowing down of agricultural activity are reasons for the increase of youth mobility, as the youngsters are forced to leave home to seek more interesting economic opportunities than they can find nearer at hand.

Based on its experience gained in its project for protecting child migrants, Tdh explained and demonstrated at this conference that it is not really about a child trafficking phenomenon, but rather an economic phenomenon with risks during migrations. The two governments of Benin and of Nigeria have now positioned Tdh as the main party in the system of protection for child migrants between the two countries (the regions of Zakpota in Benin and Abeokuta in Nigeria), integrated in the new plan of action for 2012, relating to the fight against the trafficking of women and children.

We should also like to remind you that the BBC made a documentary film (10th to 30th January 2012) on the economic causes (cotton, agriculture, industry) and their consequences on the population – more specifically on the children involved in mobility – using as examples the work and responses of Tdh in this trans-frontier project. The BBC documentary (40 mins.) will be broadcast in summer 2012.

<CENTER> Further information on Tdh’s intervention in Benin and Nigeria

This workshop, in which the Minister of Justice and the Ministration for Regional Administration took part, enabled bringing magistrates, officers of the detective force, social services, town councils and organizations of civil society together to discuss community service as a disciplinary measure.

The workshop took a look at the advantages of community service for adolescents; and Tdh demonstrated that, firstly, this disciplinary measure responds to the wish to put right the damage caused to society, and secondly, that it is a penalty favoring the youngsters’ reintegration. But the workshop also made it possible to point a finger at the lack of structures able to receive the minors in conflict with the law and give them the possibility of carrying out their sentences. On the contrary, the participants were shown that the conditions of detention in Burkina Faso are most unsuitable for youngsters to become reintegrated in society.

Firmly convinced that imprisonment is not a suitable solution for adolescents, all the participants committed themselves to play their part in implementing community service to become effective to benefit minors in conflict with the law in Burkina Faso. The Ministers committed themselves to supporting Tdh in the effective implementation of community service and appealed to the organizations invited (town councils, social services, structures of the civil society) to receive the young people into their organizations and to allow them to work out their punishment correctly. Circulars are being prepared: signed by the two Ministers who were present at the workshop, these will be published and distributed to all Presidents of Courts and local representatives, so as to get over the reluctance shown by some people.

<CENTER> Further information on Tdh’s intervention in Burkina Faso